Digital Cameras Require a New Mindset

If you were a film photographer for many years and want to get going now that the digital photography revolution is well underway, then you are going to have to start with a new way of thinking.

Time was when you had to prepare for a picture-taking session by making sure you had enough rolls of the right kind of film, with a variety of ASA or ISO speed ratings to be able to cope with different lighting conditions. Professional photographers knew they should probably be using low speed slide film if they wanted to sell their photos to high end glossy publications. On the other hand, you could use a faster speed print film if you were only taking more casual snapshots.

Now, with digital having accepted the torch from film photography, it is a totally different situation. For only a few hundred dollars it is possible to purchase an excellent quality digital camera that, with a few twists of a button and a few clicks on the menu screen can deliver fully manual controls on shutter speed, aperture, and sensitivity to light. For professionals whose photo editors demand the highest resolution, many new cameras will save the image in the un-compressed RAW mode, rather than in the more usual JPEG compression form.

For many people, the biggest difference between the film and the digital mindset is the necessity of having lots of fully charged batteries. One travel journalist, on location very far off the beaten path in India, had an assignment to photograph Bengal tigers. Because it was very hot and humid and he did not want to be hampered by carrying a heavy burden, he left his backpack behind in the truck when he went with his guide and armed guard to follow tiger tracks along a river bank. What was only supposed to be a short walk became a long one, and the journalist shot many more photos than he thought he would be doing. As they were returning to their vehicle, he realized in horror that the batteries in his digital camera had run down, and he had not brought any spare batteries along. It was at that moment that he actually hoped he would not see a tiger, as he would not be able to photograph it with no batteries in his camera.

That travel writer now is obsessive about always taking a large number of rechargeable batteries, a battery charger, a battery tester and, if needed, a voltage converter with him on any travel assignments he goes on. In the old days, he said, he would have made sure that he always carried lots of spare rolls of film. Now, his digital photography mindset has changed, and taking spare, rechargeable batteries is always at the top of his list of necessities for taking pictures.

Marlie Parsons writes about online digital photography courses and aerial photography at the Digital Photography Tips website at http://digital-photography-tips.info

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