Are you one of those people who is intimidated by the range of setting and functions on a digital SLR camera and are thinking of opting for a simple “point and shoot” one instead? While these point and shoot cameras are okay for normal indoor use, they are limited in what can be done outdoors and the special effect options are almost nil. A top of the line digital SLR will be very expensive and will have features the average amateur photographer will never use, but with medium range digital SLRs being so reasonably priced, there is no reason why a beginner should not use one of these for his introduction to digital photography.
The best part about digital cameras is that mistakes cost you nothing – you just delete the photo – so learning the functions is not something to be frightened of. With no film or developing costs, you can take as many pictures and you want and experiment as much as you wish – you need only keep the photos you like and learn from the bad ones. Digital photography is risk free and with some experimentation and a little time spent on reading a few articles on the subject, you will find your confidence and skills improving. Soon enough you will want to start using the various setting available to you to improve your photography.
Of course there will be times when you cannot afford to experiment and that is when the “auto” setting is a God send – now all you need to do is press the button and you will get a good photo. And even in “auto” mode your camera, with its better sensors, lens and software, will take photos of a higher quality than a basic digital camera.
Understanding what you can do with picture editing software is an essential part of any introduction to digital photography. Every digital camera will come with the software to download photos to a computer and most will have editing and photo manipulation features to enable you to improve on the images you have captured. Depending on the software you use (advanced photo editing software is easily available) you will be able to not just repair defects in the picture but edit them to make them more viewable and also add special effects so good pictures can be turned into a great ones. In the end you will have no bad photos – just photos on which you need to use the editing software more creatively.
When you find that digital photography is much more than simply capturing an image for posterity, you will be happy that you bought a camera that gives you the scope to be creative.
