DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Words by Paul Worsley

We have definitely entered the age of digital but that’s not to say that film has no place anymore in photography. Film is still very popular and with good reason. It has a marvellous quality especially on prints and the resolution (when speaking in digital terms) is very high, giving you great enlargement options. Film is the equivalent of about 20 megapixels.

It cannot be denied though, that the practicalities of digital far outweigh that of film. To be able to instantly view an image on your camera screen is not only a novelty but also a great way to see what you are doing right or wrong in terms of exposure and composition. Even being able to see if anyone has his or her eyes closed, seeing if something is sharp or checking for camera shake. There is no need to shoot conservatively because the memory cards these days hold huge amounts of images and you can always go through and delete any unwanted ones until you get the required result. These advantages apply from the beginner to the amateur to the professional. I personally wouldn’t know what hit me if I had to go on a shoot for work with a bunch of films in my pocket. Even though I studied photography for four years and three of those were with film, I have just become so used to working with digital.

I believe a fundamental knowledge regarding the nature of digital photography is important so next month I will share a few simple facts and figures, terminology and perhaps debunk the odd myth or two which will hopefully help if you are finding the whole digi thing a bit daunting.