Digital Girl
Reflections on the Power of the Image
By Tamia Nelson
tamia@paddling.net
July 3, 2007
I started taking pictures back in the days
when the only electronic circuits in many cameras were found in the flash
unit, and when one-hour developing was an impossible dream unless you had a
key to a darkroom. As a would-be professional photographer, I spent long
hours mastering the interplay of aperture, shutter speed, and film, while
also studying the elements of composition and the chemistry of color. It
payed off. Before long, I could coax properly exposed shots from my camera
under nearly all conditions of light and shade, and I was as proud of this
skill as I was of my ability to place my canoe exactly where it needed to
be in the midst of the swirling chaos of a fast-moving river.
That being the case, it's not surprising that I didn't exactly shout for
joy when the first all-electronic, point-and-shoot cameras came along. They
were just too easy to use. I didn't want the hours I'd spent puzzling over
f-stops and ASA (now ISO) numbers to be wasted, did I? Certainly not. In
time, however, convenience won out over control, and practicality trumped
pride. I bought a compact, water-resistant 35mm Olympus Stylus®. Soon
my manual SLR and its battery of bulky lenses were gathering dust on a
shelf, while my little Olympus accompanied me everywhere I went in the
backcountry. If I missed the hands-on involvement that my SLR demanded
— and I did, at least at first — I also missed fewer shots. I
grumbled a bit when the camera's exposure settings weren't what I'd have
chosen, of course, but I was pretty happy with the trade-off. Still, my
rapture was somewhat modified. I didn't have access to a darkroom to do my
own developing and printing, and I couldn't find a local photo lab that
gave me consistently good results. There was always cost to consider, too.
Film and processing took quite a bite out of my budget.
Sometime around then …
The Digital Age Dawned
At first, it was no more than a faint glow on the eastern horizon, but I
was quick to see the potential benefits of digital photography, nonetheless
— especially for documentary work. This really meant something to me
then. I was shooting scores of rolls of 35mm film on the job, recording
archaeological sites and historic structures, and I longed to break free of
the fetters of film and photo processing. (I can still remember what it
felt like to learn that an entire week's worth of film had been lost by the
lab.) But the cost of professional-grade digital equipment was too high,
and the cheaper stuff was, well, too cheap. So I waited for prices
to come down.
And while I was waiting, I explored new interests. Away from the job, I
turned to painting
and drawing.
I still carried the Stylus® along on paddling and cycling
trips, but now it, too, gathered dust in my pack. A little later, I retired
my Marshalltown trowel (an archaeologist's best friend and constant
companion) and took to the keyboard full-time. Words were now my tools of
choice, and I lost all interest in digital photography. Years passed,
during which I often went for months on end without snapping a single
picture. Then Farwell dropped a bombshell. He'd never been a photographer
himself, but while working on a public-relation's campaign he'd had a
chance to see a modern digital camera in action, and he sung the praises of
the new technology. This came as quite a shock. Farwell would be the first
to admit that he's something of a retrogrouch. Of course, he'd just started
a passionate
affair with a GPS. Maybe that's what turned his head. In any case,
Farwell's enthusiasm was infectious. Soon I was the owner of a Canon
PowerShot A550. Once again, I was …
In the Frame
It wasn't long before I, too, had fallen under the digital spell. The
little silver camera fits easily in my palm and weighs almost nothing.
Moreover, it's capable, sturdy, and easy to use. Is there no downside to
digital photography? Sure there is. Every silver lining comes wrapped in a
cloud, after all. But to my mind, the downside seems minor.
Let's take a closer look. The upside first:
Digital Pluses
- Freedom from the costly tyranny of film and photo-processing
- Compact size (if it were any smaller, it would be too small!)
- Ease of use: you can point and shoot with confidence
- Versatility (my little camera also shoots decent video — with
sound)
- Control over the final product, both before and after the shot
There's more. With my PowerShot, as with many other digital cameras, you
can eat your cake and have it too. Out of the box, you only need to point
and shoot. But if you crave total control over shutter speed, aperture, and
ISO, you can set the camera to Manual and get it. Moreover, you can zoom
between 35mm and 140mm (digital magic can push this to 560mm, though with
considerable loss in image quality), and the built-in flash can be toggled
on or off. And the whole bag of tricks is powered by standard AA cells. You
can "refuel" at just about any crossroads' ser-sta-gro. Are you shooting
hundreds of shots a day? Readily available SD™ cards give you all the
memory you need — and they're a lot less bulky than film canisters.
That sounds pretty good already, right? But digital technology really
shines when it's time to process your shots. A USB cable links your camera
and computer. (You can also download directly to a printer, if you want.)
And once you've got your images on your hard drive, previewing and editing
are a snap. Tricks that were once the closely guarded secrets of a darkroom
priesthood are now available to anyone, with just a couple of clicks of a
mouse. You can easily alter brightness and contrast, generate grayscale or
sepia-toned images at will, eliminate clutter, crop, sharpen edges, and
soften focus. You can even pare down beautiful (but bloated) images to make
them lean enough to load quickly on slow browsers.
But nothing's perfect, is it? Let's explore the downside:
Digital Minuses
- Electronic cameras don't work if the batteries die (better bring plenty
of spares!)
- The LCD eats batteries, and …
- It's not easy to see in bright sunlight
- But the way-kool platinum-finish body is, and the shiny surface
is perfect for throwing a scare into any wary wildlife
Electronics need batteries. No surprise here. There's no
such thing as a free lunch, and a lot of film cameras also go
belly-up when the batteries die. A black body would be nice to have, too.
But I can cope. I've even learned how to decode the colored-light semaphore
in the viewfinder. So I only need to power up the LCD when I'm using the
digital zoom. (The PowerShot has a viewfinder as well as an LCD. Not all
digital cameras do.)
Bottom line? I'm now a digital girl, and I'm rediscovering some of the
excitement I once felt for photography. Better yet, I'm now free from the
tyranny of film. Of course, it helps to know a few …
Tricks of the Trade
With a digital camera you can make mistakes without paying for them.
Learning by trial-and-error is easy, in other words. And there's nearly
instant feedback. Here are a few of the things I've picked up along the
way …
Steady As She Goes The
PowerShot's small size and light weight make it difficult to avoid the
shakes when stalking busy
beavers, leery
loons, or wily
warblers. Although editing software can sharpen the resulting blurry
edges, you can't expect miracles. That's why it pays to know how to hold
'em. Steady your camera hand against something solid, adopt a triangulated
shooting stance (pistol shots will find this easy), or mount your camera on
a tripod. And use your viewfinder rather than the LCD whenever possible.
Then you can brace your camera against your face, just like you did back in
the Age of Film.
Plan Ahead Digital cameras
are a little slower off the mark than most film cameras, and you can easily
lose a shot while you wait for your camera to wake up. So turn it on
while you're bringing it up to your eye. Then it will be ready when
you are. Digital cameras also need time to recover from one shot and get
ready for the next, especially if you're using the flash. The remedy? Plan
ahead. And shut off the flash except when it's really needed. That way
you'll avoid startling shy birds and animals.
Get a Grip Although the
PowerShot has a molded grip, it's still a slippery customer. So I keep the
strap around my neck at all times. (The only exception? When I wrap it
around my right hand.) The neck strap can also be used to steady a camera
whenever you have to hold it away from your body in order to focus through
the LCD. It's the same principle as using a rifle sling.
Keep it Clean! Dust and
grit are any camera's worst enemies (after water,
that is), and digital cameras are no exception. The LCD is particularly
vulnerable. That's why I left the manufacturer's protective film in place.
I suppose it's a little like keeping your living-room furniture wrapped in
plastic, but I do it anyway. How long will the clingy film stay put? I
don't know, but I'll do my best to keep it in place until I can figure out
a better way to protect the display.