D is for DIGITAL, DEPTH OF FIELD, and DPI

A digital camera is one that captures the photo not on film, but in an electronic imaging sensor that takes the place of film. I purchased my first digital camera in the spring of 2006 and was absolutely thrilled with it. Taking it with me to Italy for a month that fall, I captured lots of great shots, one of which actually came in 3rd place in a recent challenge on Red Bubble.

My next digital camera was an income tax return gift to myself about a year ago. Funnily enough, even though it's a better camera, it was about $200 cheaper than the first one! With this new one, I can do so much more and have learned ooDles more about taking proper photographs. To be honest and direct, I don't understand how to set the depth of field on my own camera very well because it's not a manual camera. I have to determine it by trying different shots of the same thing and then checking to see how the photos turn out.

Depth of field refers to the range of distance that appears acceptably sharp. It varies depending on camera type, aperture and focusing distance, although print size and viewing distance can also influence our perception of depth of field. (from http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm) For example, the higher the f-stop number, the clearer the image. Below, the photo on the left was set at f/8.0 while the one at the right was at f/2.8.













Here are a few of my own shots that show what is in focus and what is not in focus. Notice that I wanted to show the two-toned maple leaf and focused on it, causing the background to blur out. And in the next shot, I wanted the heron to stand out, but I mistakenly made the grassy reeds clear and blurred the heron.

Ah well, we learn by making mistakes in all things photographic. The last detail about digital cameras I wanted to define for you is DPI, which means "dots per inch." This measures the resolution of the image - the higher the number the greater the resolution. I have found that my camera seems to have an "automatic" setting and when I upload my photos, I change the resolution to 300 dpi. Take a look at the following photos of a yellow dahlia. On the left, the resolution is at 96dpi and the one on the right is changed to 300dpi. Click on the photos to view them larger. I hope you see how the one on the right is a sharper image.











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