eSchool - Digital Photography, September 10th, 2007
Today's digital cameras can do a lot, but wisely chosen camera accessories can help take your photography skills to the next level.
Zoom Lenses
Most digital cameras come with a zoom lens that provides a focal length range of perhaps 35 mm to 105 mm (in 35-mm film terms). In other words, they provide a range of view from slightly wider than normal to moderate telephoto.
Although these are useful for ordinary picture taking, you can purchase auxiliary lenses for more sophisticated photography that fit on the end of most digital cameras.
To use an auxiliary lens, just attach it to the front of the camera lens. Many digital camera lenses (Canon, Nikon, and Olympus) are equipped with threads that enable you to screw these accessories directly onto the front of the lens. When using an auxiliary lens, the optical viewfinder might not show the actual field of view being photographed. Use the LCD screen on the back of the camera for accurate framing and composing of your shots.
Filters 101
Just as you may be accustomed to using filters on film-based cameras, you can also use filters on most digital cameras to enhance a photo or provide special effects.
The filter you'll find most useful is a polarizer. This filter enhances the color of most objects including blue skies and removes reflections from surfaces such as glass or water. A warming filter removes the bluish cast often found on a cloudy day. A neutral density filter cuts the amount of light reaching the lens, allowing you to obtain special effects, such as use of a slow shutter speed in bright daylight to portray motion. A color enhancer intensifies reds and other warm colors without modifying the overall color tone of the picture. It's useful for autumn scenes and flowers.
Filters of various colors can modify pictures taken in monochrome or sepia mode, as when shooting with black-and-white film. Filter manufacturers, such as Tiffen or Hoya, make filters you can use to produce special effects such as colored or foggy backgrounds, graduated color areas, starbursts, and other effects.
Flash Basics
Nearly every compact digital camera comes with a built-in electronic flash. The built-in flash covers only a small distance -- 10 or 12 feet, for example -- beyond which light output falls off rapidly and pictures are badly underexposed. Many intermediate-level and nearly all advanced digital cameras accept an auxiliary flash unit similar to those used on film cameras.
Consider a Tripod
Using a tripod for your digital photography provides the added benefit of aiding composition development. Tripod heads come in two types: ball-and-socket, which uses a ball joint to position the camera, and pan heads, which use three handles to control motion along the three axes. Try both to determine which works best for you before making your purchase.
Experimenting with flashes, lenses and tripods will improve the quality of your photos.
