Digital cameras teach faster than film cameras

Becoming a good photographer involves making mistakes. It's by learning from our mistakes that we become competent with our cameras.

Film cameras, of course, teach us what we are doing wrong and right. With film, however, it takes at least an hour (at a one-hour lab) for us to see our results.

Digital cameras teach us much faster -- instantly. After we take a picture, we see it displayed on the camera's LCD screen. We can check the exposure, color, composition, sharpness and focus. If we don't like what we see, we can press Delete, make the necessary camera adjustments and take the picture again. That said, being too quick to delete could be a mistake. Many photo "out-takes" can be fixed with digital imaging programs or the camera's software -- even shots that are too dark, too light or off color. Even "soft" pictures can be sharpened in the digital darkroom (to a degree).

So, in addition to helping us record our memories, digital cameras are good teachers, giving us private instruction, if you will, on the different elements that comprise a good picture.

A digital camera's LCD screen is designed to give an idea of how a picture will look. I say "an idea" because three factors affect how the picture looks on the screen.

One, the brightness of the area in which you are taking pictures can affect how bright or dark the picture on the screen looks.

Two, the brightness level you have set for the screen -- from normal to bright -- will affect the picture.

Three, the color of the available light in which you are shooting -- sunny, cloudy, indoor and so on -- will affect the color of the picture on the screen.

To minimize the effect of the surrounding light source, and to try to maintain some consistency in the LCD images, SMS Productions makes a flexible hood (called the Hoodman) that fits on the camera back and shields the LCD screen from light. Of course, you can also use your hand as a hood.

A digital camera's LCD screen can get scratched. When your camera is in your camera bag, keep objects away from the screen. In addition, using the LCD screen uses valuable battery power. Whenever possible, minimize the picture display time (usually a user-set option -- from one to four seconds).

The photo learning does not stop with a digital camera. It can continue with the camera's software. Many ZLR (zoom lens reflex) cameras and all SLR (single lens reflex) cameras come with software that records information about each picture. That information can include the set exposure, shooting mode, shutter speed, aperture and metering mode at the time of exposure. Some software even shows you where you set the focus for a picture.