FOR THOSE OF you who don't know
me, I am Model Aviation's advertising representative. Not
that that matters, but as part of my job I create many of
the advertisements you see on a monthly basis. When
creating these ads, I take pictures of the products—many
pictures! I also help out with event coverage, and I have
grabbed a few Model Aviation covers along the way.
One
thing that has surprised me is the number of people who
approach me during events or trade shows and ask about my
camera equipment. After learning that I shoot exclusively
digital, they ask my opinion on cameras, lenses,
techniques, etc. It's quite flattering. Because of that
(and a bit of prompting from Aeromodeling Editor Bob
Hunt), I've taken to my keyboard to share information
about how to digitally capture model aircraft
successfully.
Not too long ago, digital photos were
considered far inferior to traditional film. Because of
rapid improvements in technology in the past few years,
digital cameras have made huge strides to the point where
digital is nearly the equivalent of film.
When used by a
professional, traditional film is still superior to the
best digital pictures. However, since most camera owners
are not professional photographers, digital photography is
a viable alternative that could be considered when
shooting pictures of model aircraft.
These are styles of digital cameras. Top two are
point-and-shoots. At lower left is SLR style,
which
normally has higher resolution and larger zoom. At lower
right is top-of-the-line,
true SLR with interchangeable
lenses. These have the most features and are the most
expensive.
Digital Terminology:
For someone who is new to digital photography, the
buzzwords and terminology can be confusing. With few
exceptions, the features in today's digital cameras aren't
even an option with traditional film. Following are some
of the most common terms and their definitions.
• Artifacts: These appear in digital images when they are
compressed. You'll see them as clusters of noise that
usually appear as squares. The more the image is
compressed, the more artifacts will be visible.
• Buffer:
Memory in the camera where the digital photo is stored
before being written to the memory card. A large buffer
will allow you to take more photos before the camera
pauses to write them to the memory card.
• Card Reader: An
accessory device that connects to a computer. It allows
you to remove the memory card from your camera and
transfer the pictures into your computer. This is normally
attached via a USB or FireWire port and will transfer
pictures at a much faster rate than using the camera's
built-in data port.
• Charge Coupled Device (CCD): This is
one of the two main types of image sensors used in today's
digital cameras. When the shutter is pressed, the sensor
is struck by light coming in through the camera lens. The
sensor is made up of pixels—in some cases several million.
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