Capturing the Little Things With Your Digital Camera Macro Mode

Have you ever wondered how a photographer gets such clear, detailed photos of things like flowers or insects?  Capturing such close-up pictures is most often done with a setting that comes as an option on many digital cameras–the macro setting.

What the macro setting on your camera essentially does is focus on a very small area.  The background often appears unfocused to further bring out your intended subject.  Getting in close to capture all the detail of a small object is nearly impossible with the regular setting on a camera.  Anything closer than about three feet becomes blurred.  The macro setting changes the distance your camera will be able to focus and often allows you to take clear pictures from as close as two or three inches.

This camera mode allows for a lot of experimenting.  Try taking a picture of a bee sitting on a flower petal or a close-up of frost on the window.  You will be amazed at the details brought out.  You will be able to almost feel the furriness of the bee and the ice crystals are beautiful.

If you are planning to sell at online auctions, a macro setting on your camera will help with taking better pictures–and better pictures help with sales.  You can take close-up photos of such objects as stamps and coins, show the engraving on an object or allow a viewer to see that a piece of jewelry is flawless.

Don’t save your photo taking for big events exclusively.  Take a walk and notice the little things like the pattern on a tree trunk or an ant carrying a bread crumb twice his size.  There are interesting photos everywhere once you start to look, and the macro mode on your digital camera is the perfect tool for capturing them.

What Is the White Balance Setting on my Digital Camera?

Have you ever taken a picture of a beautiful winter scene and been disappointed to discover the crisp, white snow came out with a bluish tint?  This is the kind of situation your digital camera’s white balance is meant to prevent.

The white balance is a sensor that analyzes the lighting conditions and colors of a scene and adjusts so the white in the picture appears white.  This helps insure the other colors appear as natural as possible. This is one advantage digital photography has over tradition film.  With film, you buy with a certain lighting condition in mind.  If that changes, you need to either change your film or hope you can fix any errors in post-production.

Most digital cameras allow you to use either automatic white balance or choose between several preset conditions such as full sun, cloudy day and so forth.  Automatic white balance will work in most conditions.  There may be times, however when you want to “warm” up a picture to enhance the color, such as for portraits or sunsets.  The best way to do this is  set your camera’s white balance to “cloudy”.  This will deepen the colors and add a glowing quality to portraits.  It will take a beautiful sunset and enhance it to the point of incredible.

Practice taking the same photo with different white balance settings to get a feel for the changes each setting evokes. Keep notes until you have a good idea of what each setting does.  In time, you will come to automatically sense which setting is best for your particular situation.

White balance is a small setting that can make big changes in your finished photos.  Make it your friend and you will no longer have to worry about faded sunsets or blue snow.

Red Eye and Your Digital Camera

You’ve seen the dreaded demon-eye effect that occurs when the camera flash bounces off the eye of a person or pet.  An otherwise wonderful picture can be ruined by this.  Technically, this is called red-eye and is caused when the pupil of your subject’s eye is wide open and the light from the camera’s flash reflects off the subjects retina.  In people, the color ends up red; in pets, the color is often green.

Many photo editing programs include a red-eye correction filter, but this may not allow your photograph subject to appear “normal.  These filters also do not work on the green effect produced in a pet’s eyes.  Photo stores sell pens that are used to clear up red-eye, but again they are not always natural-looking and do not work on the green.  The best thing is to prevent the demon-eye effect from the start.

It is rare to find a digital camera that does not come with a red-eye reduction feature.  This feature can be turned off or on.  It is best left on in all circumstances other than direct sunlight.  The red-eye reduction feature works by flashing a short burst of light at your subject before you snap the picture.  This burst of light causes the subject’s pupil to close and makes it less likely for the camera’s flash to reflect off the retina. This in turn reduces the chance of red-eye.

It also helps to direct the flash of your camera so it does not directly hit your subject’s eyes.  Bouncing the flash off a nearby wall or other object will soften its effect and reduce the chances of this unwanted malady.  Between bouncing the flash and using your digital camera’s red-eye reduction feature, your little angel, whether human or animal, will have eyes that don’t glow.

Nikon D40 6.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Review

The Nikon D40 Digital SLR Camera continues to be a solid value in the DSLR marketplace. With a range of features that blow away the competition, anyone can take great pictures with ease.  The price is also enticing, with most body and lens combos starting in the $400 price range.

Anyone who wants to move beyond the standard point and shoot experience will be more than impressed by the D40 and the great photos it takes.  Add a Nikkor zoom lens and a couple of filters and the Nikon D40 is the only camera you’ll need for years to come.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is about the number of megapixels needed when purchasing a new camera.  The D40 is capable of taking pictures at a 6.1 megapixel, or 3008 x 2000 resolution, enough to print quality 14 x 19 inch photos.

Product Features

* 6.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 14 x 19-inch prints
* Kit includes 3x 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens
* 2.5-inch LCD with three display options; built-in flash and hot shoe
* Fast startup with instant shutter response; shoot at up to 2.5 frames per second
* Powered by one rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL9 (included); stores images on SD memory cards (memory card not included)

Technical Details

* Image Resolution: 3008×2000 pixels
* Image Resolution: 2,256 x 1,496
* Image Resolution: 1,504 x 1,000
* Storage Media: Secure Digital
* Storage Media: SDHC
* Compressed Format: DPOF
* Compressed Format: EXIF 2.21
* Compressed Format: Compliant DCF 2.0
* Focal Length: 1.5 times lens focal length
* Focus Mode: Single Area AF
* Focus Mode: Dynamic Area AF
* Focus Mode: Dynamic Area AF with Closest Subject Priority
* Optical Viewfinder: Fixed-eyelevel penta-Dach mirror type
* LCD Monitor: 2.5-inches

Nikon D40 Highlights

Extraordinary Nikon image quality The D40’s high-resolution image quality is made possible by Nikon’s high-performance 6.1 megapixel Nikon DX format CCD imaging sensor and exclusive Nikon image processing engine which assures stunning sharpness and color.

Easy operation with intuitive controls Intuitive controls make the D40 point-and-shoot simple, enabling even first-time SLR users to capture beautiful memories perfectly.

Nikon’s smallest digital SLR ever At just over 16 ounces, the beautifully styled and compact D40 makes high-performance digital SLR photography easier and more convenient than ever.

The D40 is capable of shooting 2.5 frames per second

Fast startup with instant shutter response: Fast startup combined with super-fast shutter response and rapid-action shooting at up to 2.5 frames per second makes it easy to freeze special moments instantly.

Includes 3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens Designed exclusively for use with Nikon DX-format digital SLRs, this ultra-compact 3x zoom offers Nikkor sharpness and versatility in a wide variety of shooting situations.

Shoot at up to 2.5 frames per second The D40 can fire continuously at a speed of up to 2.5 frames per second, capturing high-quality action sequences of children in sporting activities such as soccer, baseball and much more.

2.5-inch color LCD monitor with 3 colorful display options Playback images are easy to see, and function menus are easier to use with a larger and brighter color LCD monitor. The large 2.5-inch LCD monitor enables image preview at up to 19 times magnification and has large type fonts and easy-to-view menus as well as three all-new display options: Classic, Graphic and Wallpaper.

High-performance 6.1-megapixel Nikon DX format CCD imaging sensor Nikon’s DX format CCD image sensor delivers vivid color and sharp detail, great for making beautifully detailed enlargements of 16 x 20 inches and beyond. High resolution also provides room for creative cropping.

In-camera editing functions include red-eye removal

In-camera image editing Highly versatile in-camera editing features include Nikon D-Lighting, Red-Eye Correction, Image Trimming, Image Overlay, Monochrome (Black and White, Sepia and Cyanotype) along with Skylight, Warm Tone and Color Balance filter effects. These features provide greater creative freedom without the need for a computer, for those who prefer to send pictures directly to a printer.

New advanced HELP menu system with Assist Images The D40’s newly introduced “assist images” help you select the appropriate settings for many camera features by showing an example image typical of that setting as well as an advanced HELP Menu for the current item selected. The D40’s Question Mark icon (?) indicates that help is available for the currently selected item; just press the help button beside the LCD monitor to see a context sensitive help page.

Fast, accurate 3-area Autofocus The D40’s advanced 3-area AF system and the refined algorithms inherited from more advanced Nikon digital SLR cameras deliver fast, efficient and precise autofocus. AF refinements deliver greater precision with fast, more consistent subject acquisition and improved focus tracking for consistently sharper pictures.

Enjoy easy in-camera optimization

Image Optimization Options The D40’s Image Optimize setting lets photographers adjust color, contrast and sharpening as well as other image settings according to the type of scene or output desired. Settings include: Normal, Softer, Vivid, More Vivid, Portrait, Custom and Black and White, each of which are automatically adjusted based on sophisticated Nikon algorithms or user-selected settings for optimum results.

Built-in Speedlight with i-TTL automatic flash control Nikon’s innovative i-TTL flash control evaluates flash exposure with incredible precision to achieve better automatic flash balance and deliver outstanding results. The built-in Speedlight is always at the ready and brings beautiful exposures in darkened conditions as well as adding sparkle for fill flash in outdoor situations for enhanced twilight shots or an added impact to daylight images.

Bright, accurate SLR viewfinder A large viewfinder makes composition easier, and overall viewfinder brightness makes focusing in low-light photography possible. Its bright and sharp viewfinder, with 0.8x magnification, ensures precise composition.

Automatic exposure with 8 Digital-Vari Program Modes Eight Digital Vari-Program Modes include: Auto Flash-OFF, Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close Up or Night Portrait, each of which adjusts automatically for optimal results under varied conditions.

Nikon 3D Color Matrix Metering II The D40’s 3D Color Matrix Metering II evaluates each scene for brightness, color, contrast, size and position of shadows and highlights, selected focus area and camera-to-subject distance, comparing that information against an onboard database of more than 30,000 actual photographic scenes.

The bottom line is that the Nikon D40 DSLR is a solid choice for consumers and pro-sumers alike.  The legendary Nikon quality shines through with every photo you take.  The wealth of accessories and ability to use Nikkor lenses and a range of filters make this a suitable camera for a wide range of uses.

Find Out More about the Nikon D40 Digital SLR Camera

Digital Camera Memory Cards

Does it really make a difference what size memory card you use? To your camera, no; to you, however, it could mean the difference between getting the picture you want or running out of space on your memory card.

When choosing the most logical size, take into account how many pictures you usually take at a time. Your needs if you are a world traveler will be different from those of a person who only uses a camera for holiday get-togethers. You also need to decide how big the files are of the pictures you take. Smaller files such as pictures for online will take less space and enable you to fit more on a card. Larger files for printing will need more room.

If you have a 2 mega-pixel camera, 128MB is usually enough. For a 3 or 4-megapixel
camera, a 128MB or 256MB memory card is usually plenty. For a 5-megapixel camera, start with a 256MB memory card.

Here’s a rough guideline of how many pictures a flash memory card can hold:

*A 128MB flash memory card can store about 21-41 large, uncompressed images or up to 100 small, compressed images. This is good enough for most photographic needs.

*A 256MB card will store about twice that, 42-82 large pictures and nearly 200 smaller ones. Important events like weddings and once in a lifetime events might warrant this size just to make sure you don’t miss that one special moment.

A 1GB card has room for nearly 4 times as much as a 256MB card, If you are planning a long vacation with a lot of picture taking, this might be best with the capacity to hold 168-328 large images and a total of close to 800 smaller images.

Whatever you decide, remember you can always use several smaller cards and just change them when they are full. It only takes a few seconds to switch memory cards, so don’t panic if you don’t have a large memory card.

Next Page »