Now you can compose and view the exact picture you’re going to take, using your camera’s full liquid crystal display

(LCD) screen. Review the picture an instant after pressing the shutter. If your computer is nearby, you can upload it seconds later, view a super-large version on your display, crop, enhance, and then make your own sparkling full-color print — all within minutes!

When you go digital, you never need to buy film or wait while your photos are processed in a lab. You decide which images to print and how large to make them. You can display your digital photographic work framed on your wall or displayed proudly over your fireplace. You can make wallet-size photos, send copies to friends in e-mail, or create an online gallery that can be viewed by relatives and colleagues over the Web.

Digital photography gives you the power to take pictures on a whim, or to create careful professional quality work that others might be willing to pay for. The choices are all yours, and digital photography puts all the power in your hands. All you need is a little information on how to choose and use your tools, and how to put them to work. The most exciting thing is how rapidly the technology is changing to bring you new capabilities and features that you can use to improve your pictures.

Taking pictures with a digital camera:

Some differences in technique are required, as the digital image data is captured in a manner that is different from a film camera.  Most digital cameras have a shutter that will make settings of focus and contrast when the shutter button is half-way down, and this process may add a delay to the time before the shutter operates.

When looking through a viewer, it is desirable to have a digital screen in the eyepiece viewer.  One reason this is important is to ensure that certain types of scenes will retain the color elements correctly.  U should be aware that many digital cameras can do poorly with scenes such as sunrises if they point the camera at the foreground slightly below the horizon and in line with the sun before pressing the shutter.  This may result in an image that shows none of the color or brightness of the sky.  However, if you use the shutter button to pre-focus (and pre-contrast) on the sky, and hold the shutter button half-way down as your re-direct the camera toward the preferred framing direction, you will see if the colorful features in the sky will be retained in the picture.

Picasa is a photo program that allows users to view and arrange photos with ease. Organization can be quite challenging for novices and experts alike, especially when one has a vast photograph collection. Picasa helps users to develop organization out of chaos. Although the organization of photos is a draw for some users the program’s main focus is its photo-editing capabilities. While viewing a picture in an established album, Picasa can allow the user to edit the picture and save a copy within the same folder. The examples of photo editing are red-eye fix, color or lighting. The program has an auto correct tool which is great for novice users that will auto correct light, shading, and color. Photos can be automatically be changed to different styles such as black and white, sepia, or focus on a particular color within the picture. Users can also create collages and fun video shows along with adding photo text to their favorite pictures.

Picasa is an excellent photo editing and organizational software tool for users to download. It allows for a lot of manipulation of images. It is fairly user-friendly and it is updated regularly.

Once a person has found the camera they want to use, the best way to get comfortable with it besides reading and mastering the manual is to experiment with it. If you’ve got kids, pets, or pretty scenery, it is easy to get comfortable with the camera. Try using it indoors, outdoors, and to photograph children, pets or friends.

If you have children, they can make the best models. Sometimes the best pictures of people come when they are acting natural and not posing. Have them act natural or play while you find different angles and positions to shoot them in.

A good basic rule of photo composition is the rule of thirds which is prevalent through out the visual arts. A photograph or painting often appears more appealing to the eye if this rule is adhered to. In the case of photography, this can mean shooting one-third sky, two thirds ground. It can also mean shooting with your subject matter placed centrally in the frame, and they will essentially take up one-third of the frame and background can take up two thirds, one third on either side.

The beauty of photography is that a person can be as novice or as expert as they want. The equipment one uses can range from simple use of a point and shoot camera to a DSLR with several different lenses, flashes, and even use of extra lighting.