Digital photography hints, tips and FAQ

It's all down to how much you want to be in control. The more in control you are the more creative you can be. Lets look at compacts first.

Compact Cameras...
The number one advantage compact digital cameras have is their size. They're small so they're easy to have with you all the time. They fit neatly into a pocket or hand bag so you've always got a camera handy, so when you see a shot you can just whip it out and shoot, instead of unpacking your kit bag or cussing and swearing because you left your camera at home!

In the past I always felt compacts were very poor quality unless you spent a lot of money. These days however they're leaving that image behind. Lens quality, build, tonal range and image resolution are all superb provided you buy a well known brand like Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Pentax etc. The little Nikon Coolpix D50 pictured above actually has more megapixels than my professional D1X beside it - but don't let megapixels rule your head. Everyone's going on about how many megapixels they have as though more pixels is the only way to go, but to be honest you don't need more than 6 MP unless you're printing big commercial prints or just enjoy filling up your hard drives as quickly as possible! (There's more on Megapixels in the section below on what to look for when buying a digital camera.)

The downside of a compact is that because you can't step in and take complete control when you want to, you won't be able to create some of the most beautiful effects in photography, like controlling aperture for selective focusing, or choosing slow shutter speeds so you have the option to catch movement as a blur or freeze it. Every compact camera I've tried suffers from shutter lag. This is when you press the button but nothing seems to happen for a moment before the picture is taken. If you're photographing people or something on the move you'll almost always miss the moment with a compact.

My main gripe with compact cameras is red eye in flash photographs. Despite manufacturers putting ' red eye reduction' modes onto their cameras, there's almost nothing you can do about it. Red eye is caused by light from the flash reflecting off the blood vessels in the back of the eye. The closer together your lens and flash are the worse the 'red eye' problem becomes.

In a nutshell..

If you're happy for the camera to be in control of the major photographic decisions then compacts are great.

What to look for when buying a digital SLR camera

When you go out to buy a camera - shop like a woman... You know the way you ladies have to fondle fabrics, smell sofas and taste every pair of shoes in the shop? Well, do it with cameras too, and that goes for you rough, trouser-wearing men as well! Have a play with some cameras and see which ones suit you. Compare how they feel in your hand. If, like my partner Jayne, your hands are small, can you reach the dials and controls easily? If your hands are big, are the controls fiddly? Only buy a recognised and well established make of camera. Nikon, Canon,
Minolta, Pentax and Fuji are what most pros go for. Sigma and Sony have been around for years, I have used both Sigma lenses and Sony TV cameras and they're great. All these manufacturers have invested millions of pounds getting good at what they do so exploit it. If you have millions of pounds yourself take a look at a Leica. Don't be tempted by a brand you've never heard of even if it is cheap. Don't let the sales person tell you that you need lots of fancy program modes. Forget about back lit night modes, sports mode, landscape mode, portrait mode etc. They're the domain of very amateur cameras, you don't need them and they'll only confuse you. Even on the little compact digital I take on holiday I never use them. All you need are the main four, aperture priority, shutter priority, full program and manual. Don't get too hung up about how many megapixels your camera has either. 4 megapixels will give you great quality prints up to 6x9 inches. If you're likely to want to make big poster prints then 6 to 10 mp is plenty. My Nikons are 6mp and I can easily print up to 20x16 inches and bigger! GET THIS BECAUSE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. There's a lot of camera and equipment snobbery out there and people spending a fortune on the latest kit. So long as your equipment is good quality it makes little or no difference what it is. It's not the camera that takes great photographs, it's the photographer. If you buy a Hasselblad H3D-39 at £17000 + VAT (not including a lens) you won't get better pictures than you would with a £700 DSLR kit from any of the makers mentioned above. They'll be higher resolution and have fantastic tonal range but they won't be more interesting. I'm sorry if I've ruined your hopes that throwing money into it may be the answer. The cameras I use to make my living, and shoot the pictures to illustrate our photography course 'Digital Photography Exposed', are now all discontinued!! I have two Nikon D1X bodies and a Nikon D70 back up.

Whilst Jen's happily blowing dandelion clocks she's also kind of lost in the mess of pipes and sheds behind her. All you have to do to lose this mess and make Jen the star of the show again is put on a long lens of around 200mm, select a low number aperture such as f5.6 either using aperture priority or manually, frame her a bit closer and take the shot. And that's all there is to it. Photography is so simple once you know these little tricks it's just not true!

In Digital Photography Exposed we'll show you lots more simple but effective tricks like this that will revolutionise your photography forever.