Articles: "Digital: A Personal Perspective"

Part 1: Try, try and try again...

Introduction

This is the very first article that I'm publishing on PhotographyBLOG, and it's one that explores a well-worn theme; the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography. So why should you continue reading? Well, this article has a strong personal slant, with real-life examples, sample photographs and my personal opinions; it aims to be an amateur photographer's take on things. Failing that, it also shows what the Canon EOS 10D camera is capable of...

Background

I've been interested in photography for about 2-3 years and bought a Canon EOS 300 film SLR as my first serious camera. I've just completed a City & Guilds Photography - Level 2 course, which was entirely film-based. In April 2003 I decided to buy a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR.

Part 1 of this article is called "Try, try and try again". Since April I've taken 1,992 photographs with the Canon 10D. That's about 55 rolls of 36-exposure film in the space of 2 months. Before that, using my film SLR camera, I estimate that I would have used between 20 to 30 rolls of film in the same period of time.

So why have I suddenly started taking so many more photographs? Well, the novelty of having a new camera may have something to do with it. Also, visiting Belgium in May accounted for about 700 of those 1,992 photos. But I think the biggest reasons are the instant feedback that digital offers, coupled with knowing that each photograph is financially free of charge.

In Practice

I'm going to illustrate both of these points with a practical example from Sunday 22nd June, when I visited a local Summer Festival in North London.

I was sitting watching the Barnet Band perform their music when two small girls ran ahead of their mother and stopped in front of me, hand-in-hand, to also watch the band. A great photographic opportunity if ever there was one! I quickly picked up my camera and took 6 shots, which are shown in sequence below.

Frame #1	Frame #2	Frame #3
Frame #4	Frame #5	Frame #6

I started off in landscape format but realised that chopping off the legs of the girls wasn't the best compositional idea!

Switching to portrait format in Frame 3 produced an image that was much nearer the mark, but this is where digital helped to improve the end result. With film I probably would have just taken Frame 3 and moved on to the next subject. With digital I was able to quickly review Frame 3 and realise that the subject's feet and arms were all leaving the edge of the picture. I then zoomed out slightly and shot Frame 4, which includes all of the subject, resulting in a more powerful and effective image.

A near-miss was turned into a successful image because I was able to instantly review the photograph. I was undoubtedly fortunate that the 2 girls didn't run off or change position, and this technique obviously won't suit those once in a lifetime moments, but it only took a couple of seconds to review Frame 3 and realise that it could be improved.

I'm not sure why I then switched back to landscape format for the last two frames, because it obviously doesn't work very well. I think I was trying to position the girls at one side of the photograph, with the brass band in view at the other side. What's important is that I was trying out a new idea and not worrying at all about wasting film and money. The girls ran off to their mother after Frame 6, but I knew that I already taken one successful picture by that point. With film I wouldn't have been quite so certain.

Conclusion

Being able to take as many photographs as I like to try out new angles, viewpoints and ideas, without having to even think about how much the development costs will be, and being able to instantly review and refine what I've taken, are two of the biggest advantages that I've discovered so far of using a digital SLR. I've taken more photographs than I would have done with film, and I've taken a greater number of successful photographs than I would have done with film, which surely at the end of the day is the most important point.

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* All images were taken with the Canon EOS 10D and Canon 70-200mm F/4 L lens. The only post-processing that has been applied is resizing the images to 600x400 pixels.