When a picture is taken with a traditional camera lens, the picture’s center appears brighter than its edges. This effect is more pronounced with wide angle lenses and long telephotos and is known as vignetting or light fall-off. Vignetting can occur by accident, which negatively impacts a photograph’s quality or the photographer may purposely do it to achieve a desired effect. Why does Vignetting Matter? When a minor or major fall-off in light results from the vignetting effect, it dramatically impacts the way people perceive the picture. The photographer’s original Read More

Many people want all of their pictures to have perfect quality but rely solely on the camera to make it happen. Others understand that it is not the camera but the photographer that makes pictures great but do not know how to do so. This article will explore several aspects of quality picture-taking that the majority of photographers-in-training ignore while expecting their camera to do all of the hard work. Get A Good Camera The first thing to do in order to take good pictures is to purchase a good Read More

Stereoscopy refers to any technique that creates the illusion of depth in an image or recording 3D visual information. The term stereo originates from the Greek word that means “relating to space” and traditionally refers to audio. In the modern sense, stereoscopy is associated with stereoscopic pictures that are photographed or drawn. It has evolved to include video games and film, but “3D” has supplanted it where stereoscopic video or imagery is concerned. Cues Used in Stereoscopic Vision The human brain uses a number of cues in order to view Read More

Light-field cameras use multiple lenses to create a single image. All the lenses simultaneously take a snapshot of the same scene, though each lens has a different focus. Traditional cameras usually have an enclosed, hollow chamber with an opening at one end – the aperture and the lens – that allows light to enter; they also have a recording surface on the other end – the sensor – that undergoes changes when exposed to light and captures the image. The image output of single-lens cameras has, by necessity, only one Read More

Cameras come in many different forms and variants and can include a wide variety of features. All cameras can be used in the same manner, however, and mostly rely on the photographer to take good pictures. The photographer does this through a combination of angles, distances, focus, and lighting. A good camera and lots of practice helps as well. The following will detail each of the aforementioned attributes and provide tips for getting the most quality use out of any camera. Angle The first step to taking good pictures is Read More

A 35mm slide scanner is a device that reads camera slides and negatives and converts them into digital images. Most 35mm slide scanners have a built-in printer that allows the user to print high quality photographs in the comfort of his/her own home. 35mm slide scanners are a more efficient, convenient, and cost-effective method of printing high quality photographs. While 35mm slide scanners require the user to purchase ink and photographic paper, they reduce the cost of printing by eliminating the need to pay someone else to do the same Read More

Despite the significant increase in storage capacity on memory cards in digital cameras, most camera owners still want to transfer pictures from their camera to their personal computer. Once transferred, the pictures can be archived to guard against data loss, uploaded to social media sites, or further manipulated for printing or sharing with friends and family. The three most common methods of transferring pictures are 1) directly connecting the camera to the computer, 2) using an external memory card reader, or 3) directly inserting the memory card into a built-in Read More

A chromatic aberration or distortion is a disturbance in an optical image in which colors tend to blend together and distort the image. Chromatic aberrations are produced because lenses have a different refractive index or the spot in which a beam of light is focused, for each wavelength of light. Chromatic aberrations can occur anywhere in an image, but are most common around boundaries that separate dark areas from light areas. Chromatic aberrations cause problems for many different sections of the art and photography industry and several techniques challenge them. Read More

A manual camera is a device that captures an image by focusing light on a photo-sensitive material. Manual cameras are generally portable and may be reused (unlike a disposable camera), but use film (unlike a digital camera). Manual cameras range in size and cost, depending on its specific capabilities. While manual cameras are considered outdated technology, they are still widely used today. However, manual cameras are usually reserved for professional photography, crime scene investigations, and similar industry-specific applications. How Manual Cameras Work Unlike digital cameras that convert light into pixel Read More

A digital camera is a portable camera that electronically captures an image by recording photons of light as they come in contact with a sensor inside the camera. While a traditional camera records an image through chemical reactions, a digital camera records an image by converting individual colors of light into corresponding numerical pixel values, ranging between 0 and 255. Digital cameras are used for capturing images, recording videos, and communicating. The Basics of a Digital Camera The manual camera requires a film to store the images that were shot. Read More