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Newfangled vs. Old-fashioned:
Technology in the photography world
By: Sarah King, SNN Reporter
Amalgamated Academy
Bay Roberts, NF
Kodak, Apple, Sony, Epson. All
four of these well known photography companies have recently
entered into the digital photography world. As Bruce Lane says,
digital photography is the way of the future. Lane was the presenter
of a session entitled "Digital Photography" at Stem~Net's
annual Hook, Line, and Net conference in Clarenville. Lane focused
on the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography versus
35 mm photography.
A digital camera has the capabilities
to make even the worst photographer appear to be a pro. With
photo manipulation software such as Photo Paint and Adobe software,
you can crop, paint, sharpen and even change the lighting on
all of your favorite digital photographs. You can zoom to a closeness
of one inch with the zoom technology available to the digital
world. To view the photographs, there is an immediate still photo
left in the viewfinder/video screen on the camera. Lane recommends
using a digital camera with students as young as grade 2. He
says that the school, the parents, and most definitely the students
can benefit from the experience that they are gaining by using
these cameras as a learning tool. One of Lane's favorite uses
for a digital camera is to create screen savers using an application
called Screen Paver. Of course, there are also the most obvious
reasons for choosing digital over 35 mm. It's cheap, it's fast
and, it is accessible to almost anyone.
But, to every rule, there is
an exception. In this case, the pros out-weigh the cons, but
the cons exist none the less. A digital camera has a flash of
only 8ft. compared to a 150 ft. flash on a regular camera, this
increases the need to "really put the camera in someone's
face". Also, to save pictures from the camera to a disk
takes approximately 10 seconds. This means that you can't take
pictures one right after the other. Also, pictures that are professionally
developed compared to pictures that are printed on an ink-jet
printer from a digital camera are much higher in quality.
As with all things you must choose
the kind of camera that best suits your needs. Lane feels that
digital cameras are the way of the future, but if you do not
feel confident with the new technology, stick with your old 35
mm camera.
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