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CHAPTER 1 : BEFORE YOU SHOOT ■
Important Features for Architecture and Landscape Photography—Chapters 7 and 8
Up to this point I have not brought up image quality as an issue. However, when you
turn your lens to landscapes and architecture photography, image quality becomes a
critical part of the success of your work. Not only does the camera you use need to
have the capability to produce high-quality images, but you also need to know how to
get the most quality out of it. This subject is dealt with in great detail in Chapters 7
and 8. Higher pixel counts in excess of 5 megapixels are definitely a plus. World-class
optics are also important. You’ll want more camera controls—including, ideally, both
exposure and white-balance bracketing. You’ll also want the ability to save your image
files in a variety of file formats, including the extremely versatile RAW data format,
which you’ll hear a lot about throughout the book.
Considerations for Shooting Black and White—Chapter 9
Black-and-white photography is experiencing a renaissance. Beyond the obvious—a
black-and-white picture is often simply more beautiful than a color version—black-and-
white images stand out in a world saturated with color images; even though some digi-
tal cameras boast a “black and white” mode, you can produce great black-and-white
photos with just about any digital camera. In Chapter 9 I’ll show you how.
Important Features for Tabletop and Close-up Photography—Chapter 10
You’ll see in Chapter 10, “Shooting Your Stuff,” that shots of inanimate objects under
natural light can be made successfully with just about any digital camera. However, for
more flexibility and ease of use with studio lights, certain features in a digital camera
are desirable. For example, a digital camera with a PC synch outlet for a strobe trip
cord is very handy. Nearly all professional digital cameras and many (but not all)
prosumer-level digital cameras have one. Not so with consumer-level digital cameras—
they almost never have one. There are workarounds if your digital camera lacks this
outlet, as we see in Chapter 10. An accurate viewfinder is always helpful when shooting
objects. Only SLR digital cameras or cameras with electronic viewfinders have accurate
viewfinders. The workaround to this is to use the LCD display for framing, but this
uses a lot of battery power. Macro lens capabilities can be critical, especially if you are
shooting small objects such as coins and stamps. Close-up attachments are an option,
but sometimes they are cumbersome and not nearly as effortless to use as a digital cam-
era with a good macro lens. Wide-ranging zoom capabilities are also useful. Longer-
than-normal focal lengths flatten perspective, which is often desirable. Wide-angle
capabilities are also useful.
Important Features for Shooting Minimovies and Panoramas—Chapter 11
Not all digital cameras offer a minimovie option. Ironically, the more expensive the dig-
ital camera or the more professional it is, the less likely it is that the camera will have
the capabilities of capturing these short but extremely useful full-motion sequences.
After you read, “Shooting Digital Minimovies” in Chapter 11, I think you will agree
that having this capability is extremely attractive.
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