Recently, I attended a party where the subject turned to digital photography. Someone asked me, "Dave, what question do you get asked more than any other?" I considered the possibilities, then decided it had to be: "Did your nose always look like that, or did you get in some sort of accident as a child?"
Then I remembered the subject was photography and realized I had an inbox full of just this sort of thing. So this week, let's flush out the virtual mailbag and answer your most common queries.
As always, you can send me your questions. I can't respond to all of them, but I do try to answer as many as possible. The most interesting questions--and the ones with the widest appeal--appear here in Digital Focus. (And no, I'm not fielding any questions about my nose.)
Tripod Recommendations
I am shopping for a tripod. Do you have any recommendations?
--Jason Hall, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Yes, Jason I do. When shopping for a tripod, I highly recommend getting a model with a quick-release connection that lets you pop the camera on and off with the pull of a small lever. This way, it takes just a second to get your camera and tripod in position to take a photo, and--just as important--you can take it apart almost instantly when you're done shooting. If you get an inexpensive tripod without a quick release, you may not actual use the tripod because it's too much trouble.
Another feature to look for: a ball head. Tripod heads come in several different flavors, but I like ball heads because they maintain a grip on your camera while you're moving the camera around--and you don't have to tighten a slew of controls. The benefit? Light tension keeps your camera from moving while you fine-tune the framing of your shot, and then you can tighten the head when you are ready to shoot. Other heads will flop around unless you keep a hand on the camera at all times. Ball heads cost a bit more, but they're extremely convenient. Go to the Markins site for some options.
Taking Infrared Photos
I'd like to take infrared photos. How do I know if my camera can "see" in infrared?
--Terry Carr, Salina, Kansas
That's a good question, because many digital cameras are rendered blind to infrared light via a filter installed in the factory. But checking is a piece of cake: Just point any standard remote control (like the one for your TV) at the camera, press a button, and look through the camera's viewfinder or at the LCD. If you see a light coming out of the remote, you're good.
From there, it's a matter of adding an infrared filter to your camera. For information on this, read my article, "Take Wild, Weird Infrared Photos."
Want to make your own infrared filter? TechEBlog has a short video that teaches you the basics.
Resize and Edit Photos for Free
I wish to send photos by e-mail but they take ages to dispatch and just as long to open at the other end. Can you recommend a free program to compress photos and do simple editing?
--Angela D., Bellevue, Washington
I have two suggestions for you, Angela.
When it comes to making your photos smaller for e-mail, keep in mind that you won't have much luck compressing the files. Digital photos--especially JPEG images--are already highly compressed. Instead, you should resize them. Specifically, you should make a smaller copy of the original photos (leaving the originals intact) and e-mail the resized copies. Since they're smaller, they'll take much less time to send and receive. Windows XP has a resizing tool built right in. Just select your photos, right-click, and choose Send To Mail Recipient from the menu. Then let Windows resize the photo for e-mail.
For editing, one of the most popular free programs around is called Irfanview. It has a surprising number of editing and viewing tools for a program that costs, well, nothing. You can get it from the PC World Downloads library.
Saving JPEG Files
This question has been driving me nuts for some time. My digital camera doesn't let me create pictures in any format except JPEG. Once I have uploaded those photos to my hard drive, I obviously want to open them for viewing. I know I should work with a copy when editing but I would like to know if just opening (and closing) a JPEG for viewing causes data loss.
--John Gildea, Reno, Nevada
You're in luck, John. JPEGs incur a loss of quality only when you resave them--think of it like making a copy of a copy, and each successive copy is always imperfect. If you open it in a viewer, you're not resaving the photo, so no loss occurs.
Read my Digital Photo Tips column for more on file formats.
Hot Pic of the Week
Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.
Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.
This Week's Hot Pic: "Take Off," by John Iwasz, Philadelphia
John writes: "This is one of my favorite photos that I've taken with my Canon 20D. I was at the Pennsylvania State Fair for a BMX bike show. The performers did jump after jump--enough for me to get in some practice with action photography. After a few tests, I set my ISO to 400 and put the camera in burst mode so I was able to take about five shots a second. At that point, I was able to capture this fellow with his arms outstretched, giving the appearance of taking off into the wild blue yonder."
See all the Hot Pic of the Week photos online.
Have a digital photo question? Send me your comments, questions, and suggestions about the newsletter itself. And be sure to sign up to have the Digital Focus Newsletter e-mailed to you each week.
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