NATURA

Natura
Digital or analogue
For some people changes are not a pleasant thing, the fear of
the unknown sometimes affects a person´s opinion. About
30 years ago when digital cameras came to the market, some
felt conspicuous about this new technique, and even now
when digital cameras are common, easy to access and relatively
cheap, some still prefer the old technique of using films
to take pictures. This can be compared to the fact that some
consider the sound of a vinyl record the only true way of
enjoying music.
When taking notice of writings or discussions on the internet
about digital versus analogue techniques in photography,
soon one discovers that this is almost like a religion. Either
photographers choose analogue photography or they prefer
digital, only a few seem to choose both. When looking at the
subject from a neutral point of view (if that is ever possible)
the first thing that comes to mind is the benefit in digital
photography of having the image on the screen as soon as the
shot has been taken. That gives the photographer the opportunity
to change settings if something does not look right.
No extra cost for buying or developing films is needed when
taking digital images.
LANDSCAPE
Natura
Landscape photography
Similar things must be borne in mind when taking pictures
of landscape whether it is with a digital or analogue camera.
The first thing is to choose where to take the picture, what
does the photographer want to say or show with the picture?
The time of day is important, light conditions are often good
or interesting in dusk or dawn with long shadows that make
more depth in the picture. It is important to be in time at
the place, to be able to choose the composition, look around,
clean up the scene if necessary, think about leading lines, rule
of third and if there is some disturbance in the picture. When
using a digital camera this should be relatively easy, just take
pictures, view them and decide where to position yourself. T
The next thing is to decide the depth of field, and choose
the settings on the camera. The whole scene should be the
subject, so as much as possible should be in focus. If shooting
with a telephoto lens, a decision must be made on how
much to zoom and the effects of zooming on depth of field.
When taking landscape pictures, the depth of the subject
does matter, having distinct foreground, middleground and
background to create a sense of dept. One thing that should
be to considered is the possibility of having a movement in
the picture, when shooting with slow shutter speed having
water running, bird flying or some other movement can add
something extra to the image.
Image 27. Landscape with an analogue camera.
When comparing a digital camera in manual mode to a film
camera the difference in the process of taking the picture is
not so obvious, except that the digital camera does the light
metering for the photographer whereas the analogue photographer
has to meter the amount of light and then choose
the kind of film, aperture, and shutterspeed he thinks will
give the best result. Until recently, the sensor in digital cameras
was not as big as the 35 mm film used in film cameras. The
sensor in digital camera does the same as films in analogue
cameras. Today, many digital cameras are produced as full
frame, meaning that the sensor is as big as the 35 mm film.
The advantage of being able to change the ISO settings when
shooting is obvious, when using a film it is necessary to plan
ahead, decide the choice of film, and take notice of the weather
and time of day when the shooting is to be done.
26 _____natura
Digital cameras have an anti-shake function that enables
sharper images without a tripod. On the other hand, when
light falls on the film the chemicals involved create an extremely
sharp and inverted i.e. negative representation of the
object. The same sharpness cannot be obtained with digital
cameras. As well, noise or the grain when having the ISO
high in digital cameras does not occur in film cameras.
When using a digital camera the result is ready as soon as the
picture is taken, the photographer takes the memory card,
plugs the camera to the computer or connects the camera and
computer in a wireless way. After that the pictures are ready
to be viewed and processed. On the other hand, if taking
pictures with an analogue camera the film must first be finished
and then a rather complicated process has to take place,
including a lot of chemicals and equipment that is specialised
for this process. Many things can go wrong during this stage,
but the advantage is that the person developing the film can
have some creative effects on the final product.
To make the process easier after developing a film, a scanner
can be used to scan the film and by that make it digital. The
quality of the scanner has to be good to retain the quality of
the negative, but some say that there will always be some loss.
As well, when handling the film, fingerprints and dust can
affect the final product so great care must be taken regarding
that. After the scanning, the process of developing the image
can be the same as with pictures taken with digital cameras. In
software like Photoshop it is possible to fix things, change colour
or like is done on the image seen on this page; have a black
and white image colourized.
Image 28. Attenborough Nature Reserve. [Non-marked]
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