Re: How Much Resolution Do You Need

Mike,

As Jerry noted, you definitely don't need a pro camera to get good photos. Most of the consumer-level DSLRs and the better point-and-shoot cameras can get you awesome photos. It's just a matter of how much time/effort you might want to invest in improving your shooting technique and if you want to take the time to post-process your photos to make them the best they can be.

From a shooting perspective, the key things are focus, exposure and composition. The first should be handled well by your camera, IF you invest the time to make sure that the focus point is on your main subject. The camera manual is your best friend with respect to using auto-focus.

I find that most people who are not professionals or serious enthusiasts tend to also rely upon the camera for proper exposure. In this area, most cameras can't do it entirely on their own. They need some help from the person behind the lens. Using the appropriate metering mode can help your camera get the exposure at least close to correct. Close is probably good enough if you are shooting in the camera's native raw format, because you have some latitude to adjust, and you can recover highlights that are mildly overexposed. If you are shooting JPEG and you want dynamite photos, you've got to nail the exposure pretty closely, or at the very least, you've got to be sure that the highlights are not overexposed, because on a JPEG, highlights that are overexposed to any significant degree are not recoverable. You'll get a photo with a subject that looks properly exposed, but a sky that is either pure white or a very unnatural-looking pale blue.

Learning exposure is not difficult. You can break yourself of the auto-exposure habit in less than a day with some concentrated practice. Google the term "histogram" and do some reading about how to use your camera's histogram to achieve proper exposure. You can then either continue to use an auto-exposure mode and employ exposure compensation, or you can decide to shoot totally manual, in which you choose the ISO, the shutter speed and the aperture (f-stop). Either way, it is not hard. The secret is to take test shots. When you are waiting for a train, take a test shot of the scene without the train and look at your histogram. Use shutter speed or aperture to adjust the exposure up or down and take another test shot. When it looks good, shoot with those settings when the train comes unless the light changes. If that happens, rinse and repeat on the test shots. After a while, you'll get a feel for how to use your camera's metering system so you won't need many test shots. You'll also get a feel for what settings to use in common lighting situations. For instance, in bright sun, I'm at 1/640th at f/8 and ISO 200. In really bright sun, I might be at 1/800th. I start there and adjust as needed.

I maintain that with digital, anyone who wants to learn how to take technically good photos....properly exposed and sharply focused....can indeed learn how and it doesn't take long. Now....taking artful photos with really compelling compositions, that's a different story. Some of us may never get that part figured out.

/Kevin Madore



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2018 12:30PM by KevinM.