THE DIGITAL CAMERA

With film cameras, photographic control was limited to an elite few who had
access to darkrooms. For the rest of us, once we'd taken our pictures, control lay
with the photo lab. We handed in our film and got back a packet of prints and
negatives, or a box of slides.

We couldn't easily enlarge just a section of the picture, crop out the parts (or
people) we didn't want, make the sky more blue or the snow more white. But we
can do all that - and much more - with digital cameras. We can resize and crop
our images, eliminate red-eye, brighten the colors, print only what we want, send
pictures by email or share them over the Web with whoever we want, whenever
we want.

We can see instantly whether the picture is worth keeping and take it again if the
subject's eyes are closed or they look like they've got a pot plant growing from
their head.

Near Zero Costs

And, of course, once you've bought your digital camera, your photography costs
are near zero. C'mon - you can't ask for much greater incentive than that if
you're still debating whether to go digital!

The only downside I can think of is that digital cameras are different in important
ways from film cameras, so you need to do some homework, read up a bit and
experiment to get maximum value from your camera.

As an alternative, or in addition, to finding relevant information in the many

books on the subject, you can read on the Web what others are saying and
sharing about their experience of using digital cameras.

I've scoured the 'Net for the best digital camera articles and selected those that I
believe are relevant, accurate and offer valuable advice, tips, and information on
topics that relate to digital cameras and photography.

I hope by reading them you will be assisted in your purchasing decisions, become
a better photographer, and gain more enjoyment from both your photography
and digital camera equipment.