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Digital Cameras:
A Great Marketing Tool
With the rapid advances in digital camera technology,
your camera and computer can provide a very efficient,
relatively inexpensive tool for advertising your
product. No longer do you have to wait for your 35mm
film to be developed, have it lost in the mail, or rely
on a professional photographer. You can take a series
of photos, delete the ones you do not want, edit the
ones you do want, then place them on your web site or
use them for newsletters, posters, and brochures.
Many digital cameras are simple to operate—“point and
shoot.” The downside is, if you are not comfortable
with a computer, the learning curve for loading the
photos into the computer, using photo-manipulation
software, and printing or e-mailing the photos requires
some practice. Results depend on what kind of a
learning curve you willing to accept.
For
those of you who are not yet familiar with digital
photography, here are a few basics.
Equipment
- What kind of camera
do I need?
Digital cameras are available from a few hundred
dollars up to many thousands of dollars. Decide how
much you can spend, then find the camera that will
shoot the highest resolution possible. If you
expect to view your photos on a large 21-inch
computer monitor and your camera will capture only
640x480 pixel images, you will be disappointed.
- Camera resolution is
measured in megapixels.
A “megapixel” is one million pixels. Short for
Picture
Element,
a pixel is a single point in a graphic image. The
term refers to the resolution (sharpness and
clarity) of an image reproduced on a device like
your monitor or printer. For internet work, a
2-megapixel camera that captures images at 1024x768
pixels has enough resolution. People wanting to
make large prints will need cameras with fine enough
resolution for their advanced needs. Three
megapixels 2048x1536 pixels allows you the quality
to print your photos at full-page size.
- Buy a good quality
camera from a reputable maker.
A local camera store should have models on hand for
you to try. Often you can get better deals on the
internet or from a discount store, but remember, if
you need help or customer support, a camera store
may be your best bet. Beginners should look for a
camera that is easy to use and easy to upload
pictures from to their computer.
- Be sure your camera
has
good battery life, can run on rechargeable
batteries, comes with a battery charger, and uses
digital storage media (like compact flash cards)
that are easily obtainable. Do not buy a camera
that uses some type of nonrenewable battery or media
that will be too expensive to replace repeatedly.
Many cameras use rechargeable AA batteries. In an
emergency, AA batteries are easily and cheaply
available.
- Accessories
Light
Depending on whether you shoot inside or outside,
you may need to be sure the camera has a good
flash. Auxiliary flash attachments are also
available.
If you shoot in low light, a tripod is useful.
For small items like jewelry, a light box is
helpful. You can make your own light box from a
cardboard box lined with white material and external
lamps or spot lights so that reflected light hits
all sides of the object to be photographed. There
will be no shadows on your subject or “hot spots”
caused by flash attachments.
Photo Printer
A good quality printer from a well-known company.
Look for one that advertises photo-quality
reproduction. Use only the factory made ink
replacement cartridges specified for your printer
from the printer manufacturer. You will get better
results with high quality photo-reproduction paper.
Storage
Your camera will come equipped with digital storage
media. You may need additional storage cards if you
shoot many photos at one time. Also, remember to
back up your important photos to an external hard
drive, CD, or other media.
- Computer programs
for photo enhancement
Most of the time, your new camera and computer will
come with basic photo editing programs. As time
progresses and your skill and need increases, you
may find need for more advanced programs such as
Adobe PhotoShop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, or Arc Soft
Photo Studio. These same companies also market
handy programs for cataloging and viewing your
photos. A catalog program that I have personally
found indispensable is CompuPic from Photodex
Corporation. With careful photo editing, even if
your pictures aren't perfect, you have a lot of
control to make them better. You can sharpen,
adjust color and contrast, lighten, darken, crop,
and even erase or replace objects or scratches in
the photo.
- Resizing photos for
e-mail
Web reproduction only requires resolution of 72dpi
(dots per inch) in many instances. The quality of
most graphics devices is determined by their resolution—how many points per square inch they
can represent.
Newsprint reproduction requires 100 dpi, and
magazine quality is 300 dpi. Depending upon your
camera, the pictures (files) generated can be very
large. A 2560x1920 pixel image at 300dpi is over
one megabyte in size. In order for these files to
be sent by email or placed on web pages, they must
be resized (made smaller). The same file reduced to
640x480 pixels will be under 100 kilobytes and can
be quickly sent by email. Those sizes are also
appropriate for some web site work. One can have a
small “thumbnail” sized photo that when clicked
upon, will bring up an 800x600-pixel view to show
detail. Most photo-manipulation programs have a
resizing option. Once you have resized the photos
you can e-mail them to clients or your web master.
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