Let's start with the basics. Digital photography does not require film. When you use a digital camera you no longer need to buy film or visit the one-hour photo shop to get your pictures. Your pictures are captured by the camera and saved on some kind of digital storage device. Currently, popular storage media for digital cameras are (in no particular order)

• SmartMedia cards,
• CompactFlash cards,
• Memory Sticks and good old "floppy" diskettes.

Taking photos with a digital camera differs a little from a traditional film camera. Although they've been getting better, it's more difficult to be precise about capturing photos at the instant you want. There is a slight lag from the time you push the shutter button until the image is captured.
Furthermore, it's difficult to capture multiple images in rapid succession since it takes a moment for the camera to record each image before starting on another. Most digital cameras have a "burst" mode to shoot pictures rapid-fire, but these are low-resolution images; not the best for framing.

If your photographic requirements are to capture a skier upside-down in the Olympic Freestyle Competition you'ld better stick with a traditional film camera. The ones with auto-film-winders put digital cameras to shame in this regard.

Getting a little more technical, when deciding on a new digital camera, resolution should be the primary concern. A few years ago, in their infancy, expensive digital cameras barely captured a million pixels of data (one megapixel). The resulting photos were inadequate for most purposes.
In the new millennium, the affordable standard seems to be about two megapixels. Better, but still not the quality of resolution you can achieve with traditional film. High-end consumer digital cameras now capture about three megapixels which is approaching the quality you would expect in order to be able to print your photos at full-page size. Recent advances suggest we'll soon be able to capture six, eight, ten or more megapixel images with reasonably affordable cameras. However, computer storage constraints will prevent this from being practical.

Most folks like to have prints of their photos to take to the party and show around. In its infancy this has been a problem for digital photography. It's very easy to show off your photos on the computer, but how many of us carry a computer in our pockets?
There are inexpensive ink jet printers now to plug your memory card and push a button for a print of each photo on the card. Software improvements simplify this process allowing one to eliminate the unwanted images before the printing process begins. At this point, it's not quite as easy to get a handful of digital prints as it has been with film at your one-hour processor, but soon it will be.

There are positive aspects of digital photography. Have you ever received your prints from the film processing lab only to be very disappointed in their quality? You know you took some great shots but the prints are either washed out or too dark. Well with digital, you pretty much see on screen exactly what the camera saw when you pressed the shutter release button. You're no longer at the mercy of the photo print making machine that spits them out in assembly line fashion with no regard for your photographic talent.

As always it's possible to make mistakes, like shooting toward the sun, overcompensating for tough lighting conditions, holding your finger in front of the lens, or moving the camera while snapping the photo, but you should get many more good digital photos than we ever did with film. Slides are a little different, they're not at the mercy of photo labs. That's why most professionals shoot slides.

With careful photo editing, even if your pictures aren't perfect, you have a lot of control to make them better. You no longer have to go back to the processing lab begging the technician to bring out more detail in your shots.
You can sharpen, adjust colour and contrast, lighten, darken and even crop out the tip of your finger. Most digital cameras come with photo editing software that is up to the task, so you won't need to spend a fortune on software unless you want. If you do, there is high-end photo editing software that's almost like magic.

Another big positive for digital photography is "instant gratification." As soon as you get back from shooting scenes, you can hook your camera up to the computer or to a television and view your photos immediately.
With an inexpensive ink-jet printer you can produce high quality prints right in your kitchen, making enlargements of your favourites for a fraction of what you'd pay a lab. All in all, you will discover that digital photography is the way to go! Be prepared for the initial expense; a good camera and printer are not cheap.
Also, be prepared for the learning curve. The higher end cameras can be somewhat confusing at first and learning how to download and adjust your photos might seem a little daunting.

• Check out digicam specifications to be aware of

Here we recommend some digital cameras based on your individual needs.
With the specification fundamentals, you can further narrow down which digital camera you want based on your individual needs. Match your needs to one of these user profiles. In order to choose the right camera, one with the right set of features at the right price, you'll need to figure out what you'll be doing with it. Match your needs to one of these user profiles.

• Snapshooter
• Trendsetter
• Business user
• Serious amateur
• Budget buyer
• Undecided

When photography pundits use the term digital darkroom, they're referring to computer hardware and software tools that you use to edit and print your digital pictures. The name is a bit of a misnomer because one of the best things about going digital is that you no longer have to stumble about in a darkened room to develop and print your film negatives.

Being able to retouch, enhance, and print your own photos is one of the best things about digital photography.
How sophisticated a system you need depends on the type of post-capture work you want to do. The rest of this chapter offers some guidance on choosing hardware and software to help you put together a digital darkroom that fits your needs..... Read more.

Shooting a digital portrait involves many of the same concerns as a film portrait - good lighting, complementary clothing and backgrounds, and, of course, a reasonably co-operative subject. But working with a digital camera throws some additional issues into the mix, as the next few sections explain.

• Composing for Traditional Frame Sizes
• Finding a Flattering Camera Angle
• What Causes Red-Eye
• Avoiding Focal Length and Distance Distortions
• Quick-Snap Portrait Tips