A Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography: Should I Be Using a Digital Camera?

You see them at nearly every public event. People crowd around them and muse at their captured memories. If you're not doing it too, you may be feeling left behind. Is a digital camera the right choice for you? This five question quiz will help guide your decision before taking the pixel plunge!

1. Does it take you so long to use up a roll of film, that by the time you process the photos, you barely remember the events you captured? A common complaint made by the casual photographer is how long it takes for them to finish their roll of film. If you find that you'd like to take a few photos at a family event, and get them printed quickly, a move to digital photography may be the right choice for you. With a digital camera, you may take as many or as few photos as you'd like, and have them printed. You do not have to wait until your digital memory card is "full." You may print from your card at anytime!

2. Do you find the expense of film, processing and running to the photo store to be too costly? Since digital cameras use a reusable device, called a memory card, to store your images, once you make the initial investment, your only future photography expenses are the cost of prints! You no longer need to run to the photo store to buy film before an event. When using film, the photo taking process usually took three steps; purchasing the film & taking pictures, dropping the film off at the photo store, and then returning to the store to pick up your photos. With digital photography, after you take the pictures you can easily upload your photos to a photo lab on the Internet and make one trip to the store to pick up your prints! My favorite service is provided by www.haroldsphoto.com, where their on-line prints are only .19 each!

3. After processing a roll of film, do you find that only 10-12 of the prints make it into your photo album? How many rolls of film have you picked up, only to notice that you've captured more blinks than smiles, and way too many pictures of your feet as you loaded the film in your camera? Occasionally the shutter button gets pushed by accident, and we end up with those moments forever captured on our roll of film. With digital photography, you can pick and choose which pictures you'd like printed. If you take three pictures of your family in front of the Christmas tree, you can choose to only print out the best one. With film, you're stuck with paying for all three pictures, even if everyone has blinked and the kids have looked away. Paying for unwanted images is wasteful and clutters up your home. We all have that box of less than flattering photos you just can't throw away.

4. Do you wish you could remove the red-eye in your photos, take out pimples, or make them black and white? With digital photography, it is easy to touch up your pictures before printing them out. At most photo stores, you can use digital printing stations to remove red-eye, crop your pictures and add fun features like text and borders. If you are really adventuresome, you can purchase photo editing software, like Adobe Photoshop Elements, to work with your photos. With basic photo editing software you can remove blemishes, crop your photos and turn them black and white or sepia-brown tone.

5. Do you want to see your pictures immediately? Sometimes even hour processing is too long to wait to see you photos, especially if you're taking pictures during a special event. You can't re-shoot a picture of the bride in her wedding gown a week after the wedding, or get another family picture in front of the Grand Canyon from your summer vacation next week when you get your film developed and find that your flash didn't go off, or that your finger got in front of the lens and blocked your picture. With compact digital cameras, you can preview your picture before you take it, and review it immediately after you take it, while you are still "in the moment." If something goes wrong, just aim and click again, because your subject matter is still in front of you.

If you find yourself agreeing to these five questions, it may just be time for you to take the pixel plunge and start shopping for your very own digital camera!