Understanding Digital Cameras

I love my digital camera. I don't understand it, but I still love it. I've had the camera for four years now, but I've only been using it over the past six months or so. This is because I ran out of the disposable cameras left over from my wedding and because I have a new subject to photograph. This brings me to the concern I have with my complex little machine.

We all hate red-eye. Well, I think we all do. The red-eye removal feature is available in nearly all digital cameras. My digital camera offers a setting that eliminates red-eye. This feature also seems to eliminate poses, spontaneous moments and smiles as well. Even though I warn my subjects, "There's going to be a flash before the actual flash," I still find that people tend to look away or put the kid down just as the real flash is poofing. I have recorded a number of pictures of people exhaling with an "Okay, I can relax" expression on their faces. I also have a good collection of pictures of people walking away.

Forget spontaneous moments. By the time the second flash poofs, the moment has passed and I find myself poised behind the shutter (if digital cameras have a shutter) waiting for the next moment, which I will inevitably miss. I also have a series of pictures from moments just passed and pictures of moments I thought might happen but didn't.

Then comes smile issue. The smile issue has an effect on even the most seasoned poser. There is a knee-jerk reaction to the initial flash that is directly reflected in the subject's expression, usually centering on the strained smile. Digital cameras with the delayed flash often shock the subject into a blank stare. I can live with this. What vexes me is that I want a nice, smiley picture of my daughter. This is impossible with the double-flash. In the picture above, the child had been smiling broadly. Mommy presses the button and flash number one sobers her and I'm left with a baby looking at me like, "Why on earth did you do that to me?"

No more red-eye feature for me when using digital cameras. I had to consider what I really want out of my photos. What do I want; a smiling, red-eyed baby or a frowning, clear-eyed baby? I choose the former. From what I hear, you can fix red-eye right on your computer. I guess that I can start trying to figure out the Photoshop program I installed three years ago.

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