Digital Photography
Digital Photography has come a long way in the past few years. From the first digital cameras with prints the size of a business card to today's digital photography equipment which can create a full size mural. If you do not love digital photography, then this is not the place for you to visit. I love digital photography and this website is dedicated to taking you from just taking snapshots to creating works of art. It has long been said that you have to have an eye to begin with before you can create photographic art. Only partially true. There are many techniques that you can practice to improve your digital photography and I am here to teach them to you. This website is an ongoing project so you should bookmark it as I will be making regular additons to it. Come back often and we will try to make an artist out of you.
Stan Pontiere
The photograph on the right was taken with a Nikon Dslr 1/15 of a second at F2.8 with the camera mounted on a tripod. All of the technical information that I just gave you is basically superfulous. What makes this digital photograph is the lighting and composition. Notice the use of natural light (a foggy morning sun) the use of trees to frame the photograph and the single oarsman to give the photograph perspective.
About me:
My Uncle Fred gave me my first adjustable camera when I was 8-years-old and I have had a love affair with photography ever since then. I am now 62 and have switched totally to digital photography. (Ocassionally, the magazines still insist on film images.)
Over the years I have worked for The Associated Press, The New York Times, both the Philadelphia Inquirer and Bulletin, taught photography at a back-East college and worked as both a freelance and art photographer in addition to taking commercial assignments.
As a result of my backround, friends are always showing me their snapshots looking for a compliment. Because of the advanced technical abilities of today's cameras, I can almost always compliment them on their technical value. Unfortunately, some push for more details and I end up telling them how bad their composition are lighting. Because of direct flash, some subjects look like a deer caught in the headlights, sometimes the composition is just plain static and other times there are trees growing out of the subject's head.
While I will spend some time teaching you the technical aspects of digital photography photography, the bulk of this website will be devoted to lighting and composition. They are what make the difference between a snapshot and a work of art. Just a few years ago, I would never have considered digital photography. Today, I only maintain one film camera. The rest are digital.
