Top Ten Digital Photography Tips---4. Macro Mode Madness

Remember as a kid discovering the whole new world beneath your feet while playing on the grass? When you got very close to the ground, you could see an entire community of creatures that you never knew existed.

These days, you might not want to lie on your belly in the backyard, but if you activate the close up mode on your digital camera and begin to explore your world in finer detail, you'll be rewarded with fresh new images unlike anything you've ever shot before.

Even the simplest object takes on new fascination in macro mode. And the best part is that it's so easy to do with digital cameras.

Figure 4. Nature looks much different, and sometimes more compelling, at close range. (Canon PowerShot G2, Programmed exposure, spot meter, Close Up mode, flash off)

Just look for the close up or macro mode icon, which is usually a flower symbol, turn it on, and get as close to an object as your camera will allow. Once you've found something to your liking, hold the shutter button down halfway to allow the camera to focus. When the confirmation light gives you the go ahead, press the shutter down the rest of the way to record the image.

Keep in mind that you have very shallow depth of field when using the close up mode, so focus on the part of the subject that's most important to you, and let the rest of the image go soft.

Where Do You Store Your Digital Photos?

Do you have a ton of photos in your collection? Perhaps you've been taking many photos over the holiday season or during your last vacation. Where do you store all those photos? This article will run through some ideas on digital photo storage so that you know how to approach the storage issue in future. Essentially, there are a few options you have when it comes to storing photos - memory cards, hard drives, CD/DVDs and online storage.

Using Memory Cards

Of course, one lazy way to 'store' your images is to leave them all in your camera's memory card. Not a very good idea. For one thing, you need to clear out space in your camera's memory card to take more photos, so you certainly should try storing them elsewhere. Think about it - if you're snapping 5 megapixel images very frequently, I guarantee you that even a 1GB memory card will run out very quickly.

A SanDisk 512 MB CompactFlash memory card
 

Using Hard Drives

After you import your images from your camera to your computer (usually via a USB cable), you should have those pictures stored in your hard drive. Hard drives are pretty cheap these days. For $100, you can get a branded 160 GB hard disk (that's enough to store about 32,000 pictures at 5 megapixel resolution each!).

The Seagate Barracuda 160 GB hard drive

Based on personal experience, I'd say the only problem with hard drives is the uncertainty of the data safety. I'm talking about hard disk crashes and virus infections. If your computer is used by all family members, there is a small chance the hard disk may crash due to virus infections ( e.g. from surfing the web). To avoid this, I'd recommend using CDs and DVDs as your back option.
 

Using CDs and DVDs

Right – if you're not using a memory card or hard drive to store photos, the next best option might be to use CDs or DVDs. A CD-R can typically store 650 MB worth of photos and a DVD-R can store 4GB of photos. You'll need a CD burner or a DVD burner, along with a CD or DVD burning software to burn those photos. One good example of such software is Nero Burning ROM.

The Sony DRX710UL External DVD Burner

Personally, I prefer to store my photos in DVDs. When burning DVDs, I will set each DVD to be a multi-session DVD. This means I can burn, say, 1GB worth of photos on one session, leaving 3GB of DVD space for another burning session.
 

Storing Your Photos Online

Another good option is to store your photos online. You can either use online photo sharing sites or upload them to your own website . This is a great way to share your photos with friends and family without the hassles of emailing photos. Some of the photo sharing sites allow you to specify logon passwords for specific users to come online and view private photos. You can also read my guide on sharing your photos for more information.
 

Conclusion

Well, I hope you now have a better idea of how to store your photos. Besides using memory cards and hard drives, one can use CDs, DVDs or store them online. Whichever way you choose, remember to file them so that they are easy to find. Here's a guide to organizing your photo collection to help you along. Good luck and remember to backup your treasured photo collection!