Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

In terms of technique there isn't a big difference between shooting with an analog or a digital camera. The major difference between an analog and a digital camera is that in a digital camera the film has been replaced by a digital sensor and a memory card. The technique of taking pictures is still the same, the two things that control the camera are time and aperture (see the 'shutter speed and aperture' menuitem). There are a number of different kinds of digital cameras like compact cameras and digital SLR'S (single lens reflex). The kind of camera that is the right one for you depends on your needs. When you want to get into wildlife photography then you should make sure that you buy a system that is extendible. This means that the brand you choose should offer a wide range of camera bodies, lenses, flash units and accessories. Brands that offer extendible systems are for instance Canon, Nikon and Minolta.

When you use a digital camera them there are a number of functions that a digital camera offers that simplifies the task of taking good pictures. The most obvious improvement over an analog camera is that you're able to see the picture you have taken directly on the cameras LCD. Using this LCD you can see if the picture you've taken was framed correctly, you can for instance check if people had their eyes open when you took the picture and you can check if the picture was exposed correctly. For checking the exposure all digital cameras also offer a feature called the colour histogram. Using the colour histogram you can check if you have under- or overexposed the picture by looking at the distribution of the various colours. Check the 'colour histogram' menuitem on the left for an explanation on how to use the histogram. Another handy feature of a digital camera is that you can vary the ISO setting (light sensitivity) per picture. See the menuitem 'setting the ISO value' on the left for more information about ISO settings.