Photography As Part Of Our Sport

Proper lighting is one of the most important elements of photography.  Here, early morning light evenly illuminates the starboard side of the boat with a warm tone.

The hobby and sport of powerboating has brought with it an entire culture, just like motorcycling or hot rod events and gatherings. These are social happenings where people go boating, learn from each other, and have a good time. One crucial element at these events (other than the people themselves and boats) is the photos that are taken, which preserves the memories for years of cold winters to come.  

With the popularity of digital cameras, computers, and of course, message forums, sharing photos over the internet has enabled people to share these memories instantly with other people literally all over the world. It seems that almost everyone owns a digital camera these days and if you don’t own one now, you’ll likely be purchasing one in the near future.

In addition to sharing moments at events, we love taking photos of our pride and joy as well as some of the wild high performance boats we often see at one of the many yearly boating events or races. The purpose of this feature is to provide you with basic photography information and techniques that could help you make better use of your camera. Although the focus of this article is digital cameras, most of the photography techniques here apply to film cameras as well. So sit back, relax, and use the winter months to hone your photography skills for the upcoming boating season!

Digital Camera Types

Digital cameras fall into two basic categories; ‘point and shoot’ type and Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR). Most cameras fall into the point and shoot category, offering ease of use and a lot of features into a compact body.

Point and shoot cameras are by far the most popular solution today. These cameras offer many features, chief of which is their compact size and ease of use. Although these smaller units cannot offer all of the features of their professional DSLR cousins, point and shoot cameras have come a long way, and today’s digital point and shoot cameras can achieve professional results in the hands of a skilled photographer.

DSLR cameras are much larger and heavier, and offer many features such as the ability to change lenses, add accessories such as outboard flash units, and full manual control over exposure and aperture. The SLR cameras are capable of accurate, high speed focusing which is crucial to capturing sports photos. SLR cameras are generally used by photography enthusiasts and professionals, and they can cost considerably more than point and shoot units.
 

How Digital Cameras Work

As a general rule, photograph your subject with the sun or light source behind you, which provides even light coverage. This image shows very poor exposure, blown highlights, and a lot of lost detail as a result of poor source lighting placement.

Rather than film capture, which is a chemical process, a digital camera captures images on an electronic imager that is exposed to light when the camera shutter is opened. These electronic imagers generally fall under two technologies – the Charge Coupled Device (CCD) and the Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). Both types perform the same task, however the imager itself determines the megapixel rating of the camera, which is the resolution is is capable of outputting an image.

Point and shoot cameras have small imagers, which is one reason why they can offer powerful zoom lenses in such a small package. There is a penalty for the smaller imager size though, in terms of image ‘noise’ or grain at higher ISO settings – especially as the megapixel rating increases. This brings us to ISO (an acronym for International Standards Organization), also known as ASA; which, in traditional terms was a specification for film speed. Higher speed film may carry ISO ratings of 400, 800, 1600, or even 3200 and 6400.

The higher the film speed – or sensitivity, the more sensitive the film is to light, permitting higher shutter speeds in lower light situations. But higher speed film also produced film ‘grain’ (think of night vision images), which degrades the image, although it can be used as a desired effect in some photograph compositions. Standard film speeds, such as ISO 100 are better suited to slower moving objects or landscape scenes, and produce smoother, cleaner images.

These rules apply to digital cameras, which carry ISO equivalency ratings. Instead of high-speed film, digital cameras increase their sensitivity by boosting the gain on the image sensor. Again, the advantage of increased sensitivity to light also includes the penalty of image grain, or ‘noise’ as it is known as with digital images.
 

Understanding Digital Camera Terminology

Today’s point and shoot cameras are capable of taking fantastic photos, and understanding basic techniques in photography will help you get the most out of any camera you own. Before we get into that, let’s first get into some basic terminology and what it means to you.

Megapixels: Perhaps the most touted feature of any consumer camera. This is simply an indication of the maximum picture resolution or size that can be produced by the camera. Most people associate a higher megapixel rating with better quality photos, but this is not necessarily true. Some factors that determine image quality are image noise levels (discussed later), exposure, color saturation, white balance, lens distortion, and image sharpness. A higher megapixel camera will enable the user to crop the image more (reduce the border size), however many 3-5 megapixel cameras on the consumer market will outperform their 7-10 megapixel counterparts in terms of image quality, especially at higher ISO settings.

Zoom Ratio - Optical and Digital: Most cameras include a zoom telephoto lens that carries with it a multiplier, or ‘X’ rating, such as a ‘4X’ zoom. Since consumer-level cameras are marketed in much the same way as camcorders, the ‘X’ rating is provided as a simple ‘consumer friendly’ way of determining how far the zoom lens will reach. For example, a typical point and shoot camera might be rated as having a 4X zoom. This just means from widest setting to maximum telephoto the image is multiplied approximately four times.

One marketing gimmick that runs rampant in the consumer camera and camcorder market is a feature tagged "Digital Zoom". This is not to be confused with the actual mechanical zoom ability of the lens itself, which is known as Optical Zoom.

While the optical zoom ratio is achieved by mechanically extending and retracting the lens with servo or stepper motors (think of a telescope), digital zoom is simply an electronic interpolation or magnifying of the image in the camera, simulating a zoomed in image. The result of digital zooming is a photo that is comparatively lower in resolution and quality all around. When purchasing a camera, your concern should be its optical zoom capability, not the digital zoom indication. Whenever possible, avoid using digital zoom altogether.

Page Two:  Photography Techniques