Going Digital - Text-only Version

You are reading the text-only copy of this article. To access the article as it appeared in PassageMaker Magazine, please log in to purchase and download the PDF version of this article.

It seems almost everyone who casts off on their trawler for more than a few hours brings along a camera to record and immortalize memories of the unfolding adventure. Sharing photos with friends and family remains a favorite way to recollect fond times even years later.

Lately, I’ve noticed many people choose a digital camera to replace, or at least complement, film-based cameras. It is a natural enough development as the digital camera becomes an extension of the computer that also comes aboard. It’s just hard to ignore the onslaught of digital technology.

Most digital cameras are point-and-shoot easy to use and provide loads of instant gratification. And by using the editing features available in software programs on one’s computer, these images give the modern trawler owner incredible flexibility—to print special photos, email family and friends with last night’s sunset, or store a vacation-long photo album on a hard drive.

Some of the obvious advantages of digital photography include no more overpriced or questionable film purchased in out-of-the-way tourist shops. There is no exposed film to be zapped by airport security machines in increasingly higher doses. There is no waiting to see if you got that perfect shot.

Most digital cameras also are tidy little packages with quality zoom lens, built-in flash and loaded with features. And, as it is so easy to put digital images in a computer, it’s a snap to send them out on the Internet. A product of great utility, many of today’s cameras are almost too easy to use, they auto-focus, auto-expose, autoadvance, auto-flash and even automatically shut off should we forget.

Yes, the digital camera is a big step forward and fits a traveling lifestyle well.

As you might imagine, we get story ideas and article inquiries from readers around the world at a rate that keeps us hopping. Among our many responsibilities, Tricia (PMM associate editor) and I really enjoy sifting through this material to select those pieces that ultimately come to you on the pages of PMM.

Judging from the photography we receive regularly at PMM, it seems worth mentioning some basics to keep this digital solution working right. Unlike negative or transparency film, I’m finding that digital imaging offers so much flexibility that it is relatively easy for folks to get turned around, creating images in the process that are less than ideal, especially for publication.

PIXEL SPEAK

Unlike 35mm film, which has been a favorite photographic medium for decades, digital images are recorded on CCD or CMOS computer chips located inside the camera body. When a photo is taken, an image is recorded on the chip in the form of pixels, tiny squares of picture information. Each pixel contains the color data for one point of the image. Pixel stands for “picture element.”

Understanding the role of the pixel is key to digital success. Pixels are like dots of ink on paper: more dots close together mean finer, sharper pictures. That is why a 300-dpi printer (one that offers high-quality printing at 300 dots per linear inch) can produce a sharper print than a printer capable of only 150 dpi. Printer software turns each pixel into color dots that correspond to the color ink available in the printer.

The least expensive digital cameras create images at fixed pixel counts, for example, 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high. Just point and shoot. The recorded image then is transferred to the camera’s storage medium. The user can save the image in TIFF, JPEG, or other formats for later use.

But it is important to know that these pixel numbers do not mean the same thing as the physical size of the image. Knowing this distinction makes all the difference in being happy with the results of the digital photography experience.

Let’s say we want to print this 640-by-480 image on a photo-quality color inkjet printer. These are very popular and affordable these days, available from many manufacturers—often for less than $200. To get photo-quality results, images are printed at 300 dpi on photo-grade paper. (Sometimes acceptable results can be achieved at a print setting of less than 300 dpi, but most agree photos and text print best at 300 dpi.)

Unfortunately, no matter how large that image looked on your computer screen, at 300 dots an inch, the 640-by-480 images when printed will measure only 2.1 inches wide by 1.6 inches high. That’s not very big, especially if the image was a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime sunset shot with close friends crowded around!

It’s straightforward math, dividing an image’s pixel measurements by printer resolution. But Tricia and I have reviewed countless images that were delightful yet utterly unusable for publication for precisely that reason. To make these images available at the high quality demanded for publication, we were limited to only small thumbnail images. And there’s nothing we can do to make them much larger without degrading the image quality.

The above issue is only a problem for making quality prints and there’s much more to the story. Unlike a traditional print photo that can be framed and hung on a wall, digital photography offers many more display options than conventional printing. Many trawler owners find digital images ideal for display on a computer screen and for sending as attachments in email to friends and family. Some couples are even showcasing their adventures on web pages they update along the way, giving remote friends an opportunity to enjoy the ongoing journey.

Digital photography is ideal for such computeroriented use, whether it be Internet, slide show or screen saver. That same 640-by-480 image, for example, which never can be anything but a small image when printed on paper, easily can fill a display screen at the 72- dpi resolutions of most computers. On all newer computers you’ll find monitor settings that give even a wider range of display sizes, such as 640 by 480, 800 by 600, 1,024 by 768, 1,280 by 1,024 and 1,600 by 1,200. So one can display even small digital images large on a screen without serious degradation of image quality.

The difference between a printed image and one displayed on a screen is resolution, the factor that ultimately determines image size. While dots per inch are not technically the same as pixels per inch, it is easy to see and understand the relationship between them. Raising the resolution of a digital image makes it physically smaller, putting the pixel closer together, while enlarging an image means the pixels have to get larger and farther apart. I’m sure you’ve seen those jagged edges/lines on improperly sized digital images that someone enlarged too far.

LOTS OF CHOICES

Looking at the current choices of digital cameras, it is easy to find cameras less than $300 that offer pixel counts in the neighborhood of 2.0 megapixels (that’s 2,000,000 total pixels), with pixels arranged roughly 1,600 wide by 1,200 high. For a bit more money, but still shy of $1,000, there are nice 3-, 4-, even 5-megapixel cameras sophisticated enough to allow user settings for small images, (such as 640 by 480) as well as large ones exceeding 2,560 wide by 1,920 high (which, on a 300-dpi printer, creates prints that measure 8.5 by 6.4 inches). For email or web use, huge images are serious overkill; an image displayed at 72 dpi measures more than 35 by 26 inches!

All digital images consume file space and one caution of frequent large pixel counts is that really large images will quickly fill up a camera’s internal/removable storage card. It is common practice to buy an extra card or two just in case and to transfer images worth keeping to a computer at the earliest opportunity rather than filling up these storage cards.

Once transferred to the boat’s computer, managing digital images certainly is within the abilities of most computer-literate users. There are many photoediting programs out there, and it’s easy to downsize a digital image to make it smaller, colorcorrect the sky or water tones, or remove or add elements to the photo. In the hands of a talented person, the manipulation of a digital image is truly awesome.

By now it is apparent that digital photography involves more tools than simply using a camera, and photo editing is a significant profession all by itself. If this digital processing sounds more complicated than simply reloading another roll of 35mm film that you can later drop off at the camera shop, join the club.

Digital photography takes the responsibility for quality out of the photo-finishing lab and puts it in your hands. You are the key to having digital photography work for you.

The choice between film and digital is not easy, but I believe it is not difficult to choose wisely if you understand your needs. For documenting your trawler experience, especially if you enjoy handling physical prints or storing memories in a photo album, film remains the best bet. You still have to protect and manage your film and deal with airport security in today’s world, but at the end of the day, you have a handful of photos you can pass around.

However, if you are computer savvy and lust for the instant gratification of digital imaging, the new frontier of digital photography awaits. Be forewarned, you’ll be spending lots of time at your computer and there’s the additional burden (or opportunity) to learn new technology and techniques.

I use both regularly, but film is what I rely on for high-quality work, where I know I may be using the photos for publication. I have found Fujichrome Velvia and Provia slide film to be a consistent choice for years.

But I’ve also found digital cameras, such as any of Nikon’s Coolpix models, a pleasure to bring along when I just want to take some pictures, knowing full well that a cover shot won’t likely be coming off the digital camera, unless it is a professional camera body such as Nikon’s D1X.

I took a 5-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5000 to Spain for my story on the Menorquins last summer (see PMM Dec. ’02). I was concerned about traveling with film through so many airports after 9/11. Every single image printed in the article was shot digitally and I dare anyone to discern that from looking through the article.

TAKE IT SLOW

While I’m sharing some experience on photography, there is another feature many digital and film cameras have that can be a real friend if you take lots of interior photos. I’ve been surprised just how few people use it to their benefit. This feature is Slow Sync or Night Mode.

We’ve all seen pictures taken with a flash that show a nicely exposed foreground subject against a dark background. Amateur wedding-reception photos almost always suffer from this problem. A couple at one table is brightly lit, but the rest of the room is dark and detail lost. Or someone shooting his trawler interior shows a saloon table that is well lit, but the galley and forward accommodations in the background are completely dark, almost black. Slow Sync mode is designed to minimize this problem by slowing the shutter speed to allow ambient light to fill in the rest of the photo and not rely as much on the flash.

While the slower shutter speed allows camera shake or blurring to occur, it often is easy to use a door frame or table as a sort of tripod support while the camera takes the photo at slow shutter speed. Obviously, though, it helps if there is little movement going on while you’re taking the picture.

I promise that using Slow Sync mode while enjoying a romantic evening at a beachside restaurant, or in a quaint Paris side-street bistro near the Champs Elysees, will produce photos worth keeping and provide lasting memories. It always amazes me when I see people greatly distracted from the moment because they feel obligated to fumble for a quick shot from their camera, even though it’s obvious they’re going to be disappointed and would be better off simply enjoying the delicious image with their body and soul. Why bother taking pictures at all if they aren’t going to come out properly?

Whether you stick with film, or try your hand at the newer technology, with a little practice, especially with a digital camera that helps you refine your skills with instant results of your work, you’ll enjoy your travels much more, as will the friends you later share them with.

Not to mention, Tricia and I won’t have to lament over returning an otherwise cool story because the photos are not good enough.

Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2003 © Dominion Enterprises (888.487.2953) www.passagemaker.com

You are reading the text-only copy of this article. To access the article as it appeared in PassageMaker Magazine, please log in to purchase and download the PDF version of this article.