The Decisive Moment

I think that the more you know about how your kit works the better able you are to use it to its full potential. For this very reason I like to really immerse myself in the technology side of my photographic kit. This month I’ve been reading Understanding Digital Cameras by Jon Tarrant.

The book is aimed at all levels of photographer and as such covers everything from basic camera settings right through to an in-depth analysis of analogue technology versus digital. It’s been put together to show you how to get “the best image from capture to output”.

If you’re a veteran there are certainly a few chapters you’ll be itching to skip, however if you’re new to digital photography you’ll find that even the really advanced content is written in a clear, straightforward way that makes it very easy to understand. As well as all the technology stuff, the book offers invaluable tips to help you with photographing all the usual subject matters (and a few unusual ones too) and gives you clear tuition in a wide range of photographic techniques.

The book’s content is backed up with clear, easy to understand diagrams and what must be hundreds of photographs. Most usefully the author has included photographs that show what happens when you get things wrong, when you get things right and when you really nail the shot.

The only negative thing I can say about the book is that sometimes it goes into a little too much detail and can feel a bit too much like a text book. That being said, it is generally very well written and the information in the book is worth far more than the £18.99 price tag.

If you’re a complete beginner you will find this book invaluable. If you’re a seasoned professional I’m certain that you’ll find the technology side of the book fascinating. Either way, if this is the only photography book on your Christmas list this year, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

For further details, including the book’s contents list and a selection of pages that you can browse online see Understanding Digital Cameras on Amazon.

During a little surfing trip (I mean the Internet - I don’t do sea!) I tripped over this site and found it truly inspirational, so I thought I should share it. I confess I have never heard of Yann Arthus-Bertrand but I really feel I should have.

The shots from the air are stunning and I also love the study of French people. However, I really can’t do the photos justice with words - you need to go take a look. You will need Flash installed to view the site.

Update: Thank’s to Charlie’s comment I went searching and it turns out Yann has a series of books - Earth from Above, The New Earth from Above: 365 Days and Earth from the Air: 365 Days to name just three.

If you’re a regular visitor to The Decisive Moment you may have noticed that a few things around the site have changed today.

We’ve been thinking about how we can improve the site and as a result have made the following changes:

• Increased the width of the site to allow for better, clearer navigation
• Added a “people we like” section to the left hand navigation to share some of the websites we come across that we think you aught to know about
• Made it easier for you to leave comments
• Made it easier for you to contact us with your comments, questions and suggestions

We hope that the changes really have improved the way you interact with the site. These things always involve a bit of trial and error and it’s only by listening to you, our readers, that we can tell if we’re getting things right. If you think we haven’t please let us know. If you think we have, still let us know. We love the praise!

Our aim is to create the best communal website for photographers. This is a continual process and with this in mind we are considering the following ideas for for future updates to the site:

• Adding a discussion forum
• Running competitions
• Adding a polling system to the site so we can get your opinion on various topics
• Adding a directory of photographers and services
• Adding a section where you can share your photography with others

By no means will all of these ideas happen right away. It may be that some of them are awful ideas. We’re just not sure yet. Again let us know what you think either by leaving a comment below or by using our enquiry form.

Right. That’s it for now. Back to writing about photography.

I was doing a bit of browsing - as you do - and came across the oldest example of a permanent photograph. If you click the image above you’ll get a large version to look at.

It was produced in 1826 by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The photo is called, “View from the Window at Le Gras” and took eight hours to expose.

It’s remarkable that not even two hundred years have passed and yet technology has advanced so much that we can now not only create images with thousands of times more detail but can go from pressing the shutter release to having a processed and printed image in seconds.

If you’d like to know more about the history of photography check out this great entry on Wikipedia.

Now I have to confess, I am one of those people who really meant to do something. Just been waiting for the right opportunity. Like backing up all those valuable and irreplaceable digital photos living on my computer’s hard drive.

Well, not so long ago, my hard drive actually did go bang and (in spite of calling in the help of a buddy who knows far more about the hardware side of PCs than I do) the files were completely lost. Included among those files were almost 4,000 pictures of my kids (4,000 in four years - I know, I know, it’s pathetic!) which, apart from a very small handful, had not been printed.

This is the nightmare all of us digital photographers fear and yet I’m willing to bet the vast majority of us do little about it. I was very lucky. About four months before the exploding hard drive, my wife’s uncle and aunt lost many of their most prized possessions in a house fire. The realization that I could so easily lose all photographic records of my kids since birth hit me like a wet kipper in the face; I rushed straight out and purchased an external USB hard drive, backed up all my photos and took the drive to my office.

Like I said, I was very lucky. Think about how much your photos (not just the digital ones) mean to you and do something about securing them. Backing up photos regularly takes a little thought and planning, but the alternative makes it worth the work.

I’m about to embark on a project to see if we can restore the photos which were damaged but rescued from the fire. I’m hoping I can clean up the older photos, or possibly scan them and digitally restore them. I’ll be writing an article about the experience, but if anyone can offer any advice I would be really grateful.