With the rise in popularity of the internet, digital photography is getting closer and closer to becoming the widespread standard. Not only for use in digital publications but hard copy as well. For those in the technology and photography industry the transition has been relatively easy, whereas most of us “regular folks” are now in a bit of a fog when it comes to all this crazy terminology, like megapixel, that we know nothing about. You’ll hear lots of people (mostly “gurus”) talking about how great it is and how much easier digital photography is. Now go and try to explain megapixel to your grandfather!
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To make the transition to digital photography easier it’s important to understand the relevant terminology. One of the most important terms you'll hear when discussing the topic is the MEGAPIXEL. Megapixel, translated literally stands for one million pixels. A PIXEL is a single point in a graphic image. Therefore a digital picture that is one megapixel is an image that has been created using one million pixels of varying colors. Being the inquisitive person that you are, I bet now you’re wondering how those pixels come together in color to create this picture. Well my answer to that is… BABY STEPS FIRST! If you really want to learn, let’s cover all our megapixel basics before we get into bits and bytes.
So now that you know what a megapixel is, let’s talk about how this translates into your every day life. You’re at the store comparing five different digital cameras. While there are a number of different elements that differentiate cameras, the megapixel is the most obvious element to consider. A one megapixel camera takes pictures using one million pixels or points. You may be thinking to yourself “Wow that’s great!”, and it is, but what you need to consider is the kinds of pictures you want to take and what you will be using them for.
For someone who is just looking to send family photos through email or simply store them in their computer for later viewing, one megapixel is fine. Even if you are looking to print some small 4x6 size photographs to take with you, one megapixel can still suit your purposes depending on how picky you are. On the other hand, if you are planning on taking pictures so that you can blow them up to 16x20 and hang them on the wall, one megapixel simply isn’t going to cut it.
Think of billiard balls put away neatly in their little tray, all lined up next to each other. The mixture of colors brought closely together creates a “picture” of sorts. Now spill them out onto the pool table and try to create the same “picture” on this much bigger background. Obviously to recreate the “picture” you’re going to need a lot more balls. Basically that’s how megapixels work. The bigger the canvas is going to be the more millions of pixels you will need to cover the space without distorting the image.
See how easy that was?! You are now one step closer to becoming a digital photography genius. Good luck and don’t forget to take it one step at a time. Just think of it as gathering your pixels together one by one. Soon enough you’ll have enough to understand the “BIG PICTURE”!
This digital photography tip article is brought to you by award-winning professional photographer Warren Lynch. Exciting articles gives both beginners and advance digital camera enthusiast the leg up.
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