Moonrise over Mount Shasta, California © Jeff Leland 2012

Sunset Hawaii © Jeff Leland 2009

All of the photographs above were taken with a small digital camera that fits in your pocket.

I know that sounds too simple – but the truth usually is. All of the photographs in the video above were taken with a small digital camera that fits in your pocket. Obviously – I had to have a camera with me to get those shots – and I had to know what it was capable of.

But wait – we’re getting ahead of ourselves here! First – let me introduce myself. My name is Jeff Leland and I want to say thanks for visiting my blog Digital Pocket Camera. If you’re like most people, you went out shopping for a digital point and shoot and bought one that was simple to use and small enough to fit your needs. Then, you looked at the manual long enough to figure out how to set it on “auto” and began taking pictures. But do you know what your little camera is capable of? I’ll bet you don’t. If you saw the video above – then you heard me talk about the fabulous 36″ wall print of the image above that I made from a 4 megapixel camera. I got that shot by knowing what the limits were for that particular camera and shooting within those limits, while maximizing its strengths.

DISCLAIMER

I want to emphasize that this blog is not about reviewing every new camera and gadget that comes out the minute it is announced. While I will comment on cameras I think are of note – it is not my intention to become a site for reviewing cameras. There are already very good resources in place on the internet for that. I don’t have access to every new camera when it comes out – and rarely upgrade my personal cameras unless there is an actual need to do so ( like when they stop working). What I want to do is show you how to get better pictures regardless of what camera you are using. FYI!  End of disclaimer.

Before we go any further – let me give you a little background about me and why you should continue reading. I spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer in Los Angeles – right during the transition from film to digital. So in a way I was lucky, in that I first had to learn how to work with film, including processing and printing. Now that I am fully “digitized” I am in a position to take what I knew about shooting film, and translate that knowledge into the digital world. There are many overlaps – and many areas that simply don’t. The reason for me writing this blog, is to help you help me. I want to show you some things that will help you take great pictures with nothing more than an inexpensive point and shoot camera – like the ones in the video above.

You can help me by using the affiliate links on this site to buy new gear! The best way to do that is to click through to the home page using one of the banners here, and then bookmark that on your computer, and add it to your bookmark bar. That way – each time you go there and buy something, you will be contributing to keeping this site alive. Most of us buy things on Amazon for instance on a regular basis, so this would be most beneficial.

I have always had an affinity for small cameras – long before digital came along. In fact – in terms of actual quality, the small film cameras that I owned and used had better quality than the new digital cameras. However, with the advent of new technology, that gap has narrowed to the point now that the small digital cameras made today produce better quality images than the film cameras of old. What I want to do for you, is show you how you too can use this tool as a creative outlet to capture “your” world in a way that looks “professional.” That’s what this blog is all about – getting the best possible images from the digital camera that you already own. And just as an aside – I will never put an image up on this site that was not taken with a “point and shoot” camera.

Overview

Here are a few of the things I plan to cover in this blog, although they may not occur in this order, and I may add or delet subjects at my whim:

– How your digital pocket camera works

– Features that you need to know about

– Tricks you can use to “outsmart ” your camera

– Why pixel counts don’t count

– The characteristics of light

– Subject matter

– Photographing people

– Composition

– Technical aspects of image capture (f-stops, shutter speed, depth of field etc) – Image editing software

– Using software to enhance your images

Blog Posts

I have created an articles page – where I will link to each post as I post them. I encourage you to subscribe here to get an email notification each time a new article is posted. Use the plain text option – and you will get a link to the article in your email.

Video Teaser:

Which photo was taken with the 2 megapixel Iphone?

Answer: The bike racer with the crowd behind. I just panned the biker as he zoomed past …

Shameless Plug

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Thank You!