Digital darkroom
Digital photography doesn't have a darkroom of course, but everyone has been hard-pressed to come up with a name for the place where digital photos are transferred from the camera, reviewed, organized, stored, edited, and finally printed and shared. Until a more descriptive name is widely accepted, many people refer to this space and the processes that occur in it as the digital darkroom. Much of what goes on in the digital darkroom is done with a program such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and hardware like your computer and printer. However, there are lots of other tasks and tools involved in the digital darkroom process.
Images that you capture are initially stored by the camera as files on some form of memory device. When you are finished shooting, or when the storage device becomes filled, you move the image files to a more permanent form of storage-usually the computer's hard drive. How you organize your files and folders on the computer makes a huge difference in how easy it is to find your images at a later date when you want to edit, print, or distribute them. As your collection grows, you'll want to manage it more carefully and may want to move some or all of your images to a more permanent form of archival storage such as a CD or DVD.
With digital cameras the image is captured by the image sensor, then stored in the camera on a storage device as an image file-usually with the filename extension JPG. The kind of device you use to store images is determined by your camera. One great thing about these storage devices is that more and more printers, TV sets, and other devices are being designed to accept them right out of the camera so you can display and share them without a computer.
TYPES OF STORAGE DEVICES
Almost all digital cameras now use some form of removable storage device, usually flash memory cards, but occasionally small hard disks, or even CDs and DVDs.
Flash memory cards are the most common storage device for digital cameras. These devices use solid state chips to store your image files so they consume little power, take up little space, and are very rugged. The main differences among the cards, from a photographer's perspective are:
- their physical dimensions
- the number of images they can store
- their speed.
Hard disks, such as Hitachi's Microdrive, are small enough to be plugged into a Type II CompactFlash slot. (Type I CompactFlash slots are thinner.) These disks are relatively inexpensive and have huge storage capacity. However, they are slower than flash cards and consume more power shortening your battery life. They may also be more prone to damage if you drop them.
CD-R or CD-R W discs are widely used to archive captured images, but some cameras use them as removable storage devices right in the camera. These 3-inch pocket or mini CD discs are smaller than the more familiar standard CDs, but they can be played in any standard CD drive. These CDs store a lot of image files very inexpensively, but they are slow and since the discs are relatively large, cameras that use them must also be large. It's just a matter of time until a camera comes along that uses DVD discs.
CHOOSING STORAGE DEVICES
Whatever its form, removable storage lets you remove one device when it's full and insert another. The number of images you can capture is then limited only by the number of storage devices you have, the capacity of each, and the size of your image files. If your camera uses an optical disc for storage, there isn't much to think about when you buy new discs. However, when using storage cards, there are choices to be made. Here are some things to think about, when considering these cards:
Capacity. The size of digital image files is increasing as the pixel count climbs. The latest 8 megapixel cameras create files that are over 3 megabytes. To estimate how many will fit on a given storage device, divide the average file size created by your camera into the device's storage capacity. A 64 megabyte device will store at most thirty-two 2 megabyte images and twelve 5 megabyte images. The number of images you can store is important because once you reach the limit, you have no choice but to quit taking pictures or erase some existing ones to make room for new ones. How much storage capacity you need depends partly on what you use the camera for.
Adapters. Because there are so many types of cards, many devices have slots for only the most popular types-usually the larger CompactFlash slot popular in cameras, or the even larger PC Card slot (also called a PCMCLA slot) popular on notebook computers. With the aid of an adapter, any smaller card can be inserted into these larger slots. The smaller card fits into the adapter and the adapter then fits into the slot.
Versions. Some flash cards come in more than one version. For example, CompactFlash TM (CF) cards come in two forms: Type I and Type II with the only difference between them being their thickness. Because it's the thinner of the two, a Type I card will fit in both a Type I or Type II slot. The thicker Type II card will only fit in a thicker Type II slot.
Popularity. The more popular a storage card is, the more of them are made and the less each costs. Also, popular cards are used in more camera models, so the chances are that you will be able to find a second camera, or a new model that supports your cards if you have the right type. At the time SmartMedia is on its way out, SD Cards are on their way in, and CompactFlash remains dominant at the higher end. MemorySticks are successful but used only in Sony products.
FORMATTING STORAGE DEVICES
Because a digital camera storage device acts just like a computer disk, it has to be formatted before you can use it. This is usually a onetime activity and some cards, including those supplied with your camera, come with this already done. However, even then, you may have to reformat a storage device at some point if it develops problems. Just be aware that formatting a storage device for your camera deletes all of the files on it, just as it does on your computer. To prevent you from formatting it accidentally, some cards can be write-protected. For example, to write-protect a SmartMedia card you place a sticker over the round write-protect area on the face of the card. On a Memorystick, you slide a switch. When protected, you can't save new images to the card, move or delete images, or format the card. The images are totally protected, but you can view and copy them.
Until recently, digital photographers almost always transferred their images directly to a computer, but times are changing. With camera phones there is a variety of ways to move images among phones, printers, computers, and even TVs.
CARD READERS
Card readers contain slots and connect to the computer with a cable. Some have slots for one kind of card, others have slots for a variety of types. Almost all newer computers have a number of USB 2.O ports. The faster FireWire ports are built into Apple computers and are optional on PCs. Printers at your local drug store, home printers, hard drives, and even TV sets are sporting them. The goal of these devices is to get the computer out of the center of digital photography, although computers increasingly have their own slots too.
DATA CABLES
Many camera have a cable connection that you use to directly connect them to a computer or other device. In some cases, it's an old-fashioned serial cable but for images of any size and quality it will be a USB cable. USB cables come in a variety of configurations. The end that plugs into the computer is always the same, but the end that connects to the camera varies from model to model.
One take on the data cable is the docking station. Because many early digital cameras did not have removable storage devices, the docking station was introduced. These devices have a small base that holds the camera and a cable that connects the base to the computer. When ready to download files, you just put the camera in the docking station where its batteries are also charged. These devices have gone out of fashion since almost all digital cameras have some form of removable storage device. However, since they give a camera phone a home and keep its batteries charged, they may yet see another day.
MOBILE CONNECTIONS
Camera phones use a technology called Multimedia Messaging Service(MMS) to send photos, videos, recorded sounds, and text between compatible phones and the recipient can view them immediately. When you send an MMS message to a phone that isn't compatible with yours, it is stored by your operator and a text message is sent to the intended recipient along with a link they can click to view the message from their computer or other Web-enabled device. One way around incompatible phones is to send your photos to an online album so the other person can download them to their phone from there.
It's easy to send a MMS message. You usually select a photo or video, select a phone number (or e-mail address), type a personal message, and click Send. Some phones let you preview your message after you create it so you are sure it's the way you want it. When sending multimedia messages to other phones, unless you know better, keep the images small and video clips short so you don't tie up the recipient's phone with a long download. Of course, it all depends on your camera phone and carrier. Eventually, as network speeds improve, you'll be able to send larger files, including longer video clips.
Data networks are run by some operators parallel to their cell net. For example, T-Mobile Internet can be used by your smartphone, notebook, or any other Web-enabled device. Verizon Wireless is rolling out a Wireless technology called EV DO that is as fast as a cable connection. These connection are available across the entire cell network, unlike Wi-Fi connections that are only available at sparsely distributed access points.
LOCAL WIRELESS CONNECTIONS
Camera phones are driving a big change in digital photography. Although they are designed to exchange images over the cellular network, they are also introducing new wireless ways to transfer the images they capture to computers, printers, and other devices. You can expect to see many of these features added to dedicated digital cameras.
Bluetooth, is a relatively slow wireless technology much slower than Wi-Fi. Initially developed to replace all of the cables hanging off your desktop, to connect wireless headsets, and to connect to the handsfree calling system in some cars, Bluetooth is also finding a home in photography. Photo kiosks are being equipped with Bluetooth so you can beam your photos to the printer. You can also exchange them with other Bluetooth devices including cameras, computers, and even TVs. There are cards and adapters that let you use Bluetooth to wirelessly transfer images from your Bluetooth enabled device to your computer. Since Bluetooth devices communicate using radio waves, your Bluetooth devices do not need to be in direct line-of-sight. The two devices only need to be within a maximum of 30 feet (10 meters) of each other, although obstructions such as walls or interference from other electronic devices may reduce the range.
IrTran-P (Infrared Transfer Picture) is an image communication standard for digital cameras based on the Infrared Communication Standard specification created by IrDA.
Wi-Fi is the fastest available network technology and can easily transfer even large image files quickly. If your camera supports Wi-Fi you can easily access other devices on your home network and transfer files. When away from home you can locate one of the many Wi-Fi hot spots, called access points, that have cropped up in places such as airports, hotels, cafes, and coffee shops.
All of the new and forthcoming home wireless network devices use a standard called 802.11. Because this technology is wireless you have the freedom to roam about the house, or even the yard, and still maintain access to the Internet and other devices on the network including wireless home entertainment devices.
DRIVES
Almost all computers have more than one drive. To tell them apart, they are assigned letters and names, and icons are used to identify their type. When you attach your camera or a card reader to the computer, it too becomes a drive and is assigned a drive letter or name. On many systems it's recognized automatically, but on others, especially older systems, you have to install drivers that let the computer know its there.
FOLDERS
Folders are used to organize files on a drive. Use operating system tools to create folders and sub folders.
The memory card contains one or more folders. The one we care about is automatically created by the camera and named DCIM (for Digital Camera IMages). If you delete it, the camera will recreate it. The purpose of this folder, called the image root directory, is to keep together all of the images you capture with the camera. If you use the same card with other devices, there may also be other folders on the same card holding MP3 music or other files. As you take pictures, your camera automatically creates and names subfolders under the DCIM folder to hold them. The first three characters in a folder's name, called the directory number, are numbers between 100 and 999. The next five characters are known as free characters and can be any uppercase alphanumeric characters chosen by the camera manufacturer. When a new folder is created, it is given a number one digit higher than the previous directory.
FILENAMES
When an image is saved, the camera assigns it a filename so you can identify it later. Filenames have two parts, an 8-character filename and a 3-character extension. Think of them as first and last names. The name is unique to each file, and the extension, separated from the name by a period, identifies the file's format. For example, a JPG extension means it's a JPEG image file, and TIF means it's a TIFF image file.
The first four characters in an image file's name, called free characters, can only be uppercase letters A-Z. The last four characters form a number between 0001 and 9999 and are called the file number.
Canon uses the first four free characters IMG followed by the file number, Nikon uses DSCN, and Sony uses DSCo. Once transferred to your computer, you can rename images with longer and more descriptive names.
TREES
One way to illustrate the organization of folders on a drive is to display them as a tree.
PATHS
With files stored in folders on a disk, you specify a path to get to them. For example, if a file named IMG 4692.JPG is in a subfolder named 146CANON that's in a folder named DCIM on drive H, the path to that file is H:\DCIM\146CANON\IMG 4692.JPG. The key elements of a path—the drive, folder, subfolder, and filename--are separated by backslashes (\). You might be more familiar with paths from your Web browser that uses a similar approach. For example, the URL...http://www.artbug.com/index.htm is a path to a specific page on the Web.
EXIF
CIFF
DCF
STORING AND ARCHIVING IMAGES
When you move your images from your camera to your computer and then to a CD/DVD disc, you need to do so in an organized way. It doesn't take long to be overrun with images; and all of them with meaningless names to boot. Luckily, with some planning, and the right tools and knowledge, you can work with thousands of images without getting lost. Before transferring images from your camera to your computer, you should develop a system that let's you quickly find them later. Folders are the heart of any image management system. The best way to organize your images on your computer is to create a folder for images and then subfolders that meaningfully identify the images stored in them. The thing to keep in mind is that your system is not about storing images, but about finding them. Ask yourself, where you'd most likely look for pictures of interest a year from now, long after you've forgotten where you stored them.There are a variety of ways to organize and name folders, depending on what kind of photos you take or how you use them.
A chronological organization uses folders named with dates in the format yyyy-mm-dd. For example, a folder named 2004-02-10 would contain photos taken or downloaded on Februaryl 1O,2004- When using dates, be sure to add zeros to single digit months and days or the folders won't sort into a perfect chronological order. You can use hyphens or underscores between elements, but should avoid using spaces.
A subject organization uses folders named after subjects, events, projects, or experiences. For example, a folder named Christmas 2003 would contain images of that day. Emilys Birthday 2003 would contain images of the birthday party.
These two approaches aren't mutually exclusive. For example, if you organize images chronologically, you can add a comment after the date that indicates the subject or project.
Alternatively, you can create a chronological system, and then copy the best images to separate subject or project folders. The chronological folders act as an archive of original images, and the subject or project folders become the versions you edit, print, or distribute. This system has the advantage that you never actually edit your original photos. The drawback is that you can have different versions of the same image in a number of different folders.
The tools you use to create folders, and view, transfer, and manage images include those that come with your computer as part of the operating system, thumbnail browsers, and best of all, image or asset management programs that store thumbnails and descriptions in a database so you can even locate images that are stored on CD/DVDs in a drawer.
As your images accumulate, you'll find that storing them can be a problem. However, hard drives have become so inexpensive, and their storage capacity so great, that you can have an almost endless supply of hard disk space on which to store them. It used to be that hard disks were inside computers and nowhere else. Well, they have escaped from the box and are everywhere from pocket-sized personal media players that play digital music and even videos to Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) used to record TV and slide shows programs.
There are both Internal and external models from which to choose. An external model plugs into a USB or Firewire port and is almost as fast at the hard drive built into your system. The best thing about an external drive is that if you have more than one system, upgrade to a new computer, or visit a client's office, you can just plug your drive into the other computer.
Rotational speed, or how fast the disk spins, is usually between 5400 and 10000 RPM with faster speeds transferring more data in a given period.
Seek time is the amount of time, in milliseconds, between when the CPU requests a file and when the first byte of the file is sent to the CPU.
Buffer stores data before it's written to the disk. These are important when feeding a stream of time-dependent data such as video to the disk so data isn't skipped or lost because the drive can't keep up.
When it's time to hit the road with your digital camera, the problems begin.
• Find a place to burn CDs for you. This will now be done by most photo stores but they are often clueless. You put your images at risk.
• Buy more or larger memory cards. This is a common solution but it can be expensive if your trip is long or you shoot a lot of large images.
• Carry a notebook computer. Not only may you already have one of these, but its large screen and ability to run your choice of application programs lets you have a mobile version of the typical desktop system. However, a notebook computer isn't always the ideal portable device because of its size, weight, short battery life, and long start-up time.
• Buy a portable storage device. Increasingly, devices are being introduced that solve the image storage problem on the road.