Tutorial Two: Digital Imaging

Digital images can be stored transferred and manipulated in many different ways using technology. Photoshop is a very popular tool used by people to manipulate their photos, and to create special effects which make their photos stand out from others. Photos can be stored in multiple different places including USB sticks, external hard-drives, back up disks or on the computer in different documents. USB sticks are ever so popular as they provide a portable device to carry information on and they are small too, so no lugging around heavy albums! That's always good! Images can also be posted onto sites such as Flikr or Facebook where others can gain access to them, which is perfect for those living away from friends and family, to share what they have been doing / seeing.

"A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature."
There are many benefits to the new digital camera's that we use so commonly now. However, are we losing anything through getting rid of good old fashioned film cameras? Digital cameras have multiple benefits including:
-the ability to look at photos as you take them
-the ability to delete as you go
-much smaller, compact devices
-alot cheaper to print off to hard copy
-easily changeable XD cards which can hold hundreds of photos at one time
-the ability to automatically upload photos to a computer / view on a tv screen
and many many more! However, it is quite possible that with this easy view and delete feature on digital cameras, we are losing the art of true photography. It is too easy to just take multiple pictures and flick through and delete until you find one that is a good image of what you were trying to capture. Whereas with the more traditional film cameras, you are unable to check the images as you go and have limited film, therefore you need to take time and care to get the right image.

Confidentiality is a huge ethical issue when thinking of how often images are taken and how publicly they can be distributed. People may be unaware that they are being captured in an image and then later find themselves in an image publicly posted on a website. When taking photos in a public place people need to be careful that they are not capturing any members of the public unwillingly, and that the people in their images need to know what is going to happen with the photos and who might have access to them.

In a placement I attended, a day centre which worked with intellectually disabled adults, images were used to show which tasks were going to be done that day. They had a large photo library which included images such as crafts, baking, puzzles or music, and photos of places to go out to such as the library, swimming pool, or a cafe. The guys loved seeing the photos up on the whiteboard as it meant they could see what they were going to be doing that day. It was also great for helping those who had difficulty communicating, to pick a photo to show what they wanted to do.