Amateur photographers sometimes make the mistake of going for the most they can get in a shot, reasoning that the more you can include, the greater the value. This point of view is probably a relic from the days of chemical film photography when you had a limited number of shots per roll and had to pay to develop each one. Digital photography obviates the need for this kind of “bargain shooting” and allows you to focus (no pun intended) on the more artistic side of taking pictures. This means you can begin to enjoy and capture the little-seen details in a given scene.
As with any form of art, one advantage of photography is that it can reveal and accentuate features of the scene (its subject) that you might not otherwise notice or appreciate. These details are frequently overlooked and are part of what motivates professional photographers. And particularly now that high-quality, compact digital cameras that have interchangeable lenses, such as the Olympus Pen E-PM1, you have the option to really explore your creativity.
So, if you want to pursue digital photography as an art form, it would benefit you to get a high-quality camera and adjust your thinking. Rather than thinking of taking pictures as nothing more than taking snapshots, think of it as a way of capturing life’s scenes. Learn to see the details, to zoom in on them. As a matter of fact, with a macro lens, you can take this approach to the extreme.
One of the beauties of taking pictures with a digital camera is that you have the option of post-processing. You can merge shots, crop pictures, apply various special effects, and many other fun and creative tricks. Software to pull this off is widely available for free, and there are plenty of tutorials online to get you started. And unlike doing analogous things with chemical film pictures, doing them with digital photographs doesn’t have to destroy the original since you can make as many copies as you’d like.
In addition, you can take advantage of the features of digital photography printing by making physical copies of your pictures to post online, share with friends and family, or frame. You can even use your artistic shots in brochures, on business cards, to make fliers, or to publish newsletter. Detail shots done with a good digital camera lend themselves well to all of these approaches.
In the end, when you learn to spot, appreciate, and capture the detail in your pictures, you gain a greater appreciation for beauty and nuance that enhances your life experience. And even if you are not sure where to start, you can simply experiment since you don;t have to worry about being stingy with your shots. Once you have invested in a digital camera, you have spent all you need to. No buying film, no paying to develop film, and no having to wait until you have developed your pictures. If you are uncertain how to begin, tutorials are just a google search away.