PHOTO TALK
Prepared by the staff of Marshall’s Camera
Auburndale, Florida -A18

QUESTION: I want to get something that will carry all my photographic equipment. It needs to be lightweight, comfortable to carry, and convenient to get into. I have looked at beltpacks but they are not big enough for a camera, two lenses, and a flash. What do you suggest?
ANSWER: I remember my first camera bag. It was brown. I rescued it just before my mother threw it away after unloading the groceries. There were never any worries about anyone stealing a brown grocery bag out of my car. Eventually the budget could afford a proper padded fabric bag and then locking the car changed from being an option to a necessity. Of course times have changed and for the better. Now there are probably more bag designs available than there are camera models to fit into these bags. Not only is there a multitude of designs but these designs come in a bewildering array of sizes, colors, and prices.
The best way to shop for a bag is to carry all your equipment with you to see how it all fits in the tentative choices. Also carefully check all the seams, pockets, snaps, zippers, and straps on the bag that you select so that a second trip to the store to exchange a bag will not be necessary.
Two general types of bag are available. The most familiar model is carried with either hand or shoulder strap. The shoulder strap can often be detached leaving the hand strap for carrying purposes. The other type of bag is the backpack fitted with straps so that both arms fit through and the bag is positioned on your back between the shoulder blades. The backpack also usually has a small central hand strap for convenient use.
Several camera bag manufacturers even have a harness available that fits the body snuggly and allows camera and lens pouches to be attached as needed.
Unlike earlier designs most camera bags of today have movable padded partitions inside. This allows considerable creativity in arranging the storage of equipment so that everything is well cushioned and held firmly in place. Check to make sure that the bag opens in a way that is convenient. It is frustrating to realize that what works well for a right-handed person doesn’t suit your groping left hand.
Shopping for a camera bag can be a chore or an adventure but whatever you choose should be better than a grocery sack.

QUESTION: I took pictures with my new digital camera at a cheerleading competition. Most of them looked ok on the built-in camera screen but many appeared too dark when I had prints made at the drug store. One of my friends said that this probably would not have happened if I had checked the picture histogram frequently. I didn’t admit that I was completely clueless but WHAT IS A PICTURE HISTOGRAM?
ANSWER: Knowing that proper exposure has been made is a good thing. As strange as it may seem the picture histogram does a better job of checking for proper exposure than looking at the actual picture on the screen. Most digital cameras, except for the most simple or totally automatic ones, will show a picture histogram. Some cameras will let you do this only after the picture has been taken while other cameras will allow viewing of the histogram both before and after pressing the shutter button.
So what is a picture histogram? Remember that a digital picture is made of a lot of points or picture elements. Imagine a little man (or woman) inside the camera inspecting each pixel (picture element or point) of the image that has been captured to determine how bright it is. Furthermore each pixel is placed in one of 256 bins depending on how bright it is. The histogram shows how many pixels are in each bin starting with the black pixels on the extreme left side and the white pixels on the extreme right side. If the picture is too dark then we see a big pile of pixels near the left side and very few on the right. If the picture is too light then the pixels are piled up on the right side. By this time you probably have determined that a picture will usually have its best appearance if the histogram shows most of the pixels piled near the middle.
Experience is the best teacher in using a histogram to check exposure. Look in your instruction book to determine if your camera will show a picture histogram. If it does then first practice producing the histogram. Then look at the histograms of a number of pictures that you have already found to be properly exposed. Next find out if your camera has an over and under exposure compensation feature. If yes then take a picture in bright light (no flash) that is properly exposed according to camera. Then take the same picture with over exposure using the exposure compensation feature. Now compare the histograms of the two pictures and notice the shift to the right with overexposure. Try the same procedure with underexposure. Also check the histograms of flash pictures. Hopefully the next time you take pictures in a strange setting histograms will help confirm proper exposure.
Check MarshallsCamera.com for announcements about classes on both 35mm and digital photography.
Copyright 2006 Marshall Ledbetter