Some of your recent goals have been to take up a hobby that will incorporate the latest in electronic gadgetry, stimulate the mind to learn something new and indulge in a pastime that reflects your appreciation for photography. An ideal hobby that blends these three goals together is the purchase and use of a digital camera.

If new to this latest technology, it is important to educate yourself through a basic digital photography lesson plan. This basic digital photography lesson plan should include how to shop for a camera and a basic understanding of how to utilize this electronic apparatus.

Basic Features

A basic digital photography lesson plan starts with the purchase of a digital camera. There are many factors that should be considered prior to purchasing a digital camera.

The first consideration should be the number of megapixels that the camera is equipped with. A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image that comprises the entire digital picture. Therefore, megapixels can be defined as over one million pixels. This attribute of a digital camera is very important as the greater number of pixels equates to a higher quality digital photograph. Therefore, it is important to select a digital camera that has over five megapixels.

Another important learning step in the digital photography lesson plan is to purchase a memory card that will meet your digital photography needs. Generally, the physical size of these cards are the same. However, the amount of data that they can hold varies from card to card. Often these cards come in 4 different capacities. Those capacities are 8MB, 16MB, 32MB or 64MB. Obviously the more megabytes the more data the cards will hold. In addition, the greater the capacity size of the card, the greater the cost.

Another important accessory to invest in is a battery charger. Often digital cameras, especially when the viewfinder is utilized frequently, will expend the power of the batteries quite quickly. Therefore, it is important to have a spare pair of batteries as well as a battery charger.

Basic Operation Steps

The next step in the digital photography lesson plan are the basic steps in operating the digital camera. Some models are activated through the depressing of an on and off button or by simply sliding the shutter to expose the lens.

Once the power has been activated, an indicator light usually signals to the photographer that the camera is ready to take photographs. Some features on the camera may allow for the activation button to be depressed without taking the photograph. This action allows for the lens to focus on the image to be captured.

Once the digital image has been taken, the camera may allow for the image to be viewed on the viewing screen. This gives the photographer the opportunity to immediately view the digital picture to make sure it is adequate.

The final step of the digital photography lesson plan is to become acquainted with the enclosed software that the digital camera is packaged with. Often this software can be simply inserted into the CD drive and the software will begin to download itself onto your computer. In addition, a number of digital cameras are equipped with a USB cable. This cable when attached to a USB port on one end and the other end of the cable to your digital camera will allow for the easy downloading of the digital photographs that were taken by the camera.