Huh? F-stop?

Photography is popular and with good reason; its easy. Anybody can take a picture, especially with new camera features ranging from face detecting auto-focus to smarter automatic exposure options. Cameras are becoming more of a consumer electronic device and less of a tool for photographers. This can't be helped, the manufacturers are simply keeping up with the tides of the market. Those who are stubborn to this change are bound to fail. Just look at the iconic German camera company Leica, which fell into financial trouble in early 2005 primarily because of their slow pace in adapting to the new digital era. These innovations in camera technology may be great for company profits and the average consumer, but new photographers are becoming photographically illiterate by relying on these short-cuts rather than learning the basics.

Henri Cartier-Bresson said it best, "the actual handling of the camera, its stops, its exposure-speeds and all the rest of it are things which should be as automatic as the changing of gears in an automobile." Knowing how to shift and steer is as important to a Formula 1 driver as understanding the operation of a camera is to a photographer. Without understanding the basic operations of a camera, the important decisions of exposure, focus, and depth of field are then left to be made by programmed algorithms rather than the photographer's intent. This may be fine for someone who is simply trying to record a family outing, but by relying on computer programs to make these decisions the photographer loses control of the photograph. When the photographer takes the control of these important decisions the camera's actions become the reactions of the eye and mind rather than simple computations.