Over the past two years, however, my students have been increasingly asking questions about digital photography. In order to answer the questions of digital photographers, it was essential that I become one myself.

EQUIPMENT:

After careful research on the web, I chose the 3 megapixel Kodak DC4800 as my first digital camera, because it was the only camera on the market offering a zoom lens embracing the two most important focal lengths a serious travel photographer should carry: a true wideangle lens, and at very least, a medium telephoto lens. The DC4800 camera offered a zoom range equivalent to 28mm-84mm, a good fit for my needs. Kodak also offered relatively inexpensive lens attachments which screw on to an optional adapter placed around the zoom lens. One of them expands the 28mm wideangle end of the zoom lens to a superwide 17mm. The other attachment pushes the 84mm end of the zoom lens up to 168mm. Both of these accessories proved to be essential tools for me in the field. And amazingly, all of this equipment virtually fits into the palm of one hand.

I immediately began practicing. I was amazed at the quality of my images, both on the computer monitor and later, when printing them on my inkjet printer. I found that this 3 megapixel camera, combined with the Epson Photo Stylus 870, offers picture resolutions that reproduce beautifully not only on any computer monitor, but as 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 prints as well. After a month or so of practice, I was ready to test digital photography in the field.

STORING PICTURES

In January of 2001, we took a 21 day group tour to Indochina. After a week of touring in Thailand, we boarded the Swan Hellenic Lines cruise ship Minerva in Bangkok for a two week cruise to ports in Cambodia and Vietnam.

I shot over 2,500 digital pictures on this trip. I saved 192 of them, using a 64MB compact flash card to store 64 of my favorite Thailand pictures, and a 128MB compact flash card to store the 128 keepers I shot in Cambodia and Vietnam. I used the DC4800s default compression setting for all of my pictures. Although this allowed me to store fewer pictures on each of my memory chips, it produced much better and sharper pictures as a result.

IMPROVING IDEAS AND TECHNIQUE

I learned a great deal from my first experience of making travel pictures with a digital camera. I found that I was able to refine the idea behind each picture more effectively than before, primarily because of the instant feedback a digital camera offers. I could shoot the same subject over and over until I found the idea that worked best for me. I could delete all the false starts from the memory chip, and then start working on making any needed technical improvements. The DC4800 has a lever on top of the camera that could instantly darken or lighten my pictures by one or two stops as needed. That helped me expose my pictures properly for my purpose. Often, I would spot things in my pictures such as an unwanted person in the background. I would simply shift my position a bit, block the person out, and take another picture. Now and then, the camera would want to focus on the wrong subject. I just would take another picture, making sure to lock the focus on my subject first, recompose, and then press the shutter button.

The only technical problem I found that was more difficult to overcome was the time lag between pressing the shutter button and the actual shutter release. Often I would try to capture movement, only to find the active subject I was trying to capture was no longer even in the frame of the picture. To solve this problem, I had to anticipate the flow of the action a bit earlier, and press the shutter just before the moment I wanted to capture. It took a while to get the hang of this, but gradually I was able to improve such pictures. Eventually digital cameras will become more responsive, but to do so, the engines that drive them will have to first become more powerful.

LOGISTICS

I did find, however, that digital photography made the logistics of travel much easier. No longer did I have to deal with the hassle of begging for hand inspection at every airport x-ray machine we encountered. On this trip to Indochina, we passed through ten x-ray machines. If I had been using regular film, it would have been essential to have my film inspected by hand and then passed around each machine instead of through it, or such a cumulative x-ray dosage might well have fogged my images. With digital photography, I simply put my cameras and memory chips through the x-ray machines without giving it a second thought. X-ray machines do not fog digital memory chips.

Another logistical problem encountered by travel photographers is excessive weight. When I used to travel with two single lens reflex cameras, four lenses, and fifty rolls of film, my camera bag weighed a ton. (At least it felt like a ton.) That heavy camera bag had to be my only carry-on. Now my digital camera and all of my accessories fit into a tiny hip pack. And that hip pack fit inside of the overnight bag I use as a carry-on. Most importantly, I no longer feel my energy draining away after a long day of shooting. Carrying less weight on my neck and shoulders has made my travels more pleasant and my picture a lot better.

The only logistical problem that digital photography adds to a travel photographers concerns is additional battery power. Digital cameras drain more battery power than film cameras. Fortunately, the DC4800 uses rechargeable lithium ion batteries. They cost about $50 each, but can be recharged over and over again. I also purchased a Kodak accessory battery charger that works on both 110 and 220 volts. I obtained a bag of foreign plug adapters, which allowed me to plug this battery charger into those strange looking outlets at foreign hotels and on foreign ships. I went to Asia with four batteries in my pack. Shooting as many pictures as I do, I needed that many. I could be away from the hotel or ship for up to eight to ten hours at a time. I would often go through two to three batteries in a day of shooting. But I always knew I would have at least one fresh battery in reserve. When I got back to the hotel or the ship, I could simply recharge them. This process took about an hour per battery. The next morning I would have four fully charged batteries ready to go again.

EXPENSES

In spite of this one-time extra battery expense, plus the initial costs of the camera, memory chips, and accessories, digital photography is more economical for me than film-based photography. I used to spend about about ten dollars for a roll of 800 speed, 36 exposure color film, including processing and double 4x6 prints. I generally shot about 50 rolls of film during a three week trip, a bit over two rolls a day. I would budget about $500 for pictures for each trip. My picture budget for this trip was one tenth of that: $50, the cost of fifty 8X10 prints made for an album. I used about 75 cents worth of ink for each print, and spent 25 cents for each sheet of Epson Heavyweight Matte photo paper. (Thanks to worldisround.com, it cost nothing for me to share these same pictures with you on the Internet.)

Although my photo budget did not include the cost of the two memory chips, the camera, the accessory lenses and charger, or the extra batteries, I figure that I will have saved enough by not having to buy any more film or pay for any more processing, to recoup my entire initial digital investment after just three more trips.

THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

My students are asking me if digital photography will eventually replace film-based photography. I cant see into the future, but I can make a good guess. To get the most out of digital photography, both technically and economically, you need to have an adequate computer and a good inkjet printer at your disposal. There will always be amateur photographers who do not own or use computers. Film-based photography should always be there for such people.

On the professional side, most commercial photographers and a significant number of fine art photographers, require large negatives offering the nuances that only film brings to their work. Film will always be there for them as well. Photojournalists, on the other hand, who use the smaller 35mm format, have been converting from film to digital photogaphy as the new, less expensive, high quality digital SLRs hit the marketplace, enabling them to retain their investment in expensive lenses, yet still enjoy the benefits of digital imaging.

A good analogy would be the advent of video cameras. They wiped out the home movie business. Today, digital video is being used to even make Hollywood movies. Yet film-based cinematography, with its unique visual look, should always coexist with videography.

Digital still photography will also eventually become the medium of choice for most serious travel photographers. Just as our computers get better and cheaper each year, so too will our digital cameras.

I am already a convert. The accompanying portfolio of 51 images, Indochina: a Digital Journey, is evidence of this. I hope the captions will offer insights into the thinking behind my pictures. And I hope the pictures themselves will give you a very special insight into Indochina. I welcome your comments or questions.

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Update:

Digital camera technology continues to improve by leaps and bounds. I now use a four megapixel Canon G2 as my prime digital camera and rely on the three megapixel Kodak DC4800 as backup equipment. Both use compact flash cards for storage. I use three converter lenses with the G2-- a Tiffen .75x wideangle converter (equivalent to a 24mm lens), a Canon 1.5x teleconverter (equivalent to a 158mm lens); and a Tiffen 2x teleconverter (equivalent to a 208mm lens). I also now use a Mac Powerbook laptop to download and store my images as I go.

I used G2 in the field for the first time in Alaska and Siberia, and all around the Bering Sea. (Summer, 2002) To see these articles here, go to: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/12057/index.html and http://www.worldisround.com/articles/12056/index.html

While on this cruise around the Bering Sea, I spent three weeks studying nature and wildlife photography with National Geographic photographers Galen Rowell and Frans Lanting.

I used my G2 again on a month's cruise that began in East Africa and ended in Argentina (December, 2002). To see these articles, go to: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/14159/index.html http://www.worldisround.com/articles/14158/index.html

My third shoot with the G2 was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in March of 2003. To see this article, go to: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/15821/index.html

My fourth adventure with the G2 was in Vienna, a Danube cruise to Budapest and Prague, and a visit to Amsterdam in April, 2003. You can find these articles at: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/17324/index.html http://www.worldisround.com/articles/17325/index.html

In 2003, the revolutionary switch from film cameras to digital imaging hit full stride. To meet the demand for knowledge, I added a series of digital tutorials for beginners here in Phoenix. It has been a great learning adventure for all of us. Meanwhile, I've also been increasing my own knowledge of digital photography through my far flung travels, as well as learning from some of the world's leading professionals at the Santa Fe Photography Workshops.

**************************************************** Phil Douglis, Director, The Douglis Visual Workshops, Phoenix, Arizona (pnd1@cox.net)