Digital Camera + Iphoto

1. 2 Important things to know about buying cameras

 *Megapixles

Digital images are made up of small squares, just like a tile mosaic on your kitchen or bathroom wall. Though a digital photograph looks smooth and continuous just like a regular photograph, it's actually composed of millions of tiny squares.

On the left the full image, on the right the area in the red square magnified to show individual pixels

A million pixels is abbreviated to MP, so a 1MP camera has 1 million pixels and a 3MP camera has 3 million pixels. Currently most popular consumer digital cameras have between 3MP and 10MP. A 3MP camera can make excellent 4"x6" prints and very good 5"x7" prints. If you intend to make lots of 8"x10" prints, then perhaps a 4MP or 5MP camera would be a better choice.
(info borrowed from http://photo.net/equipment/digital/basics/ )
Picture
*Zoom
*Optical Zoom is the most important*

It's also important to know the difference between things like optical zoom and digital zoom.
Most cameras have both optical zoom and digital zoom.

Optical zoom works just like a zoom lens on a film camera. The lens changes focal length and magnification as it is zoomed. Image quality stays high throughout the zoom range.

Digital zoom simply crops the image to a smaller size, then enlarges the cropped portion to fill the frame again. Digital zoom results in a significant loss of quality as is clear from the examples below. ( NEVER use the digital zoom unless you have too!)
(info borrowed from http://photo.net/equipment/digital/basics/ )
Picture

2. Memory Cards

comparison:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_memory_cards

Memory Card Capacity*
Camera     File size*        2GB       4GB      8GB    16 GB
5 MP           1.5 MB        1200      2500    5100    10300
6 MP        1.7 MB           1100      2200    4400    8900
8 MP        2.3 MB            800       1650    3200    6650
10 MP        2.9 MB           650      1300    2600    5200
12 MP           3.4 MB        500      1000    2000    4300
VIDEO        5 Mbps (EP)4590180360
*average file size for a high resolution JPEG Source: Lexar Media
http://www.digicamhelp.com/accessories/memory-cards/capacity/

3.  Camera Functions You Should Know

Picture

Camera on/off: Switch to turn the camera off and on

Automatic: This is usually the default setting for most digital cameras. The icon on your camera may read as "AUTO." This one automatically sets the camera's flash and focus by using the normal, average exposure settings. This can be used for normal picture taking, but if you want some special effects added to your pictures, keep reading.

Video Mode: Set your camera to this mode to take a photo. Click the shutter button to start recording, and click it again to stop the recording.

Review/preview/playback: Shows the pictures stored in the camera

Zoom: Use this to zoom in / out of photos already taken   

Focus: press the shutter button half way to focus image before taking the photo

Delete: Removes unwanted images

Auto Flash: This mode allows the camera  to decides whether a flash is needed

Flash ON: The flash will fire regardless of whether the camera feels it is necessary.

No Flash: Turns off the flash.
   
Battery: Tells you how much power is left in your battery.   

Photo Number   

( also location of: card, battery, and plug)
info borrowed from http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/3474 ) and  (http://www.inspiredart.biz/Digital%20Symbols.htm)

4.  Other Camera Icons

Timer: Sets timed shutter release so you can be in the picture. Time varies from camera to camera. This setting reduces the effects of you pushing  the shutter release in extreme low light settings.

Close Up: This mode should be used for any pictures you're taking from approximately two feet away or closer. If you really want to narrow in on a subject, use this one. Also, keep in mind that the flash probably won't automatically come on with this mode, so you'll have to set it manually yourself.

Image Stabilization: If you're known to have shaky hands when you're taking pictures, use this mode. It helps to stabilize your camera so the image won't come out all blurry.Continuous Mode: Allows you to shoot successive images while the shutter button is pressed fully.USB Port : Connecting site for your camera to the computer.Landscape: This one is used for any pictures you're taking of distant subjects. Also, the flash should not be on for these types of pictures. The landscape mode is also sometimes indicated by an 8 symbol.

Sport Mode: If you take a lot of pictures of moving objects, this is the mode you'll want to use. It sets the shutter speed on your camera to its fastest mark so you can catch the subjects in motion. For these types of pictures, you should just use the flash as needed.

Night Mode: This mode is obviously used for pictures you take at night or for any low-light conditions. It uses a slow shutter speed and it may also use the flash automatically. The icons for this one may be a little different from camera to camera. Another one that is commonly used is a backlight mode that has a fill flash picture. This mode also helps with shadowed objects.

Portrait Mode: This one is used mostly for faces of people. It helps to blur out the background so you can focus in more on a person's face. It is used well with the red eye reduction mode, for a full effect, as well.
Red Eye Reduction: This is suppose to help reduce the problem of red-eye by initiating a series of small flashes just before the main flash ignites.

info borrowed from http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/3474 ) and  (http://www.inspiredart.biz/Digital%20Symbols.htm)

5. Camera Settings
Erase/protect — Delete individual photos from the memory card; protect images that you don’t want to be removed during the erasure process.

Format — Deletes all images from a card, even protected ones. Format occasionally for better card performance. It’s best to format the card in the camera, not via the computer.

Sounds — Set the volume of the beep heard during camera operations. Select OFF if you wish to hear no sound.

Date/time — Set date and time.

Monitor — Select LCD display options such as brightness and contrast.

Power save — To conserve battery power, choose the length of time before the LCD automatically goes off or the camera goes into standby mode.

Digital Zoom- change the digital zoom on or off
(check here for more information/info borrowed from  http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-modes/setup-mode/ )

6. Simple Photo Tips

Simple Photographing Tips
Your back should be to the sun.
Don’t be afraid to zoom in.
Don’t be afraid to use your feet and get closer.

7.  Buying Cameras

Do you remember how to "shop" for a camera?  (hint- zoom and megapixels)

Iphoto

Visit apple for tutorials http://www.apple.com/ilife/video-showcase/
Youtube also has videos.

Need Curriculum Ideas?

1. Go to : http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/collection.php?collection=7
2. Click on View All Items
3. Search on the right hand side

Simple Project Samples
1.Using photos of students to create learning

A Living Alphabet
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=122

Foreign Language
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=175

A Counting Photo Book
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=119

An Alphabet Book
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=120

2.Portfolio: Using photos to display student’s completed work.

Mythical Monsters
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=339

If I were president
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=135

Leaf Classification
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=143

Shapes around us
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=9742


3.Process: Using photos to document the learning process
Mystery Sleuth Stories
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=181