Our 2nd tute was all about digital cameras. I don't know about you, but my digital cameras has almost become an accessory, travelling with me in my car or handbag to record all sorts of activities. Within an instant photographs can be taken, edited or deleted and then a bit later on can be posted anywhere in the world.
QUESTION: is it rare for a new technology to be superior to an old one in every feature?
In my opinion, I would say yes. There are always pros and cons of new technology and this is often due to the context in which the item is used or the personal value it holds for an individual. I have an old Baby Brownie which is a little box camera that takes a tiny film and has a little metal view finder with no glass in it, that you manually stand up. You can look inside it to see how it all works so its a great learning tool, something you can't do with a digital camera. It holds lots of memories too, of being allowed to use it when I was a child and I'm sure my mum remembers the pride she felt when it was first purchased and it seemed so compact! Many camera enthusiasts also love to compose their own photographs using traditional 35mm film cameras, just like they enjoy the process of developing their prints to ensure that the colours are represented as closely as possible to the originals. The prints from these cameras are undoubedly of superior quality! Digital camera technology is certainly improving rapidly and cameras are being manufactured to suit many purposes such as underwater and fully waterproof cameras and prices are becoming more affordable. My digital camera is used many times a week for home, sport, school and family but I still have the traditional 35mm film camera for when I'm feeling creative, the mobile phone camera when I'm at the supermarket and I don't know which shampoo to buy, the underwater disposable for when we are out diving and snorkelling and the old baby Brownie when I want to show a child how a camera works. Technology is great....but in my opinion, it will never out do the old ones in every feature.
Digital images can be stored, transferred and manipulated using other communications technology.
They can be stored on memory devices in mobile phones or cameras, on discs, memory sticks, on computer harddrives or on websites. They can then be photoshopped, cropped, rotated and changed in colour or size then transferred to other computers.
However ethical issues arise given the prevalence of image capturing devices.
The three things that spring to mind is copyright, privacy and confidentiality. With the dawn of digital technology, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the safe guarding of these ethical issues and all are breached regularly. To start with there are issues regarding creativity, representation, ownership and profit. (More to come on this subject)
Digital images are being used in Occuaptional Therapy practice and more opportunities are arising as technology continues.
Here are some examples:
Use of photographs to help explain equipment or use in a report; for example if equipment is damaged, a didgital photo could be included with a report.
Sourcing adaptive equipment using the internet to find websites that contain photographs and specifications such as DME Direct.
Video range of movement (ROM) of a patient.
From a therapeutic point of view, take a mental health patient for a walk and give them a camera to use. You can experience the walk from their perspective (J de Malmanche , personal communication, February 24, 2010).
Some facilities take a photograph of their clients each day for a record of what they are wearing that particular day, in case the person goes missing. This way an accurate description can be given to the police (personal communication, February 25, 2010).
Show activities enjoyed by patients/clients to enhance memories, decoration of facilities and to show families and friends.
Personal portfolios for children at school.
Resources:
www. dmedirect.co.nz
During this weeks tute, we explored Flickr.com
Fickr.com is a free online photo management website that allows you to store and share your photographs or videos with your friends.
On the site you can organise, edit such as cropping or removing red eye, share or even make cards, photo books or DVD's.
Photos can be uploaded via windows, email, webpages and mobile phones. The site is secure so give it a go! Just log on to Flickr.com and follow the prompts to sign up. Even a computer cluts like me managed it!
Other photo storage websites which offer similar services are Picassa Web Albums (PWA) which is a photograph sharing website from Google. It allows Google users 1GB of photograph storage for free and a paid service is available for further storage.
Before we were let loose with some digital cameras to demonstrate our photographic creativity, we learned a bit about the terminology.
So.... what is the difference between a digital and optical zoom?
A digital zoom is a feature of digital cameras which enlarges a portion of a photograph. In this process, the quality of the picture is compromised.
An optical zoom is using the lens (optics) in the camera to bring the subject closer.
A pixel is a tiny square of colour that makes up the picture of the digital screen, for example on the computer or camera screen. Mega means million, so a camera with 7.1 mega pixels means that each picture will contain 7.1 million minute squares of colour. The more pixels, the more detail will be contained in the picture.
So..with the theory done, we set out to take some photos and here are a few of our favourites....
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