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What's on your mind? If you have a question about digital photography, send it to me. I reply to as many questions as I can, and I round up the most interesting ones about once a month here in Digital Focus. Want to read more frequently asked questions? Browse reader questions from June, July, and ... More...

The price of digital cameras is falling as quickly as their quality is soaring. That means great opportunities for shoppers. Remember that while they seem expensive compared with film cameras, digital cameras never need film. And you can create photo-quality prints using your home computer and a goo... More...

With a slow shutter speed and a steady hand or tripod you can create a multitude of intentionally blurred pictures. When properly used this effect will lend a creative dream-like approach to your photos. Instructions Difficulty: Moderat... More...

Let's say you have some files or pictures on a memory card or memory stick and you want to lend it to someone or sell it. How do you permanently delete files from the memory card to prevent recovery? Instructions Difficulty: Easy ... More...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Crabby Photos! Taking photos of land hermit crabs requires skill and patience. You are capturing images of an animal that moves and has a habit of moving in the opposite direction of the camera. This makes macro (or close-up) photography more difficult since any mo... More...

Maybe it's a personality flaw. The holidays are long past--and my birthday is nowhere in sight--but I'm looking around longingly for some new digital photo toys to play with anyway. Whatever the explanation, I have a hankering to fiddle with some goodies for my digital camera. I've rounded up some o... More...

Over the recent holidays, I took about a hundred photos around the house. I also filled a memory card while photographing wolves at a nearby wildlife refuge, and, just a few weeks ago, snapped a truckload of "light trail"-style night photos from a pedestrian overpass in Las Vegas. Every o... More...

Everyone has a stockpile of images that are just too dark. The flash didn't reach far enough, or perhaps a bright background caused the camera to underexpose the subject. Thankfully, you can repair some of the damage on your PC. The Histogram Is Your Friend The most precise and powerful way of corre... More...

Five years ago, around the time that Digital Focus launched, Windows XP appeared on the scene and replaced Windows 98, Me, and 2000 on many desktops. Windows XP didn't have many features especially for digital photographers, but that's not too surprising. Digital photography was still in its infancy... More...

I grew up loving classic stop-motion animation--stuff like Gumby cartoons and classic Ray Harryhausen movies like Clash of the Titans. And over the years, I've tinkered with making my own. The problem? Stop-motion animation takes a long time. It's a slow process composed of setting up a shot, taking... More...

Depth of field is perhaps the most striking difference between photography and what you see through your own eyes. Unlike your normal vision, cameras can't keep everything in focus all at once. Instead, you get something called depth of field: One point in a photo is in sharp focus, and everything i... More...

Recently, I attended a party where the subject turned to digital photography. Someone asked me, "Dave, what question do you get asked more than any other?" I considered the possibilities, then decided it had to be: "Did your nose always look like that, or did you get in some sort of a... More...

At the risk of dating myself, I feel compelled to say that when I was a kid, I did all the things budding geeks were supposed to do. For example, I made a crystal radio (a simple radio that doesn't need a battery) and a pinhole camera. A pinhole camera is perhaps the simplest kind of photographic de... More...

When I lived in Colorado, my kitchen window looked out on Pike's Peak, which a group of intrepid hikers climbed each Fourth of July to launch fireworks from its summit. Now that I live near Seattle, the highlight of Independence Day is watching the spectacle of fireworks that get launched from the t... More...

It seems that there's something glamorous about being a professional photographer. For me, National Geographic's wildlife photographers were like rock stars; I was a camera groupie even before I was a teenager. If you, too, have been seduced by the idea of getting paid for your photos, I have some ... More...

Soft focus has been used in photography for almost as long as cameras have been used to take portraits. Softening the focus helps hide wrinkles, age lines, and skin blemishes, but it can also be used to give a somewhat dreamy quality to any subject. And it can help your own photos as well. This wee... More...

Have a question about digital cameras, photo editing, or digital photography in general? That's why I'm here. (Of course, my cat would tell you I'm here to provide a comfy lap for afternoon naps.) Once a month or so, I dig into the mailbag and answer reader questions. Have one of your own? Send it t... More...

I'm a restless guy. Even when I'm on vacation, I get nervous if I lie around on a couch for too long--I've got to be moving. This characteristic even affects the photos I take. Long ago, I noticed that I'm much happier when I'm capturing action than taking still-life photos. In fact, sometimes I ev... More...

If you've ever photographed an idyllic landscape and ended up with a washed-out sky and dark, underexposed blobs instead of shadows, you'll understand why photographers are falling in love with High Dynamic Range photography. HDR allows you to capture far more color, brightness, and contrast informa... More...

Your digital camera's automatic or program mode is a wondrous thing. It's really amazing how it can take good pictures in a diverse array of lighting conditions. There are times, though, when you and your camera have a difference of opinion regarding what constitutes a good picture. At times like t... More...