OT--How to take good pictures

mo dingo has some very good points about photography

i believe the correct term is called "depth of field," it referrs to the object being focused on hence how deep or far you want to focus your field or picture.

Personally I like to use manual focus which are easy to come by on regular 35mm cameras but are also available on more expensive digital ones (>$300). Anyways, i'm guessing most of the people on here just use manual focus to create this depth of field because adjusting aperature settings and shutter speeds are more difficult on the digital cameras. using a 35mm is so much easier but then you have to scan the picture into the computer and that just sucks.

I wouldn't dismiss 1hot5.0 or mo dingo because they both are correct. 1)The faster the shutter speed the less light you allow into the camera which also depends on the iso reading of the film, which is the quickness the image is recorded onto the film. The faster the shutter speed the sharper a moving object is, but if it's stationary it doesn't matter as much. 2)Aperature is also a setting which controlls light, the bigger the number, the less light is let in which helps your 'depth of field' greatly as mo dingo described.

THE BEST TECHNIQUE: use what mo dingo described about backgroud (it's really good information) but also use manual focus because it says it in the name, you're focusing manually which means you choose how focused or out of focus objects in your field are.

BTW (Camera Shopping): The best digital cameras aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest megapixel rating. You also want options so you can take pictures like you are describing. Action shots like your stang running down the dragstrip require bigger shutter speeds. manual focus is one of the most important tools imo because i like taking pictures like you're describing (currently my camera sucks so the only good pics i have are old ones that are on my AIM info- superchrisophe03) 8 mp would be great but only on a good camera and that's gonna be at least $500+. Don't buy a camera that has that as their only offer it'll be crap. Read reviews and visit dpreview.com if you're gonna go shopping for a new camera.

so long but so good, i'll add if i think of anything else.

I'm always open for conversation on AIM (superchrisophe03) or pm, when i'm not too busy