A lot of people opt for simple point and shoot digital cameras not because they are cheap, but because they frightened by the various functions and controls on a medium range digital SLR. While these point and shoot cameras are okay for normal indoor use, they are limited in what can be done outdoors and the special effect options are almost nil. It makes sense for a newcomer to digital photography to spend on an intermediate digital camera (the professional ones have features the average photographer will never use and are far too expensive.)

Remember that when you buy a digital camera there are almost no recurring costs in the way of film etc., so making mistakes while you learn is no big deal. With no film or developing costs, you can take as many pictures and you want and experiment as much as you wish – you need only keep the photos you like and learn from the bad ones. Digital photography is fun and with a little experimentation and some reading of useful articles, your skills will begin to improve and you can start using all the features your digital camera has. This means that you have a range of options that you would never have had if you had bought the simple point and shoot camera.

Of course there will be times when you cannot afford to experiment and that is when the “auto” setting is a God send – now all you need to do is press the button and you will get a good photo. Also, a higher end digital camera will have a better lens and sensors so even in the “auto” mode you will get better results than you would if you were using a basic point and shoot camera.

Understanding what you can do with picture editing software is an essential part of any introduction to digital photography. All digital cameras come with some form of software for transferring images from the camera to a computer and then editing them and more advanced software is easily available for those who want to really use this option. Depending on the software you use (advanced photo editing software is easily available) you will be able to not just repair defects in the picture but edit them to make them more viewable and also add special effects so good pictures can be turned into a great ones. In the end you will have no bad photos – just photos on which you need to use the editing software more creatively.

This is what makes digital photography so much better than conventional film photography – your creativity is almost unlimited as it the amount of fun it can provide you.