Using Digital Cameras: Activities

In this section of the module, you will take photos in preparation for the project you will complete in the "Create" section. Each camera may be somewhat different in the way that you will connect to your computer. There is probably a software application that came with your computer that will be very useful to you for uploading your photos to your computer, and in manipulating them in various ways. If you have trouble with some of the steps, consult the manual or software that came with your camera.

Step 1: take photos of the students in your class (or some of your friends). Use the zoom or get as close as you can to get a good shot of their faces.

Step 2: upload the photos to your computer. Most cameras will download photos to computers in one of three ways:

• by a special "docking station" that the camera plugs onto.
• by a USB cable that goes from the camera to the computer, and then you see the camera as an external drive.
• some laptops, in particular, have slots that will read various types of memory cards. Take the card out of the camera and put into the laptop or a special memory card reader connected to the computer.

Step 3: use the software that came with your camera, or another similar one, to make any needed changes to the photos, to get just the face of the person in the photo.

NOTE: If you do not have software that came with your camera, or if you would like to try a different one that is very easy to use, try Google's Picasa (free download from http://picasa.google.com - for Mac or Win).