am getting my first digital camera. am an artist. want to use camera for a.) pictures of painting subject matter and b.) to scan/e-mail/make photos . . . have P.C., printer, scanner . . . what else do i need ? p.s. a neophyte . . .

-- lloyd n. king (kingme@visi.net), May 26, 2000

Answers

Lloyd:
You'll want a good piece of software. As an artist you may prefer the raw power of Photoshop - but the price tag is a bit steep. JASC PaintShop Pro is an excellent alternative (some say it's even better). Most other programs are a bit hand-holdy in that they offer all of their features in a highly consumer oriented metaphor which can be very annoying to power users (like artists tend to be).
You will also want to invest in some lights. I use a very nice set of Colortran Mini-Pros I purchased from a seller on eBay. Again - a bit steep but they are powerfull, have reflective umbrellas and come with nice stands. Look for them on eBay where you can get them for under $500 - otherwise a new set with umbrellas, barn doors, scrims and dichroic filters will cost about $1500.
And you'll want some kids. Get some kids to take pictures of. Animals are nice too. Get a dog .... and a cat.

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), May 27, 2000.