Examples of digital imaging
I have a digital camera and upload photos regularly to Flickr and Facebook, so I'm familiar with using my digital camera. I use Picasa or iPhoto to edit photos, usually cropping and removing glare to try and replicate the actual light conditions on the day.
While looking for examples of digital imaging to record information, I came across the word 'photoblog' or 'phlog'. I love how people just make up words that suit them with the new technology and amend them to something that is just nonsense but easy to say! I also wonder how many people use these terms in everyday life...I'm not sure 'phlog' should catch on!
So, there is a phlogging website (not to be confused with flogging!) - fotolog.com, where the creators suggest loading a photo every day as a record of your life...I think that would be quite challenging.
Adobe have set up a website where you can subscribe to podcast lessons on manipulating digital images using Adobe software - CS4 Podcasts
And here is a photo diary that fashion and celebrity photographer Mark Squires uses as a sort of advertisement for his work. This is a great way to showcase your work if you're a photographer or even an artist: http://www.marksquiresphotodiary.com/
"A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature" - pros and cons of digital versus film cameras.
(+) = no film to carry around. (-) = losing/corruption of your memory card
(+) = massive amount of storage on memory card, don't have to change film every 32 shots. (-) = too many photos! I take way more photos with my digital camera and am reluctant to delete them, whereas with a film camera I would just throw out the bad ones
(+) = can check you got the right shot. (-) = loss of that exciting day when you get your film back and there are surprises in the photos - ones you can't remember taking
(+) = easy to share! I love being able to upload photos immediately and share them with friends and family. When my nephew was born this year, my brother took a couple of photos on his mobile phone and texted them to us. Unfortunately we all have cheap phones, but were able to log onto the Telecom website, download the (tiny) pictures, and email them around, within hours of the baby being born. (-) = too much sharing. My brother's in-laws took photos of the baby AS HE WAS BEING BORN. Tmi, tmi.
(+) = ability to check you got the right shot. (-) = not being able to get the right shot because of the delay between pressing the button and the shot taking...grrrr...wish I could afford a fancier model, but then I don't take that many photos anyway.
That delay takes a lot of the spontaneity out of photo-taking for me, so occasionally I take a bunch of photos with my old film camera, like these ones I took at New Year's. The film had been sitting in my cupboard for a while and I got a great light quality, which really suited the hippie vibe of where I was: Prana Festival in the Coromandel. I got them printed to CD so I could still share them online. I note I had to go all over Dunedin to find someone who still knew how to process the film! Jonathan's Camera and Vid btw.
For me, the winner is...digital camera with the odd reminiscence back to my film camera, which is a Pentax and is pretty good!
Ethical issues
1. As I said on my first blog, who has the right to distribute the photo? It is good manners to ask people before you upload compromising photos of them - but not all my friends have good manners! I think you have to follow the rule "Ask first" if you want to keep your friends.
2. The other issue I think of is storage of photos and how long to keep them for. Who has the right to hold onto a photo of you? This has always been a problem, regardless of digital or film technology.
These two issues are interlinked. I can understand that professional photographers have a contract with the subjects of their photos, making it clear that any photos they take are their intellectual property, but I can't do that with my friends and family.
Use of digital images in OT practice
Digital images can be used in OT to keep a record of a client's progress, particularly in a physical setting. You could record daily progress on an artwork or piece of craft and provide the client with the record at milestones during its completion, to help motivate them to complete it.
Taking digital images can also be a meaningful occupation in itself. A client may want to learn how to take photos or simply go for a walk with a camera.
This blog has photographs showing different equipment to help children with their handwriting - Occupational Therapy for Kids - Handwriting
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