At Auckland s Ponsonby Intermediate, children from the ages of 10 to 13 are stunning their parents and even their teachers with how quick they re becoming the next wave of Peter Jacksons, using digital image technology. We asked the kids what they would like to do, we found out about it, did some basic training, then were prepared to let the kids guide us through the experience. The school uses Apple iBook , PowerBook , iMac and digital video cameras. Their current project is a virtual tour around the school. But now, anyone with a computer powerful enough to download digital images can manipulate images way beyond what we could have imagined even only a few years ago.
Digital photography is a big part of computing today and it s growing.
Sales of digital cameras are rising by about 80 percent a year. Digital cameras have been around for about 10 years but it s only over the past two or three that the technology has advanced enough that it is seriously threatening to replace traditional film photography. It s not hard to see why. Not only do digital cameras take excellent quality pictures but they offer features that can t be matched by film. The ability to view and subsequently delete or keep the image you just shot leaves you with a camera full of images that have perfectly captured the events of the day.