Digital capture is basically the same as photography with film…we are just using a “digital emulsion” to optimize the results. Our skills in lighting, composition, and project management remain essential, plus additional knowledge in color management, digital retouching and prepress prep is now our responsibility.

There is a “Catch-22” with digital capture that is not often discussed and is an important factor to consider in selecting a photographer… digital resolution is critical to output size and quality – if you don’t capture the detail in the original it will never get better. The number (and purity) of the pixels in the original capture defines edges and tone transitions… more pixels yield finer detail, better color gradations and sharper edges.

A poster made from a 35mm film negative will be grainy, look fuzzy and will loose detail compared to a poster made from 4x5 or 8x10 film. The same is true with digital, but you cannot go back and “rescan” a digital image at higher resolution. Digital is more FINAL than film! You can “add” more pixels but you cannot create detail that was not captured to begin with…regardless of how much you “enlarge” or resample the file to increase the pixel count.

That’s why A la Carte Digital Studios owns several digital camera backs. We can capture an extraordinary, first generation digital file up to 309 MB (216 megapixels) with our 4x5 scanning back. It is ideal for still life food or product, architecture or art reproduction images. For location, fashion and people we use our 48 MB (16 megapixel) Kodak Pro Back, or capture 18 MB (6 megapixel) images with the Kodak 760 for editorial, sports and candid assignments.

We've added fish-eye lenses and high-resolution panoramic equipment for our work in wide-view imaging and using Quicktime VR for virtual tours for hotels, resorts, restaurants, and real estate.

A la Carte offers choices…and years of experience to assure our clients a unique level of quality and service that leads to long-lasting relationships.