The Movement of Photography from Film to Digital

by: BobDale
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Simply put, photography is the taking of photographs. In a more technical sense, photography is a process wherein pictures are taken by capturing light on film or electronic sensor.

Photography can be beneficial both for financial gain or personal pleasure. Those who do photography as a hobby find that it can be very fulfilling, while those who do it for a living can find that the better their photography is the more financially rewarding it can be.

Photographic technology has been rapidly advancing in recent years. During the film camera era, advances were slow. But in the digital camera era, the advances in technology have been rapid.

"Once the 35mm film SLR camera was the camera to own but now, there are digital SLR cameras like the Canon Rebel Xti that give the photographer great results with less frustration than their film counterparts" says Minneapolis photographer Bob Dale.

Digital photography, black and white photography, and color photography have all been popular photography forms for over a decade.

This is the most popular variation of monochrome photography. Early photography was done in black and white. Black and white photography continues to be very popular because the shadows and coloring displayed in black and white photography give it some artistic appeal. "Today Black-and-white photography is associated with "fine art" photography, as in the style of Ansel Adams landscape photos or the George Hurrell style of Hollywood portraits" says professional digital photographer Bob Dale.

Other types of monochrome photography are used for special uses to create artistic views of a subject in various hues of a color. Cyanotype photography is an example of using the monochromatic hues of cyan to create a photograph of cyan and white tones.

In the mid-1800s, experiments on color photography began. During this time, color couldn't be fixed on the photographs and the color couldn't be prevented from fading. In 1861, however, a physicist named James Clerk Maxwell took the first permanent color photograph. Back then, three cameras were used to take color photos, with the lens on each of the three cameras having a color filter in front of it.

Color photography became a lot more sustainable with the Autochrome in 1907. Color film didn't enter the mix until Agfacolor film in 1932. It was 1935 when Kodak introduced the modern color film. Polaroid came out with an 'instant' color film in 1963.

Digital technology now allows images to be captured in digital form. These images can be manipulated by other digital technology devices, rather than requiring manual film work. With a memory card, you can easily store thousands of pictures in digital form.

As you can imagine, photography that is done in digital form can be easily saved, manipulated, and shared with digital electronics. Instead of dealing with tedious chemical and image transfer processes, you can simply print your pictures straight from the digital media or from your computer.

Most photography professionals who specialize in portrait photography or wedding photography choose digital SLR cameras. Digital SLR cameras give the photographer the ability to print out quick proof sheets so the customers can quickly pick out which photographs they want to buy.

Most wedding photographers now use digital SLRs in their wedding photography business because these cameras enable them to take pictures of the wedding ceremony discretely, without using flash. At the wedding reception, they can take high quality photos of the bride's wedding dress, the wedding cake, and wedding guests with a digital SLR that has a zoom lens.

A digital camera is a relatively affordable device. Digital cameras for novices can be purchased without much investment due to decreasing costs of electronic components and increasing market competition. In fact, a small, but very capable digital camera, can be purchased for less than $100 to meet most novice photography needs.

There is no reason why you can't start with an inexpensive digital camera and then, if you enjoy it, move up to an advanced digital SLR camera later. You may find that before long you are earning a living from your digital photography.

About the Author

Learn most about digital photography and the digital camera with expert digital photographer Bob Dale. Visit the photography website at http://photo.dalestudios.com  

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