The Development of Photography: From Film to Digital

by: BobDale
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Photography can be defined as the action of capturing photographs. In simple, yet technical terms, photography is the capturing of light and recording it onto another medium such as film or digital media.

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.

Photography has advanced significantly over the past few years. Before the advent of digital cameras, film cameras were widely used. Today, however, digital cameras are becoming more and more popular.

"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.

There are three main types of photography: black-and-white photography, color photography and digital photography.

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.

While mainstream color photography technology has only been around for several decades, color photography could be captured by scientists to some extent as early as the middle of the 19th century. Early color photography simply faded over short periods of time, but by 1861, James Clerk Maxwell managed to develop a permanent color photograph. These first color photographs were taken by three separate cameras capturing three separate colors.

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.

Digital photos can be displayed, stored, manipulated and disseminated electronically. They can be printed without having to undergo chemical processing; photos can be printed directly from the camera or from the computer to a laser, inkjet or thermal print on photo or regular paper.

Wedding photographers and portrait photographers find digital SLR cameras to be particularly indispensable. Photographs can be quickly printed out as proofs for customers to look over and make quick decisions about which photographs they wish to purchase.

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.

As you become more experienced in digital photography, you may want to bring your hobby to the next level with a more advanced digital camera. You may even want to make a living off digital photography.

About the Author

Learn most from digital photography and your digital camera from professional digital photographer Bob Dale. Visit the photography website at http://photo.dalestudios.com  

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