The Development of Photography: From Film to Digital
submitted: Jun 20th 2008 |
by: BobDale |
Total views: 1 |
Word Count: 706 |
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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.
Over the years the technology behind photography has advanced quite a bit. While advances were made during the film era, they were slow. Now, in the digital era, rapid advances have made the digital camera very popular.
While the 35mm film SLR camera was an excellent photography device in the hands of a professional, the modern digital SLR cameras can provide nearly anyone with great photographs. "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.
Black-and-white photography, color photography, and digital photography are the three main styles of photography in use today.
Black-and-white photography is often referred to as monochrome photography. Black-and-white photography is not just the original photography style; it has remained an artistic photography style. Though color photography has been around for many decades, the special contrasts created by black-and-white photography continued to be used for their 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.
By the middle of the 19th century, a strong push was being made to develop color photography. Early color photographs maintained their color for only a brief time. In 1861 James Clerk Maxwell, a physicist, was able to take the first ever color photograph that held its color. However, it took the combined efforts of three cameras with three different lens colors to make the one color photograph.
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 photography took things to all-new levels. Digital photography isn't limited by the capabilities of film for its capture and storage of images. Images are translated from a sensor into a digital format that is immediately recorded to an electronic memory storage unit.
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.
Digital cameras have become very affordable. The prices of simple digital cameras have been continually dropping due to increased competition and decreasing electronic component prices. For less than $100, you can purchase a digital camera that will take good pictures of your family and friends without requiring much technical knowledge or skill in photography.
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
Find most from digital photography and the digital camera from expert digital photographer Bob Dale. Visit his photography website at http://photo.dalestudios.com
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