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.
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.
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 also known as monochrome photography. The early photographs and many photographs today are still in black and white. This type of photography continued to dominate for several decades even with the advent of color film, mainly because it was inexpensive and gave photographs that classic look.
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 uses digital technology to capture and create images. Unlike film photography, digital photography does not use photographic film for creating images. Images are instead stored in electronic media, such as a memory card in the camera.
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.
When you find that digital photography is fun, but your camera doesn't do as much as you want to do, it is time for a digital SLR camera that can deliver professional quality photography. You may even find yourself a digital photography professional before long.