Tip! A second big advantage of digital photography is the ability to print out your photos almost immediately. With film cameras, you have to take the film to be developed, and then go back to pick them up.
A quick search in Google or one of the other search engines can easily yield dozens of images from everyday life, snapped on camera phones, small pocket-sized digital cameras, or high-end digital SLR’s. In many cases, camera phone images are so blurry as to be of little value, but they abound in the wide world of the Internet, and as small portable imagery devices get into more and more hands, the sheer volume of electronic images just continues to increase.
Some people ask the question of whether the digital photography revolution is necessarily a good thing. It is easier, faster and cheaper than ever before to capture memorable moments for later viewing. Because of this, digital photos often feel more “real” than traditional film-based images, as dozens or hundreds of images can be snapped continuously at no cost without interrupting the flow of a moment in order to have participants re-create it “for a picture”.
Because of this essential freedom to review, arrange, and remove unwanted images, we are far more generous with our shutters than was generally the case with more expensive film-based methods of image capture. Because of inexpensive storage however, many people never bother to remove most unnecessary images, resulting in bloated virtual albums with duplicates, accidental pictures of thumbs, uninspiring shots of brick walls, pavement, and more.
Tip! Lenses can be cheap or expensive and big or small. If you have been researching what kind of lens you will need for what you are going to use your camera for I’m sure you have already discovered that there is a huge variety of lenses available for just about any situation possible
However, because of this essentially greater freedom to snap, some make the argument that many of our images have less value. This is tricky territory, however - who’s to say that a plastic bag lying on the sidewalk isn’t lovely, or that an overexposed picture of Fluffy the dog isn’t artistic or as valuable as a more traditional family photo? In the end, there’s not much point arguing about taste.
One thing is certain, though - as more and more cameras find their way into more hands, the numbers of images available on line are sure to continue to multiply - and whether good, bad, or ugly, each of these images has meaning for someone. And when you get down to it, individual freedom is one thing we can all likely agree on.
Tip! continuing advances in digital photography make it possible for everyone to capture moments of their lives with more detail and accuracy than ever
Caitlin Moore is an avid photographer, and one the editors of dpdigest.com - an informative website dedicated to digital photography, with extensive information about digital storage devices, camera accessories, lighting kits and more.
