Photography in It's Essence

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jamie_P._Johnson]Jamie P. Johnson
Photography is the art of capturing light, I'm sure you have heard that a lot, and now with digital cameras it has become much easier as opposed to the traditional 'film' cameras that were prone to uncertainty and other frustrating mishaps. That's all gone now, and any one with a DSLR can produce amazing results. In addition with the growing photo enhancement software it is merely child's play when it comes to editing your photographs, even normal digital cameras give you the option of in camera editing. However, all this while has given an increased level of creativity; the essence of photography seems to be lost. It's all about taking hundreds of clicks and well, when you do that you're sure to get some fantastic pictures. Whereas in the 'film' age photographers had to check a lot of variables, like the direction of the light, shadows, highlights, reflections and what not. Although the camera did the light exposure adjustments it was necessary to make counter adjustments according to the lighting conditions, whereas nowadays if a picture doesn't come out right you can take it again. With film it wasn't possible until the film was processed to see the final results.
A Look at the Digital World of Photography
The digital age has made photography much easier, and has given birth to new techniques such as HDR and what not. Digital cameras have their advantages, far more than the advantages of film. The learning curve of photography has increased exponentially, young artists have emerged and a lot of people have taken keen interest and taken up photography as a hobby. And that's not it, with so many photography forums, places to share your photography have increased a lot, examples being flicker, deviant art, and loads more. This has in turn made it very easy to share your work with the world and has opened up various ways to earn money. Stock photography has become very popular and has made it possible for hobbyists to earn initiation to giving them recognition and praise for the work they do. Forums and these photo sharing websites have made it possible to get critique from all kinds of people. This makes it a healthy learning experience. Digital cameras have taken the world over by a storm, and all this has made competition very tough, photographers spend a lot to get the best equipment, the best lenses, the best cameras, accessories, and software's to compete on an international level.
Film Photography
All this seems very fascinating, but there are still devotees out there who are still keeping the traditional way of photography alive. Although now termed as a 'dying art' film photography still has its enthusiasts, my self being one of them. Film photography has it own essence, a feel you do not get from digital cameras, using film I believe makes the photographer more aware of the lighting conditions, as in it makes them evaluate each and every photograph in more depth, clicking away is something most film photographers are not fond of, instead they will take their time, the process is more detailed, and the wait is something that heightens your curiosity. It's like a magical moment when your film is developed, that's when you get the full feel of what you have done, and the joy and satisfaction of capturing that particular moment is like no other. Since film works on a chemical reaction on the atomic level, and digital works with pixels it is said that the detail captured by film has no parallel, but yet advancements in technology have enabled the production of 60 mega pixel image sensors and even much higher than that, which produces details that can very well be matched with film and even be better, although those are differences that hardly matter and that is more of a technical debate rather than one which you can see outright.
You can find a lot of debates going on about digital vs. film, in a nut shell both in their own right are justified and both have an aspect that cannot be weighted above the other. Film enthusiasts will continue their love for film, and newer technology will keep improving digital cameras. Digital cameras are still new, due to consistent changes and advancements it can be very well said that digital still has a lot further to go before it matures. Film however, reached its maturity long ago, in a way it reached its epitome and now it's only a matter of time that film goes obsolete, and the art of film photography ultimately comes to an end.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Photography-in-Its-Essence&id=6642355] Photography in It's Essence