Why Digital Photography?
If you’re one of those delayed-gratification people, digital may not be for you.
The fact of the matter is, digital photography is immediately rewarding. That is its asset.
Is digital photography fundamentally different from film? No, it really isn’t. Both types of systems work via the same principles: capture light via shutter speed, aperture, and sensitivity (ISO) controls.
The real difference, in so many ways, rests with the functionality of the camera. Whether you’re shooting with a Nikon point-and-shoot, a Canon Digital SLR, or a Sony wachamacalit, learning how to use the features of your camera will be your biggest learning curve.
Capturing digitally doesn’t necessarily mean you need a new computer, printer, and a lesson in electronics. The age-old method of shooting pictures and sending them to a lab can still be followed, if desired. Alternatively, using any relatively modern computer (circa 2000), you can store, then send pictures to a photo lab via the Internet. Mpix, Shutterfly, and Adorama are all labs I’ve used myself with great satisfaction. And they’re easy to use.
So how do you ‘learn’ digital photography? First, learn basic principles of photography – how to capture light. The articles on this site are a good place to start. After that, play around! The immediacy of results means you can learn about aperture, for example, then put the lesson into practice.
Beyond that, do you need a degree in Photoshop? Again, no. Photoshop is great for manipulation, but the degree to which you manipulate photos will depend on the degree to which you are a photographic purist. Creating an image ‘in the field’, vs. in the Digital Darkroom, is a matter of choice. At least with digital photography, you have that choice (unless of course you care to play around with nasty chemicals in a traditional darkroom!)
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