Photography: Past to Present, Chemical to Digital
Photography has changed drastically over the past two centuries.
It began as a process that inventors and chemists refined and has in recent years exploded into a very accessible art through the advent of digital photography.
Despite the change in technique, many of the visual methods and concepts have remained the same.
The first photograph was created in 1826 by French inventor Joseph Nicephore.
The process was lengthy, taking at least eight hours of exposure to a polished pewter plate and it was far from refined.
The oldest surviving photograph is View from the Window at Le Gras, an image produced by Nicephore -the image is monochrome, grainy and primarily remarkable for its influence on the world of photography more than its visual composition.
This invention led to the creation of the daguerreotype, a system that diminished exposure time.
Daguerreotypes still required a lengthy exposure to light to transfer the imagery to the silvered copper plate, but over time the camera was refined to an exposure time of roughly ten minutes in a well lit space.
This allowed photography of people to be possible and solidified the daguerreotype as the first commercially successful photography process.
This is an important development since the desire for portraiture is what drove the popularity of the daguerreotype.
It was not until 1861 that the first color photograph was taken by James Clerk Maxwell, but the first practical method to add color to photographs did not appear until the early 1900's.
With digital photography, gone are the days of dark rooms and chemicals.
This has enabled many people who would have otherwise been unable to do photography due to a lack of access a dark room to engage in photography with digital editing software.
The online realm has welcomed this new development, offering various outlets for digital art.
Photo sharing is widespread thanks to the digital platform, but this also means it's possible to forget or ignore the techniques of photography that move photos from snapshots to true art, concepts that are carried over from traditional photography.
Composition is key to an interesting photograph.
The rule of thirds is a common basic guiding factor when planning a photograph.
This involves splitting the photo area into thirds, creating balance in the space being framed.
Knowing what to capture in the frame and where to point the lens is pivotal to keeping a photo interesting.
Creating movement or inviting the viewer into the space via strong leading lines helps to arrest a viewer's attention and keep them engaged.
Ensuring a photograph is exposed properly is a technical element of photography that is primarily controlled by aperture and shutter speed.
Aperture refers to how big of an opening the lens allows to permit light into the image sensor.
Shutter speed is the length of time the shutter remains open to let in light to capture an image.
These two aspects are important to ensure that an image does not become over exposed (too bright) or underexposed (too dark).
These techniques have been important from the beginning days of photography with daguerreotypes to the present digital photography.
Today's photographers have the advantage of the digital platform of immediately viewing their images and can make adjustments on-the-go, but they should still pay attention to technique to create artistic photos worthy of hanging on a wall.
It began as a process that inventors and chemists refined and has in recent years exploded into a very accessible art through the advent of digital photography.
Despite the change in technique, many of the visual methods and concepts have remained the same.
The first photograph was created in 1826 by French inventor Joseph Nicephore.
The process was lengthy, taking at least eight hours of exposure to a polished pewter plate and it was far from refined.
The oldest surviving photograph is View from the Window at Le Gras, an image produced by Nicephore -the image is monochrome, grainy and primarily remarkable for its influence on the world of photography more than its visual composition.
This invention led to the creation of the daguerreotype, a system that diminished exposure time.
Daguerreotypes still required a lengthy exposure to light to transfer the imagery to the silvered copper plate, but over time the camera was refined to an exposure time of roughly ten minutes in a well lit space.
This allowed photography of people to be possible and solidified the daguerreotype as the first commercially successful photography process.
This is an important development since the desire for portraiture is what drove the popularity of the daguerreotype.
It was not until 1861 that the first color photograph was taken by James Clerk Maxwell, but the first practical method to add color to photographs did not appear until the early 1900's.
With digital photography, gone are the days of dark rooms and chemicals.
This has enabled many people who would have otherwise been unable to do photography due to a lack of access a dark room to engage in photography with digital editing software.
The online realm has welcomed this new development, offering various outlets for digital art.
Photo sharing is widespread thanks to the digital platform, but this also means it's possible to forget or ignore the techniques of photography that move photos from snapshots to true art, concepts that are carried over from traditional photography.
Composition is key to an interesting photograph.
The rule of thirds is a common basic guiding factor when planning a photograph.
This involves splitting the photo area into thirds, creating balance in the space being framed.
Knowing what to capture in the frame and where to point the lens is pivotal to keeping a photo interesting.
Creating movement or inviting the viewer into the space via strong leading lines helps to arrest a viewer's attention and keep them engaged.
Ensuring a photograph is exposed properly is a technical element of photography that is primarily controlled by aperture and shutter speed.
Aperture refers to how big of an opening the lens allows to permit light into the image sensor.
Shutter speed is the length of time the shutter remains open to let in light to capture an image.
These two aspects are important to ensure that an image does not become over exposed (too bright) or underexposed (too dark).
These techniques have been important from the beginning days of photography with daguerreotypes to the present digital photography.
Today's photographers have the advantage of the digital platform of immediately viewing their images and can make adjustments on-the-go, but they should still pay attention to technique to create artistic photos worthy of hanging on a wall.
