Photography
By Colin Hartness, Fri Dec 9th

Photography comes from the Greek words meaning “light writing”and first became known back in 1839 by Sir John Herschel. Formany years prior to this, people had discovered ways of causingcertain chemicals to change color when exposed to light but theydid not discover ways of getting the images to remain permanentuntil later on.

Now photography is a big part of our culture, something thateveryone recognizes. Most everyone has family photos lyingaround their house, many people take these photos on a regularbasis, preserving precious memories for years to come. Even ifyou don’t have your own camera, you have seen photos inmagazines, used on billboards and advertisements and more.

What is Photography?

Photography is defined as “The art or process of producingimages by the action of light on surfaces sensitized by chemicalprocesses.”(www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/ArtsEd/vglossar.htm)

The average person never has to deal with this technicaldefinition because they take their photographs to a lab to beprocessed. They simply take pictures with their camera and thendrop them off somewhere to be developed. They get their printsback on nice glossy paper that they can then keep to see theimages at any time they wish.

There are also instant develop photographs, commonly known asthe Polaroid, in which the paper itself contains the chemicalsneeded and when the paper sits for a few seconds exposed tolight the photo will develop. Many people enjoy these becauseyou could view your photo almost instantly but over the years,the quality has improved with other films and many peoplemigrated to other types of cameras.

The common types of film are 35mm and 110. These film rolls comein different speeds that are meant for different lighting andsituations and are loaded into your camera, used until the endof the roll and then sent for developing.

What Are the Different Types of Photography?

Photography is more than just a fabric of the average family’smemories, it has become

an art form taking on many differenttypes. Some types of photography are artistic photography,photojournalism, documentary photography, portrait photography,event photography, family photography, nature photography,advertising photography, underwater photography, satellitephotography and more. Each of these types has many differentdirections in which they can go.

Photography is a common hobby or pastime for many people. It isa career for many other people. There are so many differentvenues of it. One of the most recent revelations in photographyis the digital camera and digital photo. In an age of computersand computer technology, digital photos have become increasinglypopular. People no longer have to deal with film and developingbecause digital photos can be downloaded onto a computer andviewed instantly.

Digital photos can be shared on the web and through email. Theycan also be saved on CDs. Many digital come with LCDscreens so the photos can be viewed from the camera itself. Yousee what the picture looks like instantly instead of waiting fordeveloping. Digital are advancing every day and newtechnology is released on each one. Lower quality ones can bepicked up at a local retail store for about $15 now. These oftendo not contain flash and the quality is not as great. Otherdigital can range anywhere from $20 to $1,000. The mosthigh-tech camera for normal individual use is about $200. Thismay seem like a lot but when compared to the price of film anddeveloping, you can save a lot by going this route. You can alsosend as many copies of your photos as you wish through email andthe web so copies are unlimited. You can even print copies ofyour digital photographs from your computer.

Photography has come a long way since its early days but itspopularity has not waned. It will likely be with us forthousands of years to come.

About the author:Looking for information about Photography? Go to:http://www.asaphotography.com 'ASA Photography' is published byColin Hartness - An excellent resource for Photography! Checkout more Photography articles at:http://www.asaphotography.com/archive