Photography dates back to the early 1800s, when Thomas Wedgewood, then Frenchmen Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre were fooling around with light creating images on materials coated with silver salts. The first “cameras” were nothing more than wood boxes with a pinhole to allow a small amount of light to expose the silver salts, which created areas of light and dark. Ultimately, George Ea
stman, the founder of Kodak, fine-tuned the exposure and emulsion process leading to the first film cameras that ruled the world for nearly 100 years. The single most important thing to know about photography is its definition – taking a photograph is nothing more than capturing light. The art of photography is twofold – how you choose to manage that light, and the composition of the objects you choose to capture. Almost all of us have cameras with us 24 hours a day, conveniently situated neatly in your portable electronic world-connecting device, otherwise known as your cell phone. And no matter what some seasoned photographer may tell you, you absolutely can capture award-winning photographs with that tiny little lens. Ansel Adams won a multitude of awards in the 1930s with a fraction of the technology and image processing tools you have on your average smartphone. When you’re ready to fully explore the light capturing art of photography, you will need equipment that is a little more flexible. Most people who are serious about this hobby will forgo the small point-and-shoot cameras, which aren’t much more flexible than a cell phone camera, and graduate to the Single Lens Reflex (SLR) full-body cameras. Most SLRs will allow you to focus manually, adjust the aperture (lens opening), and set your own shutter speed for some truly wondrous effects, once you have learned the basics. I bought my first digital SLR. And there sure are a lot to choose from. I heard so many varied opinions about which is the right camera, and which is wrong. After discussing my options with several seasoned professional photographers, I learned there isn’t much difference in the brands or models. Most modern cameras capture light in the same way. It’s merely a preference of how you like to choose your settings, the “glass” you choose to use, and the light capturing properties of each manufacturer’s charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor – the electronic device that converts light into voltages, and ultimately into a digital photographic image. It sounds like a lot to digest, and to some extent, it is. And that’s why I created this blog. I get so many questions about which camera you should buy. What lens should you get? How do those photographers create those awesome images? I’m going to share those golden nuggets of knowledge with you. Join me in my journey of becoming an amazing photographer! Your comments and insights are always welcomed.
