Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Art How Digital Processes Change Photography How Digital Processes Change Photography New technology is an ever present, always advancing force in today’s world. For this reason it is no surprise that in the last decade we have begin to see the rise of digital imaging in our lives. Put simply, digital imaging is the process of changing a visual imaging into a format that a computer can understand and interpret. Whether or not the image is captured by a digital device, such as a digital camera or camcorder, or it is transformed into a digital file after its development, such as by scanning, digital processes are changing the face of photography and the way we interpret it. However, as with any new change or development, digital imaging comes with its own set of advantages, and its own set of vices. Before the era of digital imaging the process of creating a photographic image had gone on for nearly a century with relatively little advancement. Besides from improvements in film quality and development every few decades, photography was, for the most part, becoming a stable form of art. Not only could people go and get professional photographs taken, but the technology was easy enough to understand that with Kodak’s introduction of a consumer friendly camera in 1888 people could begin producing their own photographs as well. (US News, p49.) Soon followed the 35mm camera, then color film and so- on and so-forth but the primary idea never changed. However, just prior to the 1980’s the world began to see the advancement of digital imaging with the introduction of computer programs that could edit an image after it had been scanned into digital format. This was a dawning of a new era in photography, even though the world would not see the birth of the digital camera until 1989, once photography went the path of digital imaging, there was no turning back. Before we begin to look into what effects digital imaging has had on the world of photography it is important to understand why photographer delved into the digital world in the first place. As the adage states, “necessity is the mother of invention” and the world of photography is not exempt from this fact. Since experimentation is inherent in photography, modern day photographers needed a way to experiment more freely with their photographs in order to compete in a fast paced market. Ron Eggers’ acknowledged the fact that, “With conventional photography, experimentation could get both time consuming and costly. To try cropping a photographic print half a dozen different ways meant having to print that photograph half a dozen different times. Making other adjustments, such as trying different exposures, different types of photographic paper or different types of toning, exponentially increased the number of prints that had to be made. Each print had to be created from step one, even if the variations only involved the latter part of the process.” (Eggers, p.D1) These drawbacks leant themselves to a process that would allow the photographer to handle a task in a more of a step-by-step format rather than having to start from scratch every time. With the emergent digital technology photographers could create a series of variations for a specific exposure, select the preferred variation, and use that as a foundation for the next set of variations. Another important reason photography went the way of the digital gun was that photographers in the field needed a way to transmit their photographs to their agencies in a faster and easier way. Therefore being able to transform a picture into a digital file, with the addition of the internet, meant that a photographer could upload a picture and send it anywhere in the world in literally seconds. Evolutions such as these made it impossible for the world of photography to neglect the growing need for digital imaging. However, once digital imaging made its debut on the world stage it became abundantly clear that this new found technology was both a blessing and a curse. Fundamentally, the most obvious flaw of digital imaging to most of early adversaries stemmed from an idea known as Moore’s Law after Gordon Moore, a founder of the Intel Corporation. While his law had to do with micro-chips he predicted “…the density of transistors on a chip would double every year and a half.” (Curtin, 15) If you equate this to digital photography it would mean that you would have to purchase a new camera every six months to stay on the cutting edge of technology. In the beginning digital still cameras were used only for industrial, medical, or scientific applications. They were too expensive for ordinary consumer photography. However, in 1989 Toshiba and Fuji Film united and gave birth to the first wave of “new” digital cameras. These bulky, high-cost, high-maintenance cameras rivaled the traditional electronic camera by capturing pictures in digital form as opposed to analog. (US News, p49) Even though the idea of digital imaging had been around for almost a decade this marked the true beginning of an age that would change the way we view photography. Soon after the release of the camera came the launch of several new digital editing software programs that were more user friendly than the original. “Digital imaging makes it easy to do things that require much more time and materials in the darkroom--and makes it possible to do some things you can't do in the darkroom.”(Eggers, p.D2) However, it must be taken into consideration what is lost when this process is moved out of the hands of the photographer and into the data of a digital file. The most obvious of course is the definitive lack of resolution in digital images. Traditional film uses elliptical shaped grains that allow pictures to appear more soft and rounded. This contrasts digital images that use pixels, rectangular shaped boxes, to display their information. This gives digital images the boxy look that most people usually identify them with, the more pixels present, the less boxy and more pleasing the picture looks. However, to get a significant amount of pixels requires a certain amount of memory. Memory storage is perhaps the biggest hindrance to the development of digital photography. For example a relatively high resolution picture may require over one hundred megabytes of memory. (Mills, 16-17) This means that a prospective digital photographer would need to purchase a few high priced memory sticks in order to be able to shoot off the equivalent of a roll of film. Here a major change to photography can be noticed, the substitution of reusable memory sticks for one time use film. This change can be looked at in a number of ways both good and bad. For one, as soon as enough memory sticks are purchased to fulfill the needs of the photographer it is never necessary to purchase more because it is reusable. However, a drawback to this change in photography is that once data on a memory stick is erased in order to record over it that file is lost forever. This contrasts traditional film in that with film a negative is produced that the photographer can dispose of at his or her own leisure. However, changes that are brought about by the introduction of digital imaging are not limited by any means to just storage media, resolution, and cost. In order to see the larger effect of digital imaging it must be understood just how intimately bound this new technology is in everyday life. Perhaps one of the most up and coming changes that digital imaging has had on photography is its introduction into the world of biometrics. In a magazine article written by Warren Webb he describes the effectiveness of digital photography in biometrics saying, “Fingerprints, handwriting recognition, facial photographs, and retinal scans are all forms of identifying people through biometrics. Bank United, with headquarters in Texas, is the first bank in the United States to install iris-recognition ATMs (automated-teller machines). Customers simply walk up to the ATM and look at a camera to access their accounts. The camera instantly locates and photographs the customers' irises. These cameras can capture an acceptable image through glasses, contact lenses, and most sunglasses. If the customers' iris data matches the record stored at the time of enrollment, the ATM will grant customers access. Researchers at IriScan, the developer of iris-scan technology, claim that the matching accuracy of iris recognition is greater than that of DNA testing.” (Webb, p. 71) Other exciting changes include the ability better document photographs of missing children as well as convicted felons aiding in law enforcement across the globe. However, as with all new developments there is a seedy underbelly to having digital imaging. One of the first publicized examples that brought light to the fact that being able to alter photographs easily may not always be the best idea occurred in 1994. US News and World Report reported that in the wake of Nicole Brown Simpson's murder, an altered photo of O. J. Simpson, in which his face appears darker than in real life, appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. Even though the magazine apologized one week later it was apparent that other altered photographs could find their way to the cover of a national press. As fore-mentioned, this brave new world of digital imaging was showing its good and bad side. As time marches on so does the flow of new technology. Even though the old form of analog photography may never become obsolete it is abundantly clear that digital imaging is here to stay. FS FINAL: How Digital Processes Change Photography Bibliography: WORKS CITED 1) Curtin, Dennis P. Choosing and Using a Digital Camera. New York: Curtin. 2001 2) Mills, Lara. “Fast and flexible: digital photography may revolutionize the creative landscape, although not for everyone.” Marketing Magazine 101 (1996): 16-17 3) “Photography’s Storied History.” US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 131 (2001) : 48-9 4) Webb, Warren. “A Digital Picture is Worth…” EDN 45 (2000) 71-8 5) Chinnock, Chris “Low-end Digital Cameras still Poised for Rapid Growth.” Electronic Design 47 (1999) 56 Word Count: 1595
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