The move from film photography to digital photography opened a door that many professional photographers hoped would never have – the ‘low cost entry’ door.
During the film days it was an expensive hobby to be a photographer. I can remember as a child walking into my uncles bathroom with its bright red light and tubs of chemicals all around – the smell was something you can’t forget. He spent alot of money ont hose chemicals to process the film, which was also an expense. Don’t forget the actual camera body and lens too! You had on going costs associated with photography.
Then the digital age came and changed EVERYTHING. Suddenly you didn’t have to have this ongoing cost of chemicals and film – you had a large upfront cost but after that you, theoretically, didn’t need to buy anything else! This created the path for alot of ‘weekend warriors’ and the legions of ‘moms with a camera’ that suddenly appeared on the scene posing as a professional (or even semi-professional) photographer. They would snap pictures and create instant photographs! What a great gig!
What many of them failed to realize is that the digital age did so much more than just allow a low ongoing cost of operation. It also gave photographers such incredible control over the final images! In the film age you really had to nail the picture the first time. With digital you have alot more room to work with… but you have to have the right ‘equipment’ to do it.
I’ve personally invested hundred if not thousands of dollars into just my ‘digital darkroom’ equipment – computers, monitors, harddrives, tablets, printers and software. Not only that but this year alone I have spent hundred on training on the very software used to ‘develop’ my images into my final vision.
My pictures are NEVER complete once I hit the shutter button. A child or family shoot for me may last 60 to 90 minutes but I’ll spend triple that at my computer creating the wonderful digital art that I present to my customers.
Next time you see or hear of a photographer advertising their services for a bargain basement price make sure you ask important questions including their knowledge of the digital darkroom – today’s photography can be so much more about computer manipulation than the actual image as it was taken!
Here’s an example of some of the work I typically do to a picture after I take the image:
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Demi Moore"]
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="339" caption="Whoopie Goldberg"]
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Miley Cyrus"]
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