http://www.photocourse.com/itext/glossary/glossary.pdf
new things. We lose the opportunity for creative growth and choose to stay
with the familiar that has delivered for us in the past. Surprisingly, Jackson
had one big advantage we’ve lost over the last century. If an image didn’t
turn out, or if he was out of glass plates, he could just scrape the emulsion
off a previously exposed negative, recoat the plate, and try again. Digital
photography not only eliminates that nagging “is it worth it?” question, it also
returns us to that era of endlessly reusable film (and we don’t need a mule
to carry it). Hand the camera to the kids, take weird and unusual angles,
shoot without looking through the viewfinder, and ignore all previously held
conceptions about how to take photographs. You may be surprised at the
photos you get if you exploit this new era of uninhibited shooting.
Digital cameras are only a few years old, and we are only at the dawn of this
new era. Where it will lead no one really knows, but it’s exciting to play a part
in this dramatically changing world. As you begin to explore the field, you will
be awash in technical jargon. Most of it can be safely ignored. To show how
some things never change, here is what Jacob Deschin, the photographic edi-
tor of the New York Times, wrote in 1952 about the earlier era when the Leica
revolutionized photography:
“When 35mm was in full flower in this country–in the miniature’s golden
Thirties–photographers in the new medium became “experts” overnight,
full of tall talk about small grain and big enlargements. They had to, in self
defence, for in those early days of the miniature it seemed important to be
technically hep, at least in conversation. Never mind the pictures! In spite
of much hokum, much good came to the surface, survived the babel and
exerted an influence that has since benefitted all photography.”preFACeA mule carries William
Henry Jackson’s
photographic outfit.
Courtesy of the Library
of Congress.
The original Leica
changed the way
photographs were
captured and now, with
the M8, it too has gone
digital.
The virtue of the
camera is not
the power it has
to transform the
photographer into
an artist, but the im-
pulse it gives him to
keep on looking—and
looking.
Brooks atkinson
Once Around the SunFor inFormAtion on digitAl photogrAphy, visit http://www.shortCourses.Com v
Click to view a PDF
glossary of terms you
may encounter in digital
photography.