So You Want to Take Better Photographs

By far, the most profound change that occurred over the past 20 years was the shift from film to digital. The appearance of the first consumer-level digital cameras in the mid-1990s really did change everything. Producing photographs went from being an expensive pastime to something that was basically free after the initial equipment was purchased. The cost of early digital cameras was very high, and the image quality was low when compared with film cameras, but this is no longer the case.

Memory cards

I now take for granted that I can take 50 or 500 shots of a subject, whereas with film I may have limited myself two or three at most. The extra cost is nothing more than a miniscule amount of depreciation on the camera and on the rechargeable battery—a couple of cents against tens or even hundreds of dollars. This reduced cost of digital photography has made it much easier to experiment with the medium and has allowed many people to produce images who could not have afforded to do so with film. Another big technological advance is the modern-day ability to instantly see the result of a shot on the camera’s LCD screen, rather than having to wait for it to be returned from the photo lab. Adjustments to an exposure, and other on-the-spot modifications based on viewing the original, can now be implemented without an intervening period of days or weeks.

Since the cost of producing a perfectly serviceable photograph is only a fraction of what it used to be, and experimentation is now within reach of just about everyone, there are a lot of people taking photographs who otherwise would not have been. This includes, among other loosely defined groups, thousands of people taking photographs of their daily lives as well as visual artists who can now afford to use a camera for something other than simply recording the work they produced in other mediums. For the first time, photography has become a serious medium for those whose background is not primarily photography.

Of course, the digital revolution has influenced more than just camera technology. The computer has now replaced the darkroom. What used to require a small room, lots of chemicals, and lots of waiting for stuff to happen can now be accomplished on the same machine that most of us use for our taxes and letter writing: the computer. Of course, specialized software is required, but this can be had for free. Now on a computer, anyone can do much more to an image than was ever possible in even the best-equipped darkroom. Even more amazing is the fact that this often involves no extra financial outlay. It is easily possible for one to have purchased a smartphone and a computer without even a thought about photography, yet they will have all the tools required to produce stunning images. Anyone can make a photograph, from choosing the subject to shoot to doing the final editing. Sometimes it is easy to forget just how far things have come.

In the days of film, one of two things was likely to happen: a print would end up in an album and be shown to a couple of dozen people. Or the print might be placed in a shoe box, or possibly an old box file, and it would be lucky to ever see the light of day again. Today, websites like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and more recently Google+ provide virtual spaces where anyone can publish their images and receive feedback from photographers and non-photographers alike.

Any effort you put into answering the ‘why’ question at any time during your photographic career will pay for itself many times over.

Historically, for a photograph to have appeared in a print publication, other than in rare cases, it had to be approved by someone, probably a picture editor. The Internet dynamic is completely different—photographers decide for themselves what they publish and exactly how they publish it. With a little self-promotion, it is possible for unknown photographers with something interesting to share and a feel for the Internet as a medium to have thousands, or even tens of thousands, of people viewing their work on a regular basis.

The importance of this change from a virtual dictatorship to a democracy cannot be overstated. Photographers can publish what they want, and others can decide whether it has merit or not. This situation may pass the test of time, but I’m not overly optimistic. I suspect that a new class of gatekeepers will emerge, albeit a less rigid one than in the pre-digital days. At this moment in photography history, though, things could not be better for the photographer who wants to find and connect with an audience. The other thing that this democratization of photography has led to is an explosion of styles and approaches. If you have something different to communicate, there has never been a better time to do it, because photography is no longer the backward-looking sibling of the other, more enlightened, visual arts. This really is the best time to be a photographer.