What has digital done for you?

[mcampos]

One of the many things I like about digital photography is being able to share important moments in our lives with relatives that may be 20 or 3000 miles away. When my son Mikey was born last year I was able to post some images in a web page a few hours after his birth for all family members as far as South America to see.

Last Friday as I was running out the door my son was being his old cute self, I took a snapshot, brought it into the computer and within 5 minutes I was able to send an image to my wife at work via e-mail, I knew that after a long morning commute to work she would be delighted to open her e-mail program and see an image of her son.

Could I have done that with film? Of course, I could have popped a canister of Royal Gold in the camera, taken a couple of shots, wasted the rest; cook up some chemicals ….. NOT!!

Digital has facilitated much more enjoyment of the hobby for me, what has it done for you?

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[confused]

Made a website for me. Without digital I would probably have never started my website and since most of the images are digital..well yeah.

It has just allowed me to play around more with settings and just experiment without wasting film costs and film developing costs. It has also allowed me to goof off with friends and not wasted anything.

 

[fks]

allowed me to experiment and learn. the miniscule cost difference between taking one shot or 100 shots with digital means i can try different settings or angles without worrying about the extra cost. i've learned more in four years than i did in twenty years of using a film slr.

 

[biggstr6]

Its given me a new zeal for photography (as new equipment always does to me),but because you can see the results so quick ,it speeds the learning up.

Also its given freedom to shoot without worrying about the cost of wasted film.

 

[Johnnymg]

One of the many things I like about digital photography is being able to share important moments in our lives with relatives that may be 20 or 3000 miles away. When my son Mikey was born last year I was able to post some images in a web page a few hours after his birth for all family members as far as South America to see.

Last Friday as I was running out the door my son was being his old cute self, I took a snapshot, brought it into the computer and within 5 minutes I was able to send an image to my wife at work via e-mail, I knew that after a long morning commute to work she would be delighted to open her e-mail program and see an image of her son.

Could I have done that with film? Of course, I could have popped a canister of Royal Gold in the camera, taken a couple of shots, wasted the rest; cook up some chemicals ….. NOT!!

Digital has facilitated much more enjoyment of the hobby for me, what has it done for you?


Digital got me back into photgraphy AND sucked a copius amount of $ out of my wallet. :lol:

JohnG

 

[greyflash]

I too love the convenience of sharing photo's with family. My granddaughter is in China teaching english and just sent me the most precious pictures of the little chinese children and some of the scenic spots around Bejing. She was also able to see the pictures I had recently taken at another of our granddaughter's wedding. What a great way to keep in touch and it is all done instantly.

 

[Chris101]

Gordon, I'll bet it's a real treat for your relatives to get a photo email from you. Not only do they get to see the folks and what everybody's up to, but they get to print it and frame it as well.

 

[greyflash]

Gordon, I'll bet it's a real treat for your relatives to get a photo email from you. Not only do they get to see the folks and what everybody's up to, but they get to print it and frame it as well.

Thanks Chris, by the way you have once again changed your Avatar and I am having a difficult time keeping up with who you are. :lol:

 

[Chris101]

Ak ak ak ak ak! Aye. But this one resembles me the most Gordy!

Ak ak ak ak!

-------------------------------------------------
Ahem. Seriously, digital photography got to me just in time. I had peaked with my film based work, and was in decline. In the mid 80's I was a partner in a full time photography/illustration company, working with large/medium format Kodachrome and kodalith as well as 35mm film (with a Canon no less!) Our specialty was multi-projector corporate slide shows. As rudimentary computer presentations caught hold, the expense and rigidity of film based slide shows brought our business to a screeching halt, and I fell back to my previous (and educated for) career.

I continued shooting, mainly trix, developing and printing it myself through the 90s. However the effort and expense (I shot a lot of frames even then), not to mention the effect of the exposure to photochemicals, caused my shooting days to become more and more rare. In 1999 I decided it was time to 'go digital' and bought a Coolpix 950 and Photoshop.

It's been uphill since then: my goal of the minute is to get paid for a picture(s) each week this summer (and so far, so good.)

The downside is that I have traded acetic acid vapor for carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

[Frits]

My experience: I have enjoyed photography since being a teenager (in the sixties). My first real purchase after graduation was a Minolta SRT-101 in '69. Went through some other cameras and ended up with Nikons a number of years back. My best Nikon ever: the F4s.
Then, since the early 90's I did not shoot all that much anymore.
Enter digital: totally renewed my appetite for photography. Quickly went through a few Point & Shoots and got a D100 when it hit the market. I now use my D1x and expect to have it for a long time to come. I have not shot a single frame of 35mm since getting my D100 years ago and only kept my original FM (don't know why really). Sold all the other 35mm bodies.
I live in Canada and have many friends and relatives back in Holland. Since digital, I keep a family webpage, which I update frequently. Wonderful way to stay in touch.
Needless to add: I love digital.

 

[Luckynp]

All the above, but mainly revived passion for photography and above all learning. In my case at least 5 times as much in the last year as in the previous 10.

Also the willingness to try new kinds of photography and the active desire to seek out new situations to explore.

Also a serious hit to my bank balance. If I'm honest, spending enough on lenses in the last 6 months to buy quite a reasonable used car.

 

[Beezle]

For me, it came in two stages.

First there was scanning film, which allowed for digital manipulation of images and sharing them. The number of people we can share images with increased so much.

Then came digital cameras. I've been using them since the first Apples (QuickTake). The sheer number of images one can create and the much shorter, localized production cycle made photography much more enjoyable for me. Just taking the lab out of the loop made me very happy.

There was a time when chemical development was something I did myself, back in the 70s. But that never seemed practical for color. I will always fondly remember my black and white days, when I first learned about photography.

 

[eng45ine]

Great thread everyone. I have been shooting digital since December, 2004. Since switching to digital, I find that I shoot many more images as compared with the number of shots that I would have with film because shooting doesn't have the film and processing fees to follow. When I would shoot kids playing sports, I would be so conservative because those bursts of 8 and 10 shots following action would add up because I would go through rolls of film in short time. I also had to be aware of how many pictures were remaining on the roll so I could shoot upcoming action. I enjoy what I am learning while tweeking my images in PS. I find that I play with some images creating special effects, etc. I have so much more to learn about PS, I only know some basics and am trying to locate some local seminars/classes to gain additional knowledge. Since going digital, I truly have become a better shooting and I am always ready to get out and shoot more.

 

[NeilCam]

All of the above, but the three major items would be:

* Learn much quicker due to the ability to take numerous shots AND get instant feedback;

* Ability to share images with friends and family; and

* Actually look at images more than once instead of a quick glance through the packet when back from development then chuck 'em in the box under the bed.

Neil

 

[jkamphof]

For me it gave me a great hobby to spend time on and to share with those who care.

I started with basic film when I was 18 but moved to digital pretty quickly once it became more mainstream (Kodak 4800). Digital gave me a huge cost savings. When I was living in Europe I was spending thousands of Guilders/Euro's in film development, it was brutal.

Since then I wonder if I've truly saved anything . I've bought nearly 10 cameras in 5 years (I use 3 now: D70 x 2 and a Canon S50) and nearly $5500 worth in lenses and basics.

Anyway, I can now take shots with ease, less worry of the costs to educate myself (Digital is pretty cheap to learn), manage a website for family & friends as I've lived abroad for 4 years.

Basically its given me a lot to be creative about...I love it!!


Joel.

 

[F15Todd]

Diverted my money from Callaway golf to Nikon, and turned my F5 in to a paperweight.

But being able to share family moments in minutes when I'm thousands of miles from home is the best thing I can think of.

Plus it lead to the Nikon Cafe, is there really anything better.

 

[DMcG]

To experiment without cost.
To take shots just out of interest.
To make the size and style of panoramas I've always wanted to.

 

[Chris101]

... There was a time when chemical development was something I did myself, back in the 70s. But that never seemed practical for color. ...

To my eye, there has never been a better medium for color photography than self-processed Cibachrome prints, from back in the 70s.

 

[gho]

Well, okay, I'll play along...

I started digital with the birth of my first daughter - I actually shot my wife pregnant with her on film. On her birth though, I only took my brand spankin new miniDV camcorder, which also happened to have a 1mp capture feature. After taking some natural light photos (belive it or not), I was quite impressed with the quality of the digital captures - up to that point, most cameras were VGA and very low quality and very expensive.

Well, knowing how more light would clean up the image, I went out to a local electronics store to buy a flash for my camcorder's digicam feature. I ended up walking out with the then just release ultra high rez, ultra compact 3.2 mp Sony DSC-P5 - completely state of the art with an unheard of price of a mere $650! (plus a couple hundred for a 128mb memory stick)!

I was in hog heaven, I couldn't belive the quality of digital captures and there goes... Sony DSC-F707...Nikon D100 (with legacy glass)... and the rest is history.

Anyways, the #1 thing that I I really like about digital is that it gave me the darkroom back! I could now do what I previously did in the darkroom in a fraction of the time, without all the chemicals, time, loupe, humidity.

But of course, I'm in a very very small minority - I've got to be the strangest person I know.

 

[JeffKohn]

Digital is what got me into photography. I had a mild interest in photography as a young kid (13 or so) but it never went beyond taking some snapshots with a point-n-shoot. The cost of film and processing and the lack of immediacy kept me from really pursuing it further.

All that changed a year and a half or so ago when I got my first digital camera (a Fuji "prosumer" model). The instant feedback and cost-free shooting are just such an awesome learning tool, and was the catalyst that prompted me to start learning all I can and strive to improve beyond just taking snapshots (still working on that but I think I've made some progress in the last year). Photography has turned into a full-blown passion for me, becoming a real creative outlet (something I didn't really have before). And it goes beyond that, photography has pretty much changed the way I see the world, and prompted me to get out there and do more and see more, creating a new appreciation for all life's experiences. OK I'm getting a bit mushy here but it's safe to say digital photography has definitely been a positive experience for me.