Most people all over the world would agree that photography has always been a part of their lives. Aristotle once quoted that “a soul never thinks without a picture”. Today, that picture refers not only to a mental image but a physical one that can be viewed either on a photographic paper or a video. These tools are the best ways in today’s digital world to capture the special events on one’s lifetime.
Photography refers to the technique by which pictures or images are recorded on a light sensitive material by its reaction to light or similar radiation. On the other hand, the device used in photography, today, is called a camera. Prior to the invention of camera, photography has been manifested on cave paintings. These paintings manifested that men have long desired to record themselves, their activities, as well as the environment around them on.
The first ever known camera was invented in the 11th Century by Ibn al-Haytham, though the principles of optics and the camera were first described during the 5th and 4th Century BC by the Chinese and Greek philosophers. This device he called the Camera Obscura was originally used only for viewing and drawing purposes. It was in 1827, when Joseph Nicephore Niepce was able to successfully produce from the camera obscura an image printed on a photographic paper. From this milestone, various experiments aimed at improving the quality of images printed on paper, as the well as the device in capturing these images, were performed in the years that followed.
Today, photography comes in a multitude of types. Among the most popular of these types are black and white photography, documentary photography, macrophotography, and advertising photography. Black and white photography, also known as B&W, which is one of the oldest and most popular types of photography, involves the use of black and white colors to give the photo a timeless and regal look. Documentary photographs, on the other hand, tell stories with images and aim to serve as historical documents of a political or social era. Macrophotography, alternatively, describes the field of photography where pictures are taken at close range. Lastly is advertising photography where photographs are used to advertise various products and services of companies.
Not only was the field of photography significantly improved with the improvements in technology; the devices used in capturing photos where also greatly advanced. Today, point and shoot cameras and Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras are the two major types of devices used in capturing images to be printed on photographic paper or other digital format. Cameras that function by simply pointing the device on the targeted image then clicking on the shutter refer to point and shoot cameras. On the other hand, SLR cameras which feature a more advanced technology of how light enters into the camera-as is referred to by single lens reflex-produce higher quality images.
In today’s fast-paced world, various memorable events in one’s life can be easily forgotten. Nonetheless, in today’s digital world, images on photographic paper or on videos are the popular ways of storing one’s memorable life events.
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