History of photography

The word photography derives from the Greek words phōs (genitive: phōtós) light, and gráphein, to write. The
word was coined by Sir John Herschel in 1839.

A camera obscura box used for drawing images

Photography is the result of combining several different technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs
were made, Chinese philosopher Mo Ti and Greek mathematicians Aristotle and Euclid described a pinhole
camera in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.[1][2] In the 6th century CE, Byzantine mathematician Anthemius of
Tralles used a type of camera obscura in his experiments[3] Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1040) studied the
camera obscura and pinhole camera,[2][4] Albertus Magnus (1193/1206-1280) discovered silver nitrate, and
Georges Fabricius (1516–1571) discovered silver chloride. Daniel Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1568.
Wilhelm Homberg described how light darkened some chemicals (photochemical effect) in 1694. The novel
Giphantie (by the French Tiphaigne de la Roche, 1729–1774) described what can be interpreted as photography.

Early History: Development of chemical photography

[edit] Monochrome process

Nicéphore Niépce's earliest surviving photograph of a scene from nature, circa 1826, "View from the Window at
Le Gras," Saint-Loup-de-Varennes (France).

"Boulevard du Temple", taken by Louis Daguerre in late 1838 or early 1839, was the first-ever photograph of a
person. It is an image of a busy street, but because exposure time was over ten minutes, the city traffic was
moving too much to appear. The exception is a man in the bottom left corner, who stood still getting his boots
polished long enough to show up in the picture.

Robert Cornelius, self-portrait, Oct. or Nov. 1839, approximate quarter plate daguerreotype. The back reads,
"The first light picture ever taken." This self-portrait is the first photographic portrait image of a human ever
produced.

The first permanent photograph (later accidentally destroyed) was an image produced in 1826 [5] by the French
inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. His photographs were produced on a polished pewter plate covered with a
petroleum derivative called bitumen of Judea. Bitumen hardens with exposure to light. The unhardened material
may then be washed away and the metal plate polished, rendering a negative image which then may be coated
with ink and impressed upon paper, producing a print. Niépce then began experimenting with iron compounds
based on a Johann Heinrich Schultz discovery in 1724 that an iron and chalk mixture darkens when exposed to
light.

In partnership, Niépce (in Chalon-sur-Saône) and Louis Daguerre (in Paris) refined the existing silver process.[6]
In 1833 Niépce died of a stroke, leaving his notes to Daguerre. While he had no scientific background, Daguerre
made two pivotal contributions to the process. He discovered that exposing the silver first to iodine vapour
before exposure to light, and then to mercury fumes after the photograph was taken, could form a latent image.
Bathing the plate in a salt bath then fixes the image. On January 7, 1839 Daguerre announced that he had
invented a process using silver on a copper plate called the daguerreotype.[7] The French government bought
the patent and immediately made it public domain.

In 1832, French-Brazilian painter and inventor Hercules Florence had already created a very similar process,
naming it Photographie.

After reading about Daguerre's invention, Fox Talbot worked on perfecting his own process; in 1839 he
acquired a key improvement, an effective fixer, from John Herschel, the astronomer, who had previously
showed that hyposulfite of soda (also known as hypo, or now sodium thiosulfate) would dissolve silver salts.
Later that year, Herschel made the first glass negative.
A calotype print showing the American photographer Frederick Langenheim (circa 1849). Note, the caption on
the photo calls the process Talbotype

By 1840, Talbot had invented the calotype process. He coated paper sheets with silver chloride to create an
intermediate negative image. Unlike a daguerreotype, a calotype negative could be used to reproduce positive
prints, like most chemical films do today. Talbot patented[8] this process, which greatly limited its adoption. He
spent the rest of his life in lawsuits defending the patent until he gave up on photography. Later George Eastman
refined Talbot's process, which is the basic technology used by chemical film cameras today. Hippolyte Bayard
had also developed a method of photography but delayed announcing it, and so was not recognized as its
inventor.

In 1839, John Herschel made the first glass negative, but his process was difficult to reproduce. Slovene Janez
Puhar invented a process for making photographs on glass in 1841; it was recognized on June 17, 1852 in Paris
by the Académie Nationale Agricole, Manufacturière et Commerciale. [9] In 1847, Niépce St. Victor published
his invention of a process for making glass plates with an albumen emulsion; the Langenheim brothers of
Philadelphia and John Whipple of Boston also invented workable negative-on-glass processes in the mid 1840s.
[10]

In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the collodion process.[citation needed] Photographer and children's author
Lewis Carroll used this process.[citation needed]

Roger Fenton's assistant seated on Fenton's photographic van, Crimea, 1855.

Herbert Bowyer Berkeley experimented with his own version of collodian emulsions after Samman introduced
the idea of adding dithionite to the pyrogallol developer.[citation needed] Berkeley discovered that with his own
addition of sulfite, to absorb the sulfur dioxide given off by the chemical dithionite in the developer, that
dithionite was not required in the developing process. In 1881 he published his discovery. Berkeley's formula
contained pyrogallol, sulfite and citric acid. Ammonia was added just before use to make the formula alkaline.
The new formula was sold by the Platinotype Company in London as Sulpho-Pyrogallol Developer.[11]

Nineteenth-century experimentation with photographic processes frequently became proprietary. The German-
born, New Orleans photographer Theodore Lilienthal successfully sought legal redress in an 1881 infringement
case involving his "Lambert Process" in the Eastern District of Louisiana.

[edit] Popularization

Mid 19th century "Brady stand" photo model's armrest table, meant to keep portrait models more still during
long exposure times (studio equipment nicknamed after the famed US photographer, Mathew Brady).

A photographer appears to be photographing himself in a 19th-century photographic studio. (c. 1893)

General view of The Crystal Palace at Sydenham by Philip Henry Delamotte

The daguerreotype proved popular in responding to the demand for portraiture emerging from the middle classes
during the Industrial Revolution.[citation needed] This demand, that could not be met in volume and in cost by oil
painting, added to the push for the development of photography.

In 1847, Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky designed a bellows camera which significantly improved the process of
focusing. This adaptation influenced the design of cameras for decades and is still found in use today in some
professional cameras.[citation needed] While in Paris, Levitsky would become the first to introduce interchangeable
decorative backgrounds in his photos, as well as the retouching of negatives to reduce or eliminate technical
deficiencies.[citation needed] Levitsky was also the first photographer to portray a photo of a person in different poses
and even in different clothes (for example, the subject plays the piano and listens to himself).[citation needed] Roger
Fenton and Philip Henry Delamotte helped popularize the new way of recording events, the first by his Crimean
war pictures, the second by his record of the disassembly and reconstruction of The Crystal Palace in London.
Other mid-nineteenth-century photographers established the medium as a more precise means than engraving or
lithography of making a record of landscapes and architecture: for example, Robert Macpherson's broad range
of photographs of Rome, the interior of the Vatican, and the surrounding countryside became a sophisticated
tourist's visual record of his own travels.

By 1849, images captured by Levitsky on a mission to the Caucasus, were exhibited by the famous Parisian
optician Chevalier at the Paris Exposition of the Second Republic as an advertisement of their lenses. These
photos would receive the Exposition's gold medal; the first time a prize of its kind had ever been awarded to a
photograph.[citation needed]

That same year in 1849 in his St. Petersburg, Russia studio Levitsky would first propose the idea to artificially
light subjects in a studio setting using electric lighting along with daylight. He would say of its use, "as far as I
know this application of electric light has never been tried; it is something new, which will be accepted by
photographers because of its simplicity and practicality".[citation needed]

In 1851, at an exhibition in Paris, Levitsky would win the first ever gold medal awarded for a portrait
photograph.[citation needed]

In America, by 1851 a broadside by daguerreotypist Augustus Washington were advertising prices ranging from
50 cents to $10.[12] However, daguerreotypes were fragile and difficult to copy. Photographers encouraged
chemists to refine the process of making many copies cheaply, which eventually led them back to Talbot's
process.

Ultimately, the modern photographic process came about from a series of refinements and improvements in the
first 20 years. In 1884 George Eastman, of Rochester, New York, developed dry gel on paper, or film, to replace
the photographic plate so that a photographer no longer needed to carry boxes of plates and toxic chemicals
around. In July 1888 Eastman's Kodak camera went on the market with the slogan "You press the button, we do
the rest". Now anyone could take a photograph and leave the complex parts of the process to others, and
photography became available for the mass-market in 1901 with the introduction of the Kodak Brownie.

In the twentieth century, photography developed rapidly as a commercial service. End-user supplies of
photographic equipment accounted for only about 20 percent of industry revenue. For the modern enthusiast
photographer processing black and white film, little has changed since the introduction of the 35mm film Leica
camera in 1925.[citation needed]

The first digitally scanned photograph was produced in 1957. The digital scanning process was invented by
Russell A. Kirsch, a computer pioneer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He developed the
system capable of feeding a camera's images into a computer. His first fed image was that of his son, Walden
Kirsch. The photo was set at 176x176 pixels. [13]

[edit] Color process

First color image, photograph by James Clerk Maxwell, 1861.

Although color photography was explored throughout the 19th century, initial experiments in color resulted in
projected temporary images, rather than permanent color images. Moreover until the 1870s the emulsions
available were not sensitive to red or green light.

The first color photo, an additive projected image of a tartan ribbon, was taken in 1861 by the Scottish physicist
James Clerk Maxwell.[14] Several patentable methods for producing images (by either additive or subtractive
methods, see below) were devised from 1862 on by two French inventors (working independently), Louis
Ducos du Hauron and Charles Cros.[15] Practical methods to sensitize silver halide film to green and then orange
light were discovered in 1873 and 1884 by Hermann W. Vogel, but full sensitivity to red light was not achieved
until the early years of the 20th century.

The first fully practical color plate, Autochrome, did not reach the market until 1907. It was based on a screen-
plate method, the screen (of filters) being made using dyed dots of potato starch. The screen lets filtered red,
green or blue light through each grain to a photographic emulsion in contact with it. The plate is then developed
to a negative, and reversed to a positive, which when viewed through the screen restores colors approximating
the original.

Other systems of color photography included that used by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, which
involved three separate monochrome exposures ('separation negatives') of a still scene through red, green, and
blue filters. These required a special machine to display, but the results are impressive even by modern
standards. His collection of glass plates was purchased from his heirs by the Library of Congress in 1948, and is
now available in digital images.

[edit] Development of digital photography

Main article: Digital photography

A Canon PowerShot A95

The charge-coupled device (CCD) is the most important invention for digital photography[citation needed]. It was
invented in 1969 by Willard Boyle and George E. Smith at AT&T Bell Labs. The lab was working on the
Picturephone and on the development of semiconductor bubble memory. Merging these two initiatives, Boyle
and Smith conceived of the design of what they termed 'Charge "Bubble" Devices'. The essence of the design
was the ability to transfer charge along the surface of a semiconductor.

 1973 - Fairchild Semiconductor releases the first large image forming CCD chip; 100 rows and 100
columns[citation needed].
 1975 - Bryce Bayer of Kodak develops the Bayer filter mosaic pattern for CCD color image sensors
 1986 - Kodak scientists develop the world's first megapixel sensor.

The web has been a popular medium for storing and sharing photos ever since the first photograph was
published on the web by Tim Berners-Lee in 1992 (an image of the CERN house band Les Horribles Cernettes).
Today popular sites such as Flickr, Picasa and PhotoBucket are used by millions of people to share their pictures

Trends in digital photography: The good

commentary

A photographic landmark of sorts took place at the end of 2010. Dwayne's Photo accepted the last roll of
Kodachrome slide film for processing. Kodachrome was long a favorite of many professionals and advanced
amateurs but required a unique and complex development process; Dwayne's was the last lab to provide this
service.

Digital has replaced film for most, pros and amateurs alike. And it's not standing still. The current trends are
mostly positive--which isn't to say there aren't a few product and technology areas that couldn't stand
improvement.

Here I look at the good. A future post will look at the not so good.

Nondestructive image editing programs like Adobe's Lightroom are one of the more positive trends we've seen
in digital photography over the past few years.

(Credit: Gordon Haff)

The megapixel wars subside. For a time, camera makers vigorously proclaimed how their camera sensors had
more megapixels than the competition. This made some sense in the early days of digital photography when
cameras really didn't have enough sensor sites to deliver the resolution needed for making even modest-sized
prints at high quality. However, for most purposes, more pixels don't much improve image quality past a certain
point and crowding more pixels into a given area means that individual pixels have to be smaller.

The relationship between resolution, pixel size, noise, and dynamic range is far more complex than simple
sound bites can capture. Smaller pixels don't always mean more noise--which is a particular problem when
sensitivity is cranked up to shoot in dim light. But there are tradeoffs and those were hard for camera designers
to make optimally so long as the camera's megapixel count was front and center in every advertisement.

It was noteworthy therefore when, in late 2009, Canon revealed that its new Canon Powershot G11 model
would actually have a lower megapixel count than its predecessor. This event played a big part in reducing the
emphasis placed on megapixels. (At least in cameras; the megapixels war rages on with mobile phones.) And
this, in turn, is one of the factors that has allowed for cameras with fast and low-noise sensors that can take
quality pictures in very little light.

The photo editing revolution. Whatever nostalgia I might have for black-and-white darkroom work, digital
editing has a lot of good things going for it. But relatively new image-editing programs, most notably Adobe
Lightroom and Apple Aperture, truly transform organizing and touching up large catalogs of photos.

A program like Photoshop works by changing the values of the pixels making up an image and then saving the
changed image to disk. This type of editing provides a very high level of control but it also means that each
edited version of a photo needs to be saved as a separate file. In addition, while such programs have various
tools to automate a set of changes to a group of photos, these tools aren't especially intuitive or easy to use. This
shouldn't be especially surprising; Photoshop was developed primarily for graphics professionals who might
typically spend several hours getting a single image just-so.

Lightroom and Aperture take a completely different approach. They are "nondestructive." This means that
editing actions are saved separately from the photo; they're only applied directly to a photo's pixels if the photo
is exported--for example, to upload to a photo-sharing site.

You do give up much of the ability to make changes to just part of a photo rather than to the photo as a whole.
For that fine-grained level of control, you still need to use a traditional editing program. However, I seldom find
myself needing to do so. These programs really do deliver a revolutionary experience. If you're a halfway
serious photographer, you really owe it to yourself to at least give a free trial a whirl. (Aperture retails for $199
and Lightroom for $299.)

High-end point-and-shoots. In the twilight of film as a mass-market medium, one of the annoying product
holes--to me at least--was the space that used to be filled by mid-priced rangefinder cameras like the Canon
QL17. These were fairly compact and had lots of manual control. However, as autofocus, zoom lenses, and
other modern conveniences became ubiquitous, the camera market largely bifurcated into small point-and-
shoots primarily designed for unsophisticated users to take snapshots and much bulkier SLRs offering the full
range of control.

Those of us who wanted something that was both physically small and offered a reasonable degree of control
over aperture, shutter speed, and so forth were pretty much stuck with buying used cameras. To be sure, this
wasn't a bad option with film cameras except that some of the more interesting camera models were also highly
prized collectibles, and therefore expensive.

A number of camera models fill this space quite well in the digital realm. The Canon Powershot Gx line was
arguably first but Nikon (with the Coolpix P7000) and Panasonic (with the Lumix LX5) now have competitive
products with similar capabilities. They're pocketable (with a big pocket) but they offer a high level of manual
control. Their sensors are small and they're still a bit sluggish if you're used to a digital SLR, but each model
iteration gets a bit better.

People with different needs doubtless find other trends interesting. For example, a lot of videographers love that
video has come to full-frame dSLRs because of the quality and depth-of-field control they provide. And we're
seeing early examples of enhancing dynamic range in-camera by taking multiple exposures and automatically
correcting exposures for known lens distortions. There's a lot happening

*Advertising Photography.  Photos made to illustrate a service or product. These images are generally done
with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team. Read more…
Aerial Photography is the taking of photographs from above with a camera mounted, or hand held, on an
aircraft, helicopter, balloon, rocket, kite, skydiver or similar vehicle. It was widely used for  military purposes
during World War I. Read more…

Architectural Photography. Find analyses of the various uses and techniques of architectural photography.

Astronomical Photography. Find  various techniques developed or modified since 1975 specially for the
unusual demands of astronomical photography at the Anglo-Australian Observatory.

Baby Photography. Find some must-have baby photography tips on taking the best pictures of your baby from
Alexis Dawes.

Black and White Photography. Find a vast collection of b&w images.

Cityscape Photography. Find tips that will help you to take digital photos capturing the essence of the ‘big
city’. Composition, lighting and exposure settings, photo subject ideas, and more.

Commercial photography includes advertising photography, editorial photography, photojournalism,  portrait

and wedding photography, fine art photography.Read more…

Concert Photography is up there among the most difficult ones. You have five thousand fans behind you, and
there is a band in front of you. Nobody stands still… Read more…

Digital Photography, as opposed to film photography, uses electronic devices to record the image as binary
data. This facilitates storage and editing of the images on personal computers, and also the ability to show and
delete unsuccessful images immediately on the camera itself. Read more…

Documentary photography  usually refers to a type of professional photojournalism, but it may also be an
amateur or student pursuit. The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid
photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people. Read more…

Equine Photography includes photographs of horses and everything connected with horses. Read more...

Family Photography. Find family photography tips, including everything from snapping off 20 baby pictures
to posing everyone at your family reunion.

Fine art photography, sometimes simply called art photography, refers to high-quality archival photographic
prints that are produced to fulfill the creative vision of an individual professional and often  reproduced in
limited editions. Read more…

Fine Art Nude Photography, or Erotic photography dates back to the history of the art and process of taking
pictures of unclothed subjects. Find the webs best fine art nude photography.

Food Photography.  Find a collection of articles intended to inform and educate the viewer regarding the craft,
science, business, and art of food photography.

Glamour or Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion
items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines. Over time,
fashion photography has developed its own aesthetic in which the clothes and fashions are enhanced by exotic
locations and story lines.

Infrared Photography. With this type of photography you can get interesting “in-camera effects”: false-color
or black and white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance. Read…

Landscape Photography is artistic interpretations of the land, its features, beauty and its definition. Gallery of
Landscape Photography
Macro photography is a type of close-up photography, where  the image is as large or larger than the subject.
Read more…

Nature photography refers to a particular form of photography with a stronger emphasis on the aesthetical
value of the photo, taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, plants and
wildlife. Read more…

Night photography generally refers to photographs taken outdoors between twilight and dusk. Read more…

Pet Photography.  Seven Habits of the Successful Pet Photographer.

Portrait photography has been around since the invention and popularization of the camera, and is a cheaper
and often more accessible method than portrait painting, which had been used by distinguished figures before
the use of the camera. Read more…  

Seascape Photography. Find the gallery of beautiful seascape art and seascape photography.

Travel Photography. Find pictures landscapes, nature, architecture and night photography of different places.

Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while underwater. It is usually done while
scuba diving, but can be done while snorkeling or swimming. Read more…

Wedding photography is probably one of the most complicated, but at the same time challenging forms of
photography that requires a great deal of responsibility, skills, and knowledge. Read more…

Wildlife photography is the act of taking photographs of wildlife, which is regarded as being one of the more
challenging forms of photography as it has several different requirements.

Types of Photography

Fashion Photography:
This genre of photography is one of the most lucrative kinds. Photographs are one of the most effective ways of
communication in the world of fashion. Here, photography is used to bring attention to the clothes and the
accessories. Models are exclusively selected to showcase products in the best way possible. Fashion
photographers today create the particular look, either in natural environment or one that is created in the studio.
Often, these fashionable photographs find their way in the leading fashion magazines. These magazines cater to
the niche crowd that loves to know the best in clothing and other fashion accessories.

Glamor Photography:
Glamor photography is also about fashionable visuals, however with a touch of difference. Glamor photography
highlights the model in a different light rather than laying emphasis on the clothing or accessories. Often, nude
images are also a part of glamor photography. These can be found on the covers of magazines like ‘Playboy’.

Advertising Photography:
Advertising photography is all about creating the right environment to highlight the product to be advertised in
the best way possible. The photographers generally come up with ideas or visuals or at times, design houses also
brief photographers with the concept required in order to obtain the specific results. These photographs are
always planned in co-ordination with the advertising firm.

Still Life Photography:

Still life photography is all about capturing objects on camera that are deliberately grouped together to create a
particular composition. This form of art requires the photographer to have an excellent sense of composition and
lighting. A photographer in this case can create different textures and use objects that add interest to an
otherwise normal composition.

Wedding Photography:
Wedding photography is a specialized field of this art form, which is dedicated to snapping the most memorable
moments in various creative ways. A photographer can take his/her own approach towards this subject. While
some prefer the traditional ‘posed’ ways, there are others who base their photographs purely on the actual
moment. Photographers can also make these pictures fashionable with particular themes if agreeable with the
client. There are many cases where such glamorous wedding photographs are captured especially in the studio.
Today, many people are willing to explore new ideas, which open up many new creative avenues for experts in
wedding photography.

Fine Art Photography:

Fine art photography is all about visuals that resemble a work of art. These are highly creative images that have
an abstract appeal. Therefore, these photographs can be equivalent to an artist’s expression on canvas. This
genre of photography is not restricted for commercial purposes but could be used for creative pursuits as well. A
fine art photographer should have the ability to look beyond the obvious settings.

Nature Photography:
Nature photographers are very much sought-after by media houses. Works of these creative geniuses can be
seen in magazines like ‘National Geographic’. Nature photography encompasses various other types of
photography, such as-

Landscape Photography: These photographs mainly highlight the natural beauty of any place. It includes areas
of wilderness, deserts, mountains or even waterfalls.

Wildlife Photography: Photographers that specialize in wildlife photography spend many hours in the wilderness
to capture some of the most amazing shots of animals against a natural backdrop. A photographer in this case,
would need to be an ardent animal lover and know his way around in the wild.

Underwater Photography: Underwater photography is an interesting art form that explores a whole new world
beneath the deep blue seas. It’s an extremely challenging task because a photographer should be equipped with
all the knowledge about swimming and scuba diving to capture the best images while swimming in the blue
waters!

Seascape Photography: Capturing nature in her many moods would be interesting for all lovers of the
environment. A photographer who is dedicated completely to seascape photography should always lie in wait
for the beauty of the sea to unfold. Here the concentration is mainly on capturing various moods of the ocean, at
different times of the day or even seasons!

Cloudscape Photography: This genre of photography is completely dedicated to capturing various images of the
cloud formations. Black and white photography in particular can be creatively used for this branch of
photography.

Travel Photography:
Travel photography involves capturing images of a particular landscape or even people from different countries.
A photographer who is dedicated to this type of photography captures various traditions and customs of a place.

Architectural Photography:
Architectural photography, as the name suggests, is all about the capturing images of different styles of
architecture in different lights. This type of photography would require the photographers to be an expert in the
technical, as well as the visual department.

Portrait Photography:
Portrait photography is all about capturing the mood of a person with an emphasis on the face and expression of
a person. This style of photography need not only be about professional models, it can encompass any kind of a
person. Family portrait photographs are very much in demand but this does not mean it’s all about a basic
snapshot. There are many creative ways a photographer can use to make a portrait photograph look equally
stunning!

Photojournalism:
Photojournalism is all about telling a story about a particular event or incident through a single photograph. This
genre of photography is used mainly by publications to represent the latest news. In this case, the
photographer’s visuals and the writer’s story should compliment each other. For example, if a writer is making a
specific mention of a particular location in the story, the photographer can find innovative ways to capture the
same on camera. Photojournalism can be further classified into –
Documentary photography: Here, the photographer has to present an image that best represents the incident
being spoken of in true form. In this case, press photographers usually submit their images to the concerned
publication but in recent times, press photographers from all over the world often display these at exhibitions as
well.

Street Photography: This is all about capturing candid images of public places or even people in their natural
element. A photographer in this case requires the knack to mingle between people and capture the best frames
without being conscious of people around. Henri Cartier-Bresson used the technique of wrapping the camera
inside his handkerchief. Of course, one also has to consider the legal issues, as there are many places where this
type of photography is prohibited for security reasons.

Celebrity Photography: Celebrity photography is all about capturing celebrities from various fields. Various
media houses use such photographs - from publications (magazines, newspapers) to the online media. In this
case there are various ways of approaching this subject. In the first instance, celebrities are shot with meticulous
planning in a studio or at an outdoor location where the styling is well planned for; this includes the clothes,
make up and the accessories. Apart from this, photographers who specialize in celebrity photography also need
to capture them at various functions or press conferences. Where as, there is a third type of celebrity
photography known as the paparazzi. This is about capturing celebrities on camera without their consent. These
photographs are exclusive and often fetch the premium price for all photographers.

Sports Photography: This genre of photography is dedicated completely to capturing the best images in action,
for any kind of sports. A photographer in this case should have the knack to capture stunning images on camera
with great speed. There are many photographers who have dedicated themselves completely to this segment.
These photographs are mainly used by publishing houses and other branches of media.

Nude Photography:
Nude photography is about the depiction of the human body in nude form. These photographs are not meant for
eroticism but purely for the study of the human body. Here, the face is not always the focal point and the
compositions are stylized with experimentation in terms of light and backdrops.

War Photography:
War photography is about capturing photographs that depict the situations at war in terms of the people or the
particular situation. Here, the photographers are always at risk and often the target of the warring groups.

Candid Photography:
Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of the first names that crops up in one’s mind when it comes to candid
photography. This can be said to be one of the purest forms of photography, which does not include any staged
situations. Candid photography is all about being spontaneous!

Fire Photography:
This form of photography would require the photographer to be equipped with protective clothing. The
photographer in this case, clicks photographs of firefighting operations. This type of photography is useful for
investigations.

Forensic Photography:
Also known as crime scene photography, here the job of the photographer is mainly to capture images for an
accurate representation of the scene of crime. Here, a photographer will have to cover all the possible angles of
the particular scene for investigation purposes. These images could be about any scene of crime or even
accidents.

Secret Photography:
Here, it is the primary aim of the photographer to capture images of people without their knowledge.
Professional photographers mainly use this type of photography for investigative purposes and unethical
publication of the same can result in various legal issues. Here, the photographer can also conceal
himself/herself from the concerned party including the camera being used.

Macro Photography:
This style of photography is completely about close-up images of the particular subject. This style is used
particularly to capture details of organisms or nature that may not be visible to the naked eye.
Aerial Photography:
A photographer in this case, needs to be an expert at capturing images from an elevated position. There are
various techniques used to obtain these images; a photographer can click these images from a helicopter or an
aircraft and more recently, kites are also being used wherein the camera is attached to the kite to click
photographs when the kite is in the air.

Headshot Photography:
This type of photography focuses mainly on the person’s face (mug shots) but is different from portrait
photography. The images in this case are plainer in nature as the client would need to use these images purely
for work purposes.

Food Photography:
Food photography is mainly in demand due to the rising needs from the advertising industry and publishing
houses. It is the photographer’s skill that is required to make the group of objects look very interesting and
appealing to the viewer.

Astrophotography:
Photographers in this case focus completely on capturing images from space. This could range from the planets
to the stars or any other interesting formations. It is very difficult to capture a clear image of any incident in the
starry skies owing to many technical problems a photographer may face. However, with the advent of new
technology in this field, many innovative options are being added to make this type of photography easier for
avid photographers dedicated to this field.

Child Photography :
In this case, the photographer should definitely have a knack to handle children to capture their best moods and
moments! These types of photographs are used for advertising purposes or even for personal reasons.

Black and White Photography:

With the advent of color photography, black and white photography would have been passé. However, this is a
medium that offers vast options for photographers. The timeless appeal of black and white photography can be
used for any topic. Photographers in this case would need to use lighting and textures apart from composition
and latest techniques to be rewarded with beautiful visuals.

Digital Photography:
Digital photography is all about photographers opting for the digital cameras over the traditional ways to click
images that are faster to transmit. However, there are many photographers who still prefer to use film to digital
cameras for better clarity and representation of light and dark.

Night Photography:
Photographers in this case completely specialize in night scenes. Due to the problem of minimum light, new
techniques are being incorporated. A photographer can use artificial light or even a long exposure to capture
clear and precise images.

These various types of photography clearly give an indication of the blossoming of this art form. Technology
has made it possible to go beyond the obvious frames. Today, photography is about the combination of the
expertise of the photographer as well as techniques. But in the true sense, an excellent photographer would only
need creativity and strong powers of observation to be able to capture visuals that are truly beyond the ordinary

Difference Between SLR and DSLR

Pictures are an integral part in keeping memories. Before the days of digital photography, there was film.
Although film has started to disappear from the general public view in the last few years, it’s where we begin
our discussion.

SLR or Single Lens Reflex camera are a class of cameras that allowed for much better photographs due to an
innovative solution to an old problem. Most cameras have two light paths from the target, one leading to the lens
itself while the other to the viewfinder. This leads to the final photo being slightly different from what you saw
on the viewfinder. SLR cameras fixed this by using a certain mechanism that lets you see through the lens. After
you push the button to take the picture, the mechanism then moves to let the light hit the film behind it.

Most SLR’s are used in professional photography, where the need for utmost quality is very high. It would not
be surprising that most of the advanced features also appear on SLRs and not on the common camera.

At the early stages of photography, the LCD viewfinder grew in popularity. Since the LCD viewfinder usually
takes its image on the image sensor, it should already be considered as an SLR; but it isn’t. SLRs have begun to
become a class of high end cameras with more advanced features, like manual controls, interchangeable lenses,
among others. It was no longer just about the path of light.

DSLR or the Digital version of SLR is basically an SLR that has been converted from saving the image in film
to saving an image in a memory card. It still shares a lot of the advanced features of the SLR along with a few
more improvements that makes it a lot more superior.

The nature of memory cards and the high capacities that are available today means that a professional
photographer would not need to change the storage medium as often. The use of very high quality sensors
coupled with the capability to instantly review the image you took also gives modern day photographers an
undeniable edge.

Despite being a few folds more expensive compared to their counterparts, the SLR and the DSLR were an
indispensable tool in professional photography. Even hobbyists who have the money can enjoy and enhance
their talents on photography. As most technologies evolve, so does the technology in photography. The DSLR is
just the next evolutionary step from the SLR.

The first major difference between SLRs and digital compact cameras is what prevents most people from buying
an SLR: price.

Even though digital SLR prices have come down each and every year, they are still significantly more expensive
than their compact cousins.

Let me put it this way: an inexpensive digital SLR camera starts around $450 without a lens. Then you get to
tack on an additional $100 for a kit lens or $500 for a high-quality zoom.

If you can't fathom spending $500 to $1,000 on a digital camera, then an SLR is definitely not right for you.

However, if you've been saving you pennies for months and are perfectly aware of how much these cameras
cost, then let's take a closer look at some of the other differences between SLRs and digital compacts.

Size and Weight

Anyone who wants a camera that fits in their pocket can forget all about digital SLRs.

Size and weight is the second most obvious difference between SLR and compact digital cameras after price.
Even a small-sized digital SLR camera is twice the size and bulk of a compact camera.

While there are many new digital SLR models that are more portable (and are easier to travel with) the addition
of a lens to your camera ensures that you'll never be able to stow it away in your shirt pocket or purse.

If you'd like the higher image quality of a digital SLR but don't want a huge heavy camera, then consider a
mirrorless DSLR - they're more the size of compacts but capture DSLR-like photos (and you can change lenses).

Professional Movies

Prior to 2008, digital SLRs with video did not exist.

Digital SLR cameras could only take stills, and many people were suprised that these big expensive cameras
could not capture video clips like their tiny compact cousins.

All that is now in the past: virtually all DSLRs released since 2008 include a High Definition (HD) video
capture mode.

But the one thing that really sets DSLR video apart from compact video is the ability to change lenses.

Since you can change lenses on your DSLR, you can capture videos that look more like movies: extreme wide-
angle shots, close-ups and backgrounds thrown nicely out of focus can all be achieved with a digital SLR.

This explains why many small independent film companies now use DSLRs as their camera of choice.
Compared to the price of a high-end digital video camera, a DSLR is pretty cheap.

Manual Zoom

Compact digital cameras have electronic zooms: push a button (or lever) and the camera's lens zooms in and
out.

Since all digital SLR lenses can be removed from the camera body, the zoom mechanisms are entirely manual:
to change the view you have to twist a ring on the lens.

This manual zoom actually results in a faster zoom: you don't have to wait for the motors to move the lens in
and out, you can twist the zoom ring as fast or slow as you like.

Zoom Range

Since we're on the topic of lenses, let's talk about another difference between SLR and compact digital cameras:
zoom range.

There are many compact cameras on the market today with "mega-zooms". These cameras have 10x or 12x
zooms and are capable of taking both wide angle and telephoto shots.

In order to cover a similar range with a digital SLR you have one of two options:

 Buy a mega-zoom lens: these give you the same zoom power as a 10x zoom on a compact, but also
cost about $600 USD
 Buy two zoom lenses: with one wide-angle zoom and one telephoto you can cover a lot of range, but at
a significant cost ($800 USD or more)

If tons of zoom range is important to you, the compact is clearly the more economical solution.