How is digital technology affecting the photographers of today and beyond?

Question

In the near future, how will phography manifest itself?
will "prints" on paper still going to be around?
what variations in photography style will the future hold?

Answer 1

Photography has become a computer skill more then a photgraphy art form.
ANyone with a good camera can re-work a picture and produce a faily nice to very nice image.
Prints will be around as the number of photo mags seems to have increased. ALso people like to hang their art on the wall.
The future will be a time of trying to tell what is a one shot picture or a compiled shot from a computer. Still making it easier has produced more "recordings" of the current age for the archieves.

I am still messing with tin type work.

Answer 2

The digital revoultion did not bring about photo manipulation, it just made it easier. Remember that photo manipulation is something which is not new to the photographic field and has been around since the advent of the daguerreotype process in 1839. Even when we speak of pure photography citing such groups as the f64, and their unofficial leader Ansel Adams who is synonymous with straight photography, even these people manipulated their images quite a bit in the darkroom. If you are familiar with the zone system of photography, a method of previsualization used by supposedly straight photographers, it is a system which promotes manipulation.
So how is the digital revolution affecting photography these days? We always seem to assume that if you give someone an improved tool their job will be easier, but in fact that is the exact opposite. With an improved tool we become more productive, and more is expected of us. What more is expected of us? With the digital revolution there is a lot more post production work i.e, Photoshop work. In the past we would just send the roll or sheet film to a professional film developer and at most perhaps we might ask them to push or pull the film, and that was that. Also deadlines are tighter because they know that with digital it is easier to produce more. Unfortunately more doesnt always equate to quality and often times this results in having to work in photoshop more.
As for prints, or silver process photography still being around in the coming years. I am sure it will. Back in 1839 it was believed that photography would take over the job of the painter, but look where we are today, still lots of painters. Also there are lots of people these days practicing photographic techniques that haven't been in popular use for 150 years just go to this website if you don't believe me http://www.alternativephotography.com/process.html
What variations in photographic styles will the future hold? In this case, I don't see anything changing. In terms of the job they do, capturing still images, digital cameras and film cameras really aren't all that different. Although the biggest difference is the amount of discrete information in terms of meta-data which a digital image can hold. What makes digital images unique is all that hidden data about how the image was shot etc..which makes the digital image more interesting. In this way perhaps the imbedded meta-data is where we will see the biggest improvements in digital imaging. Imagine all the things we could be imbedding in images, what if cameras had a GPS emedded device which could imprint each photo with a unique geographic location. there is no limit to our imaginations.

Answer 3

> Ive tried looking it up and haven't really found any thing intresting. I'd suggest you are asking the wrong question. Compare life in the pre-digital age (~pre-1965) with what exists now. Try watching some old 1960's sitcoms and compare their every day technology to yours. For example. "My Three Sons", "The Patty Duke Show", "That Girl". Try your local library (DVDs) or the Internet to find these. I'll start with lists of things that are impossible without digital technology & one of things that would be much cruder when limited to analog technology. Impossible with only analog technology: -Cheap long distance communications. Learn to write letters and use a typewriter. Even long distance telephone calls were expensive and most people only made them for urgent messages. -Internet, computers, DVRs, MP3s, spell check, GPS, email, social media. -calculators (break out your slide ruler & log tables!) -video games Things that would be a lot cruder without digital technology. -Cable TV would be limited to a few channels -Cars would need more maintenance, use more gas (for the amount of power produced), be less reliable. -Recording technology would be stuck at early VCRs and cassette tapes. -The word "computer" would still be a job description. -Movie/television special effects would be stuck at about ~1970. No modern CGI effects. -Mobile phones would be much more expensive, larger, and cruder. Not that common.

Answer 4

I don't agree that photography has become a computer skill (However in saying that you need computer skills to manipulate it to become recognised within the industry). I think there are still genuine photographers around who take amazing photos which are unrecognised because people can tweak things too much with a computer and create 'perfection'. They can make the sea bluer, they can make the leaves of the tree greener, but they cant capture the same spirit you get in a genuine photograph.

Print will always be around. People enjoy reading, Magazine numbers increase, and people like to adorn their homes with art.

Answer 5

Wait a few more years and we will be able to get terabyte storage space from a camera chip to a Hard Drive. We will have megapixils no longer rated in MB.

We will have "NASA" quality on the market...

That means that everything we create today will be obsolete...
It will affect old and new users alike...

A very interesting Q!

beaux

PS: could be like holding a miniature "Hubble Telescope" in your hand.... for about $1000.00 US.

Answer 6

1. It's making them lazier. Why take time to setup a tripod and carefully compose when you'v got a machine gun.
2. Everyone will have a 23 megapixel camera phone and think it's just peachy.
3. No, they will go the way of magazines, books, and newspapers. Oh yeah, they're still here...
4. True artists will turn off their camera phones and shoot Holgas and think they've discovered something new.

Answer 7

dIGITAL EDITING HAS CHANGED TEH MEANING OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ART TOO MUCH.
but still there are good photographer expensive than good editors.

non -proff. artists can benefit from various programs avail. free like photoshop,google picasa(free download here http://angle-mine.blogspot.com )
But the ultimate artist is our own ANGLE.