This morning I’m following the daily writing prompt from WordPress (sort of), which was “How has technology changed your job”.
Photography is and isn’t my job. I mean I don’t typically get paid for my work and I don’t have a boss. Photography is really a hobby for me especially since I retired and don’t have a job. That being said, technology has made significant changes to photography. Photography has always been somewhat about technology. Back in the beginning days of photography, it was about using science to create permanent copies of a scene or subject. As time progressed photography became more about art.
Photography has progressed to use digital “film”, the emulsion film still exists, and the use of computer technology, and now artificial intelligence (A.I.) has come into play. Some worry that A.I. will ultimately replace photography. I look at it as just another step not to replace photography but rather to enhance it.
Let’s take a quick look at the featured photograph. The featured photo looked like the photo below after I took it.
Through the use of a computer and software to make a few adjustments I was able to go from the photo above to create the final version as seen below.
While we were able to make these adjustments back in the “old days” of film and the darkroom it may have taken a few hours to achieve what I was able to do in a matter of a couple of minutes.
There are those that would argue that it has become “too easy” but isn’t that the point? As technology advances tasks should become easier, not harder. Shouldn’t technology allow us to do more and not less?
I’m all for the changes technology has had in photography and I can’t wait to see what comes next. For me, it is an exciting time.
Photographer Clay 