Photography has come a long way in the past 50 years. In fact, not just the past 50 years, the evolution of photography into the diverse field it is today is truly amazing. With time photography has evolved into diverse fields like travel photography, food photography, photojournalism and much more. In fact, today still life photography alone has many diverse fields like food photography, jewellery photography etc. A common misconception that people have when it comes to photography is that a single photographer can take care of all kinds of photographic requirements.
The most interesting aspect of photography is the shift from film based photography to digital storage based photography. Today even ‘old school’ photographers have started using digital SLR cameras to capture the most vivid and vibrant images possible. Compared to the every day use digital cameras available in the market, professional photographers use SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras. A SLR camera can costs anything between $1000 and $5,000. The SLR camera rarely utilizes digital enhancement of the images (for example, unlike regular digital cameras the zoom feature in a digital SLR camera is purely optical) and a digital SLR camera has far superior optics when compared to the digital cameras available for everyday use.
The reason why most photographers prefer digital storage over film is that digital images are easier to manage and can be easily distributed. For example, if a photograph has been clicked using a traditional SLR camera, the negative has to be developed, the photo scanned and then digitally ‘fixed’ before it is ready for electronic distribution. However, with digital storage, there are no such problems, and a camera can be connected to a digital printer and within seconds it is possible to produce hard copies of the digital images. In fact this is the reason why digital SLR cameras have become so popular, the storage mechanism is the same as digital cameras, but the quality of images is as good as traditional SLR cameras. The only advantage that traditional film based cameras have over digital SLR cameras is that the images can be over and underexposed as per the photographers convenience, also since the capture field of digital cameras is static, they are more prone to problems like dust.
Some of the popular forms of photography today are:
Commercial Photography
Commercial photography is a broad term that is used to describe photography that is purely commercial in nature. Commercial photography includes advertising photography, fashion and glamour photography, food photography, fine art photography, portrait photography and other similar forms of photography designed for commercial use. Recently, photojournalism too has also been classified as a form of commercial photography, as the eventual purpose of photojournalism is to sell photographs to newspapers and news agencies. By and large, commercial photography is for professional photographers that can utilize their expertise to make money. Commercial photography is diverse, and ever day an ever increasing number of commercial photographers are joining one of the many disciplines of commercial photography that exist today. It is only a matter of time before newer disciplines are added to commercial photography.
Food Photography
Previously food photography was considered a part of still photography, however with time food photography has developed into a separate branch of commercial photography. Today almost all food products available in the market utilise food photographers for their advertising campaigns. In addition, many restaurants utilize the services of a food photographer to show case popular dishes on their menu. Lately nature journals have also started utilizing the services of food photographers to shoot rare and exotic fruits in the controlled environment of a photo studio. By and large, the reason for food photography being considered a separate discipline of commercial photography is because it has so many applications, and it was only a matter of time before the demand for food photographers increased.
