INTRODUCTION
My career was Industrial Photography and I spent 40 years at it. When I retired, I stopped taking photographs for a number of years. At the time of my retirement digital photography was just getting started. It was very primitive and very expensive. Ten years later digital photography had progressed to the point where it was viable with film and the costs had come down to a reasonable level. Since then the progress has been absolutely stunning and things are only just getting started.
When I bought my first digital camera, I discovered what digital photography was all about. I have renewed my interest in photography and have elected to keep it at the hobby level. Today I am as enthusiastic as ever and 100% committed to Digital. I doubt that I will ever shoot film again.
I have owned 2 digital cameras. A Canon A70, on which I learned the basics, and a Canon G6. All of my observations are derived from tests made with these cameras, some work with friends' cameras, and extensive reading. All of my experience has been on the Macintosh Operating System. I have little knowledge of Windows. Which ever system you use, Adobe has made Photoshop and its other programs very similar in operation.
Photographers vary from those who just want to push the button and "let Kodak do the rest" to the ones who want to perform all of the steps necessary to make a photograph into a work of art. Others will fall in between and will take some steps to enhance their photographs.
The first group is addressed by camera manufactures, with all of the functions they build into cameras. Theoretically you tell the camera what kind of picture you are taking and the camera figures out how best to handle it. The camera companies have done a very good job of addressing the various picture modes and they can be a big help to the novice.
The second group will turn off all of the built in camera functions and do all of the image manipulation in the digital darkroom. The ultimate form of this is to use RAW capture mode.
The transition from film to digital photography requires a change in thinking about how photographs are made. When I first started out, this was my biggest stumbling block. Once I put away old ideas and habits, my progress improved considerably.
Film photography requires everything to be set up before the exposure is made. A film with the correct color balance, lighting of the correct color temperature, all elements of the composition in place. Once the picture is taken little additional correction or manipulation can be achieved in processing and printing. Testing and experimentation is expensive and time consuming with film.
Digital cameras are not constrained by film's limitations. Color balance can be altered for each photograph. The color temperature of the lights is not a concern, the camera can compensate, or corrections can be made in the digital darkroom.
Digital photography requires very little advanced set up, although it is desirable to do as much as possible before the picture is taken. Almost every element of the digital photograph can be corrected, changed, and manipulated, in the digital darkroom. Something helpful, if you anticipate a special photograph is about to be taken, include a white or gray reference source somewhere in the picture. Or take a second shot of a reference source. This can be most helpful if you need to make a color balance correction later. Experimentation with digital has no cost associated with it and the results are viewable immediately.