Introduction to Digital Photography

Since Adam and Eve, man has been fascinated by ART, of which one form is drawing and painting. From the prehistoric ages till today art has been a part of our lives and a sizeable chunk of the mankind is always involved in this trade during all generations. From the cave murals to computer generated grand prints, painting has come a long way. Man has always tried to imitate the breathtaking creations of nature and bring them to canvas. We have always tried to draw the face of our near and dear ones lest we shall forget. Memoribilia is one factor that has driven mankind to find a solution so that we can preserve our memories for long long time. In the begining man used to draw using chalk and cave walls as canvas. As time passed when communities and societies grew, humans started to use natural dyes and colors to paint flowers and designs on the mud walls of their houses to make them look good and distinct. Gradually the world saw formation of tribes, states and countries with an organized society and the power to rule being centralized and in due course a section of the society was dedicated to the work of beautifying the society and its surroundings. Art was categorized into many fields like Architecture, Music, Dance and Painting. All these art forms were promoted by the kings and rulers from time to time. With the passage of time these artforms became part of the life and some of these artistes became famous / legends.

Chalk had now been replaced by the brush and the wall by canvas. During the middle of last millenium, mankind saw the creation of some of the most famous paintings and painters. Monalisa, The last Supper, The Last Judgement etc. made creative geniuses like Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci a legend in the society and their fame saw no boundaries. During the end of the millenium we saw the rise of Rembrandt, Salvador Dali, Picasso, Claude Monet etc. who gave painting a new meaning.

All this while, a stream of science was continually pursuing a long cherished dream of capturing a moment exactly like it was. Early philosophers and scientists developed a branch called OPTICS or Ray Optics to be precise which focussed on the study of light and the principles governing the behaviour of light. This thought would later on build the basic foundations of modern day photography. Meanwhile a simple lens was developed which became the base for Galileo Galilei to invent the first TELESCOPE, one giant leap again for the dream of photography to come true. His principles were to later on adopted as such for the development of zoom lenses which are used for purposes ranging from outdoor portrait shoots to shooting images of distant stars. Sir Issac Newton proposed many theories on the propagation of light.