The Ellipse Arts Center was please to welcome back expert fine art photographers David Applegate and Jim Steele for their discussion “Analog to Digital Photography, the State of the Technology.” With over 85 photographers in attendance, most of whom shoot a combination of both film and digital, they discussed photographic technological advances since they last visited the Ellipse Arts Center in 2006.

David and Jim explained how 2 years ago Kodak was the top manufacture of digital cameras while today Canon holds the #1 spot. Since digital cameras keep getting better, faster and cheaper, Kodak has stopped making black and white film and Nikon has limited their production to only two film cameras. Although, film is still available and since the problems that go along with digital photography are not easily solvable, there still remains a major difference between the final results of digital verse film photography.

When making the switch from film to digital there is a large learning curve. Depending on a photographers comfort level with computers, switching to digital can be impediment. Books by Bruce Fraser are a brilliant resource to assist those making the switch.

David and Jim went on to explain that the main thing to remember is that there is “there is no substitute for vision!” Once one has that vision, a photographer should figure out the most appropriate technique to achieve their vision in the final print.