The digital photography revolution has arrived and the real question is ... Are you ready for it? Are you really prepared for the digital photography world?

My love of photography began 44 years ago when I borrowed a friend's Kodak box camera to take a picture. Naturally the photo was terrible and totally out of focus. I've come a long way since then. Spent years as an amateur and professional photographer, attended classes and improved my skills. During the last decade I've made the transition from film to all digital photography. It wasn't an easy transition. While the basic photography skills I acquired over the years remained unchanged, there was much to learn. To be successful with digital imaging skills beyond the basic photography skills. You also need computer graphic image editing software skills, and they are just as important as the photography skills, maybe more important. Unfortunately this is not a trivial matter.

Before digital, only those with a serious interest in photography became involved in the sport/hobby. Setting up a darkroom to process film and prints was expensive and learning how to do it was a lengthy and messy process. Not so today. Almost everyone has a PC sitting on their desk at home or in the office. And with point-and-shoot cameras available in the marketplace for pennies everyone buying a digital camera thinks they're automatically a photographer. Unfortunately a long and painful road lies ahead of them before they can actually lay claim to that title.

Just the other day I was talking with a young man who recently purchased a Nikon D70. He sent a picture he'd taken with the new camera and asked me what I thought of it. I responded saying it was nice, but would be better after he post-processed the image. His response: "What's that?" He hadn't a clue.

Things haven't changed that much between film and digital imaging. With film we post-processed in the darkroom. We cropped the photos to show only those portions of the image we wanted, we dodged overexposed areas and burned in underexposed areas to bring out detail. In short we used the skills and tools we had at our disposal to improve the image out of the camera. In the days of film we used darkroom skills, in today's digital world we use the skills we have for a computer's graphical imaging software program making it much easier for people to get involved. No darkroom required, no messy chemicals, no long process from exposure to finished print. Today everything sits neatly on a desk in a brightly lit office or back bedroom.

Photovation is here to help! Over the next few months we will be developing and implementing numerous classes designed to easily and quickly bring you into the digital world. Classes are designed to minimize the pain, increase the pleasure and get you to the point of being successful in a shorter time frame. Each hour you spend in class will eliminate many hours of the frustration and aggravation you experience while self-learning.

Learn quickly and, more importantly, learn it right the first time! Learn from a pro! Sign up today to attend one of our scheduled classes!

©2005 Art Brett. All rights reserved.