Digital photography is now solidly established and the cost of photo printers, digital photo frames and digital cameras have all reduced significantly. The costs were already pretty low anyway; consider the Polaroid as an example of this. When the first Polaroid was introduced in 1948 it had a price tag which was equivalent of in excess of $800 at today’s market rates. Perfectly usable digital cameras, suitable for birthdays, family events, weddings etc., can be found for around the $50 mark currently. You can pay quite a bit more if you want of course but, for most people, there’s really no need.

Apart from the cost of the equipment itself, the associated costs are also significantly lower. For a start, there’s no film so you can save on the cost of the film and, if you either display your snapshots on a PC or use a digital picture frame, the cost of processing. Even if you want a hard copy print out the chances are that it’ll be cheaper to do this on your own photo printer. It’ll certainly be quicker.

Financial considerations aside, digital photography is, as a rule, so much more convenient than traditional photography. There are no reels of film to muck about with and, from time to time, to load incorrectly so that a whole reel gets ruined. When you want to get hard copies you don’t require to send your reels of film off to the development lab and then wait for them to be mailed back before you know if your pictures are any good or not.

The best benefit on offer from digital photography though is nothing to do with number of pixels, anti-shake technology, red eye reduction or face recognition. All of these technological benefits are worthwhile of course, but the main thing that will really help you improve is the fact that you don’t have to be concerned about taking a photograph or not and you don’t have to worry whether or not it’ll turn out fine. If it’s good you keep it, if not you can just hit the delete button and it’s gone for good. No wasted film, no cost, no problem. Basically, you have the freedom to experiment as much as you wish, to see what works and what doesn’t and to find out what’s good for your style.