How Digital Photography Has Changed the World

Although you may have never thought about it, digital photography has had an incredible impact on all of our personal lives. Shooting, protecting and sharing our special memories has never been easier than with digital photography. However, the benefits of digital photos doesn't end with great vacation photos. Digital technology has helped to improve far more than our ability to share and store photographs, and for many modern industries it is hard to remember a time before it existed.

Here are five industries revolutionized by digital photography and its technology:

Medicine

The medical industry has profited greatly from the development of digital photos. Thanks to the ease of transferring digital images, patient data can now be stored with relevant photographs and sent to any hospital in the world. No film means instant results for things such as X-rays or reference photographs, and photos can now be stored on a hard drive instead of taking up valuable space in a storage room. Many endoscopic procedures available today would not be possible without the technology of digital.

Cyber-Space

During the last ten years, the internet has become a new way to socialize. The internet was once considered a hangout for nerds but now has become one of the most important communication tools in the world. A large element of this communication is the uploading, sharing, and downloading of photographs. In Facebook alone there are over 10 billion pictures and growing none of which would be possible without digital cameras. Whether it's sharing pictures of a wedding or taking photos during a crisis, digital photography has completely changed how people share their story.

Outer Space

Space exploration is thought to be one of humanity's most significant achievements. Cutting-edge technology has enabled scientists to view things in space that had never been seen before, and the digital cameras mounted on the Mars Exploration Rovers have helped to shed light on a planet once shrouded in mystery. Without the ability to process images as data and transmit them across space, our view of outer space would still be very limited.

The Field of Sports

Digital photography has completely changed how we capture sporting events and in order to fully appreciate it's impact it requires a more thorough look. With digital photography it doesn't have the limitation like 35mm cameras as there is no difference between taking a hundred pictures or taking one. Now sports journalists can take thousands of images at an event and can increase their chances of getting the "one in a million" shot without risking the high cost of taking hundreds of shots using film.

Education

At nearly every level of education, digital photography has helped to make learning more interactive, more rewarding, and more accessible. The low cost of digital makes it a great choice for student projects, and the abundance of digital photos and editing tools have provided countless students with resources for presentations and research. Digital video, which relies on many of the same technologies as digital photos, has improved our ability to take courses from home and has helped to erase national borders by allowing students to interact with people across the globe in real-time.

It's easy to take things for granted- like digital photography- that we use every day and have come to expect. But when you take a look back on all of the things that digital cameras have made possible, it's hard to image our lives without them. Everything from advanced medical procedures to better study of the galaxy, digital has opened up many doors that wouldn't have otherwise been discovered.