Photographers see art of the world through the camera lens. Whether it is a brief moment captured on film or a photo shoot carefully set up, the photographer makes choices that determine the final product. Photographers think of light, texture, balance, subject matter, etc., much the same way any artist would. A photograph is an individual expression of how an artist views the world at a particular moment in time. Advances in the dark room and computer manipulation have kept this art form changing from the very basic daguerreotype to color film, ultraviolet, and ultimately digital photography.

The technology that makes photography possible is the camera. A film camera is made of three basic parts: the lens, the film, and body of the camera itself. The camera lens picks up light patterns reflected from an image. When exposed to film, a chemical record is made of that image. The film can then be developed with chemicals in the darkroom that convert the film into a positive image print.

Today the digital camera is popular among photographers. The film camera uses mechanical and chemical processes, whereas digital cameras record images electronically. Digital cameras have not completely replaced film cameras, though, as film still provides better picture quality in general.