The Benefits of Digital Photography Digital photography for your wedding? “I don't think so” is the first response of most brides and “Cool, can we do it honey?” is the first response of most grooms. Digital photography is fine for family reunions and posting pictures online, but who wants those kind of pictures for your wedding? You'd be quite surprised at the quality of digital photos done properly by a professional. Cameras are available that take as good or better quality pictures than taken by an expensive, traditional Hasselblad or a Bronica. Photos look crisp and clear, not the grainy pictures you remember seeing years ago. Instead of film, digital cameras have a memory chip. The photos can be downloaded from the camera to a computer on site. This enables you and the photographer to determine if the photos are turning out the way you want them to. If there are any problems, you see them instantly and can re-shoot the photos. Once they are downloaded, you can email them all over the world, print proofs to show friends and family, view them in the limo as you drive to the reception, even set up a slide show at your reception of the pictures you took that afternoon! After the wedding you can review your photos with your photographer on a computer screen. Retouching is easy and the options are endless. You can have your teeth straightened, erase wrinkles, minimize or remove a scar, cover a blemish, fix the broken fence in the background of your pictures. Digital photography enables you and your photographer to perfect your photos within minutes. With traditional film, retouching is arduous and requires hours in labor. After you decide on the photos you want in your album and reprinted, your photographer simply uses a high quality printer (not the kind you can buy in office supply stores), and photo paper to print the pictures in any size you want. This reduces the need for harmful chemicals, thereby helping the environment. You also avoid the risks and waiting time of sending your negatives to a lab to be developed. Most photographers will provide you with a CD of your photos. They will usually have to be shrunk in order for the files to fit on a single disk and cannot be printed, but it is useful for emailing friends and family, or posting on your website. Many photographers are incorporating digital photography into their portfolios. You need to be aware of a few things when considering digital photography for your wedding. First and foremost, the camera may be a wonderful, advanced piece of technology, but the photographer still needs to be creative and talented to get the kind of photos you want. Take the time to review your photographer's portfolio and discuss your requirements. Second, you may think by using a combination of digital and traditional photography you reduce your risks of one format not turning out the way you want. However, I've seen albums with a mixture of digital and traditional photos and the difference between the two can be noticeable. The digital photos look better, due to the ease of touchups. When you have the choice of fixing a stray hair or removing the bags from under your eyes, you will likely choose to do so. Imagine an album where in half of the pictures of the bride she has a small pimple on her chin, but in the other half she has clear skin. Third, make sure you review the work your photographer has done with the digital camera. This is just as important as ensuring the work you are looking at is that of the photographer who will be shooting your wedding. Digital photography has many benefits and is becoming almost as popular as traditional photography.