Facts about Photography

1. 08

   Daguerreotype plates required exposure times of 15 to 20 minutes in bright sunlight during the 1840s, making portrait photography extremely difficult until faster film emulsions were developed.

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2. 07

   During the 1920s, autochrome plates produced the first commercially available color photography process by layering potato starch grains dyed red, green, and blue over a silver halide emulsion.

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3. 06

   Polaroid instant film cameras used integral film technology developed by Edwin Land in 1947, which contained all chemical layers needed for image development within the film itself rather than requiring a darkroom.

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4. 05

   At 1/125th of a second, the shutter speed on the first Kodak Brownie camera in 1900 was slow enough to require a tripod for most photographs.

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5. 04

   Each pixel on a digital camera sensor contains approximately 100,000 to 1,000,000 transistors that convert light into electrical signals for image capture.

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6. 03

   Ansel Adams' 1941 photograph Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico sold for 609,600 dollars at auction in 2006, establishing it as one of the most valuable photographs ever created.

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7. 02

   In 1888, George Eastman's Kodak camera sold for 25 dollars and came pre-loaded with film for 100 exposures, democratizing photography for amateur users.

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8. 01

   The first color photograph was taken by James Clerk Maxwell in 1861 using red, green, and blue filters over a tartan ribbon.

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