It is important to note that the differences between film and digital photography are far less significant than the differences between painting and film photography. Digital photography has also been adopted by many amateur snapshot photographers, who take advantage of the convenience of the form when sending images by email, placing them on the World Wide Web, or displaying them in digital picture frames. At the highest-end, some digital cameras are nothing but a sophisticated light-sensing unit. Throughout the history of photography, technological advances in optics, camera production, developing, and imaging have had an effect on the way people view images. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorite times, to capture special moments, to tell stories, to send messages, and as a source of entertainment. Photography as a usable process goes back to the 1820s with the development of chemical photography. Photography is a unique and creative medium of self-expression. You have many options when it comes to a career in photography, depending on your own personal interests. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer.