On September 27, 2004, Adobe announced the Digital Negative Specification (DNG), a file format that was supposed to unify the cluttered atmosphere of proprietary RAW file formats by offering a non-proprietary template that would act as a universal raw file. The DNG format was released, free from any legal restrictions or royalties as an open-source file for hardware and software designers to generate, process, manage and archive RAW images for any program, from any camera, and easily accessible as an archive at any time in the future. Almost four years later, DNG hasn’t found the ubiquitous acceptance the industry had called for, but there’s growing hope for the future.

When it’s created, it’s copyrighted. This rule of thumb has protected artists and photographers (not to mention software designers, musicians and authors) since the current era of copyright law was established in 1978. Although the phrase is technically true, it’s only part of the story.

Many of the artists and commercial clients who work with me often present me with fresh creative challenges, requiring the application of old technologies in new ways. More often than not, however, it’s the discovery and application of new scanning and printing technologies that helps them communicate in ways they didn’t think possible. In the end, though, I often remind myself that it has nothing to do with the technology. In the end, everything that I do stems from my simple love of and passion for the art of photography—converting motion into a frozen, static image in the hopes of creating a compelling visual record that proves to everyone that the experience was indeed real.

Though image-sensor technology has been well used for years now—after all, the digital revolution is old news—it hasn’t been well understood. Today’s image sensors are more sophisticated and powerful than any that have come before. The current generation of turbocharged sensors is at the heart of the modern, sophisticated D-SLR. As with any photographic process, though, a complete understanding of how the tools work can lead to better results, both when purchasing a camera and when using one.