Printing
Getting a picture to look right on the screen is one achievement, and there the journey ends if the goal is to make a slide show or a web site like this one. But even in the digital age, most people want to see their pictures in print.
Printing is not always the simple process that advertizers claim, and the modern photographer needs some good equipment and a few skills to transfer an image accurately from screen to paper, in a form that will last. Invoking voodoo sometimes helps.
Until recently digital pictures printed with the inkjet process were notoriously quick to fade. But in this respect too technology has marched ahead and each of the major manufacturers has now developed pigment-based inks that not only last for several decades without fading noticeably, but also match the range of shades and vibrancy that used to be restricted to the less stable dye-based inks.
So now humble freelance photographers like me can set up their own reasonably affordable equipment capable of producing fine, saleable prints that should outlive both them and their children.