1. A method of capturing digital images of a specimen in a chemical reaction comprising: capturing, by an imaging device, a series of short exposures of light emissions from the specimen over a period of time during the reaction, wherein captured images of the specimen grow dynamically over the period of time as the number of exposures increases, wherein the series of short exposures is captured using an array of pixels of an image sensor of a digital imaging device configured to perform continuous non-destructive read operations to read out a set of signals representing non-destructive read images of the specimen from the array of pixels of the image sensor, and wherein reading out the set of signals is delayed until the end of the period of time to reduce read noise in the set of non-destructive read images; monitoring, by the imaging device, the set of signals read out from the image sensor; and discontinuing capturing images of the specimen, by the imaging device, upon receiving a command, wherein the command is generated automatically or is based on input from a user of the digital imaging device.