BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES

Photography

The word photography means ‘writing with light’ once the term of photography is defined, it will make clear that
the concept of photography is depended on light.

That is the art of photography is capturing the action of light on chemical coated film, which is highly sensitive to
light. In this way the main function of the photography is controlling and balancing the light rays.

Comparing Human eye and camera

The human eye is a wonderful instrument, relying on refraction and lenses to form images.
There are many similarities between the human eye and a camera, including:

 A diaphragm to control the amount of light that gets through to the lens. This is the
shutter in a camera, and the pupil, at the center of the iris, in the human eye.
 A lens to focus the light and create an image. The image is real and inverted.
 A method of sensing the image. In a camera, film is used to record the image; in the
eye, the image is focused on the retina, and a system of rods and cones is the front end
of an image-processing system that converts the image to electrical impulses and sends
the information along the optic nerve to the brain.

Cornea and Lens

The cornea is the “cap” of the eye. This transparent (like clear jelly) structure sits to the front of the eye
and has a spherical curvature. The lens of a camera is also transparent (glass) and sits at the front of the
body. Like the cornea, the lens also maintains a spherical curvature. The corneal and lens curvature allows
for the eye and camera to view, though not in focus, a limited area to both the right and the left. That is,
without the curve, the eye and camera would see only what is directly in front of it.

Iris and Aperture

The aperture is to the camera as the iris is to the eye, and this reveals one of many similarities between
cameras vs. eyes. The aperture size refers to how much light is let into the camera and will ultimately hit
the sensor or film. As with the human eye, when the iris contracts itself, the pupil becomes smaller and
the eye takes in less light. When the iris widens in darker situations, the pupil becomes larger, so it can
take in more light. The same effect happens with the aperture; larger (lower) aperture values let in more
light than a small (higher) aperture value. The lens opening is the pupil; the smaller the opening, the less
light let in.

Focus in Eyes and Cameras

Both the eye and camera have the ability to focus on one single object and blur the rest, whether in the
foreground (shallow depth of field) or off at a distance. Likewise, the eye can focus on a larger image,
just as a camera (greater depth of field) can focus and capture a large scape.

Scope and Field of View

As the eye, the camera has a limited scope to take in what is around it. The curvature of the eye and the
lens allow for both to take in what is not directly in front of it. However, the eye can only take in a fixed
scope, while a camera's scope can be changed by the focal length of different types of lenses.

Retina and Film

The retina sits at the back of the eye and collects the light reflected from the surrounding environment to
form the image. The same task in the camera is performed either by film or sensors in digital cameras.
This process underpins both how cameras work and how eyes work.

Development of Photography
The word ‘Photography’ derived from the Greek words for light and writing was first coin by Sir John
Herschel in the 1839, the year the photographic process became public. There are two distinct scientific
processes the ‘optical’ and ‘chemical’ that combine to make photography possible. The development of
Photography is traced from some four hundred years back.
 The design of Camera Obscura (dark room) was first drawn by Leonardo da Vinci around 1519.

 In 1600 Robert Boyle, a founder of the Royal Society, had reported that silver chloride turned dark
under exposure, but he appeared to believe that it was caused by exposure to the air, rather than to
light.

 In 1727 Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that certain liquids change colour when exposed to
light.

 At the beginning of the nineteenth century Thomas Wedgwood was conducting experiments; he
had successfully captured images, but his silhouettes could not survive, as there was no known
method of making the image permanent.

 Niepce used a material that hardened when exposed to light, produced the first successful picture
in 1827. This picture required an exposure of eight hours. In 1829 Niépce agreed to go into
partnership with Louis Daguerre and after his death, Daguerre continued the experiment.

 Louis Daguerre discovered a way of developing photographic plates, a process which greatly
reduced the exposure time from eight hours down to half an hour. He also discovered that an
image could be made permanent by dipping it in salt.

 Later in 1839, the French government bought the rights and named it as ‘Daguerreotype’ and the
details of the process were made public on 19th August 1839.

 In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer, who introduced the ‘Collodion’ process, introduced a new era in
photography. This process was much faster than conventional methods, reducing exposure times
to two or three seconds opened up a new horizon in photography.

 The next major step in 1871 came from Richard Maddox, who discovered a way of using Gelatin
instead of glass as a basis for the photographic plate. This led to the development of the dry plate
process that marked a turning point. Dry plates could be developed much more quickly than with
any previous technique.

 In the early 1860’s, the Celluloid was invented by John Carbutt influenced a manufacturer to
produce very thin celluloid as a backing for sensitive material.

 Later George Eastman was remembered for introducing flexible film in 1884. Four years later he
introduced the box camera and photography could now reach a much greater number of people.
 Functions of Photography
Photography is one of the important aspects of today’s society.

In view with its importance, the photography has important functions to play in the society, they are;

 Firstly, photography is considered as one of the important proof for the incident that happened in
the society or to any individual. For example, the clue for former Prime minister of India Mr.
Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination was witnessed with a photo found in the assassinated spot.

 Secondly, the photography keeps the memories alive, when a person can look at a photo and
remember that moment. For example, wedding photos, birthday photos, picnic photos and etc.

 Thirdly, photographs can also show something that they themselves cannot see. For example,
abstract photography is one such kind of photography.

 Next, photography can show something that is happening all over the world, even if we are not
there.

 Finally, photography is an important means of communication that keeps others informed. For
example, sending kid’s photo to a relative, seeing the face of a dead ancestor, seeing a person
when he was 10 years old.

Basics of Camera:
The basic principle of photography is understood by recalling the simple process made in the school days
to find out the focal length.

 When the light rays pass through the convex lens, the simple compound convex lens converge the
light rays and focus them into the screen placed near the lens.

 To get the sharp focus of the object in the screen, the lens should be adjusted by moving forward
or backward. The image that has been focused on the screen will be an inverted image.

 The distance between the screen to lens and the distance between the lenses to object is known as
focal length. The same technique has been used in the photography. In photography, a light tight
box or a black chamber is used which don’t allow any external lights into the black chamber
except through the lens placed in front of the chamber.
  The light that reflects from any object passes through the lens and focused on the panel of the dark
chamber.
 Now the lens converge the light rays which passes through it into the panel. To get the sharp
focused image, the lens can be adjusted. So the camera lenses should be a moveable or an
adjustable one.

 In photography, the imaged that focused on the panel can be recorded or stored with the help of a
device called film, which is coated with highly light sensitive chemicals or with a digital recorder.

Focus:

The position of a viewed object or the adjustment of an optical device necessary to produce a clear image.

Aperture:

Adjustment of the lens opening, measured as f-number, which controls the amount of light passing
through the lens. Aperture also has an effect on depth of field and diffraction the higher the f-number, the
smaller the opening, the less light, the greater the depth of field, and the more the diffraction blur. The
focal length divided by the f-number gives the effective aperture diameter.

Shutter Speed:

Adjustment of the speed of the shutter to control the amount of time during which the imaging medium is
exposed to light for each exposure. Shutter speed may be used to control the amount of light striking the
image plane; 'faster' shutter decrease both the amount of light and the amount of image blurring from
motion of the subject.

White Balance:

On digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated with a given set of
lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such on the imaging chip and therefore that
the colors in the frame will appear natural. On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by
the operator's choice of film stock or with color correction filters..

Metering:

Measurement of exposure so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's
wishes. To translate the amount of light into a usable aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to adjust
for the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. This is done by setting the "film speed" or ISO sensitivity
into the meter.

Types of Camera

Single Lens Reflex (SLR) Camera

A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence
“reflex” from the mirror’s reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see
exactly what will be captured.

SLR cameras allow expert photographers to change lenses and choose the right lens for the given
shooting situation.

SLR camera uses a film made of plastic, gelatin and other material to record the image. The main

advantage of an SLR camera over the point-and-shoots is that

you can change the lenses.

Compact Camera
“Compact cameras” are cameras which have appropriate dimensions for putting them into the pocket of a
jacket instead of a special camera bag.

They are popular with people who do not consider themselves photographers but want easy-to-use
cameras for snapshots of vacations, parties, reunions and other events.
Compact camera sales declined after about 2010 as smart phones overtook them in such uses. Also, called
as Point-And-Shoot Camera or Mirror less Interchangeable Lens Camera

Subminiature camera: Cameras taking film significantly smaller than 35 mm were made. Subminiature
cameras were first produced in the nineteenth century. Later inexpensive subminiatures were made for
general use, some using rewound 16 mm cine film. Image quality with these small film sizes was limited.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) Camera

DSLRs have built-in mirrors (reflex) so the image you see bounces up to the viewfinder. It passes through
a focusing screen and a condenser lens and then reflects off of a prism’s walls to reach your eye. This
allows you to see exactly what the lens sees through the viewfinder.

When you hit the shutter release the mirror flips up to get out of the way. Once this happens, the shutter
opens and let the light pass through the lens to imaging sensor which is rated in megapixels (MP).
Basically, a DSLR is just a camera that uses mirrors and interchangeable lenses. This is one of the best
features of a DSLR – ability to switch lenses. Each delivers a new and invigorating view. There are
telephoto lenses, wide-angles, fisheyes and much more.

A telephoto lens lets you see farther so you can zoom in on a faraway subject, a wide-angle lens allows a
wider field of view which is great for landscapes and fisheyes are extra wide-angle lenses that distort
images in unique ways.

A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR)

Twin lens reflex camera is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the
lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is
used for the viewfinder system, which is usually viewed from above at waist level.
In addition to the objective, the viewfinder consists of a 45-degree mirror (the reason for the
word reflex in the name), a matte focusing screen at the top of the camera, and a pop-up hood
surrounding it. The two objectives are connected, so that the focus shown on the focusing screen will be
exactly the same as on the film.

Instant picture camera

After exposure every photograph is taken through pinch rollers inside of the instant camera. Thereby the
developer paste contained in the paper 'sandwich' distributes on the image. After a minute, the cover sheet
just needs to be removed and one gets a single original positive image with a fixed format.

View: A flexible bellows joins two standards — one with the lens and the other with the viewfinder or
film. This allows for unusual types of composition; for example, distorting the shape of the image by
skewing the film plane.
Types of lenses:
Wide-angle

lenses have three classes: Wide, ultra-wide, and fish-eye. You can tell a fish-eye lens by looking at it
because the front element bows outwards, allowing it to see as wide as 180 degrees. This gives the
signature fish-eye effect which bends all straight lines around the center and creates a circular effect in the
image. These lenses are fantastic for certain purposes, but are often overused without real purpose – use
them with caution.

An ultra-wide angle lens

is one which has a focal length shorter than 20mm, but is built with internal lenses which are meant to
correct the fish-eye distortion; these are sometimes referred to as “aspherical”.

A regular wide-angle lens is defined as anything shorter than 35mm. These can capture wide scenes, and
have a much larger depth of field (more will be in focus, from the foreground to the background)

Standard lens:

Standard lens is one that sees in a similar proportion to the human eye. These are typically between
35mm and 50mm They are wonderful for travel and street photography, because the images strike us as
something that we would see with our own eye.

Telephoto lenses:
are technically defined as anything exceeding 50mm, though the term is usually used to describe lenses
which are beyond 100mm; the ranges between 50-100mm are more commonly referred to as “portrait
lenses”, because that is what they excel at and are primarily used for. Just the opposite of wide-angle
lenses, telephotos shorten the depth of field, enabling you to isolate your subjects from the background
with shallow focus; this is when only a short plane is sharp, and everything in front of or behind that
plane falls rapidly into blur.

A prime lens

has no zoom – it is one focal length, and one only. Because the lens is manufactured precisely to provide
this one length, and doesn’t have the moving pieces and mechanisms required to zoom, they can be tack
sharp. Again, because of the relative simplicity of their build, they can have larger apertures (the size of
the opening in the lens), and therefore are much more useful for indoor and low-light photography. If
crisp and clear images are more important to you than convenience, these are the lenses you want to look.

The macro lens

has an intense level of magnification, capable of picking out the tiniest details and enhancing them larger
than we can see with our own eyes. It’s thanks to these lenses that we’ve been able to see the texture of a
fly’s face, or a flower’s pollen spores – such developments which have enhanced the human
understanding of the world around us.

Visual Perception
The process of ‘taking in’ one's environment is referred as perception. Visual perceptual skills involve the
ability to organize and interpret the information that is seen and give it meaning. The Visual perceptual
skills include several key component areas, they are;

 Visual Discrimination: The ability to notice detailed differences such as shape, size, color or
other dimensional aspects.

 Form Discrimination: The ability to perceive positional aspect differences and recognize objects
when they are in a different orientation or format.

 Figure Ground: The ability to focus on a selected target and screen out or ignore irrelevant
images.

 Spatial Relations: The ability to recognize the positioning of objects in space.

  Visual Closure: The ability to recognize an object, letter or number without seeing the entire
object.

 Visual Sequencing: The ability to see objects in a particular sequential order.

 Visual Memory: The ability to remember forms (letters) and sequences of forms (words) and
recognize them quickly when seen again.

Types of filters
Underwater Color Correction Filters
When imaging underwater, the light you are recording is filtered by the water it passes through. Longer
wavelength reds and oranges are absorbed until only blue is left. The actual effect is determined by numerous
factors, such as light source (sun or artificial), water quality, and the water path.

Day-for-night photography is an effect that makes a scene recorded in daylight to appear as if it were at twilight.

Color-Grad color filters are also produced in a wide range of standard and custom colors, densities, and
proportions for many applications. A Blue-to-Clear filter can add blue to a white, hazy sky without affecting the
foreground. An Orange-to-Clear filter can enliven a tepid sunset.

Sepia Filters
People often associate sepia-toned images with "early times." This makes Sepia filters useful tools for
producing believable flashbacks and for period effects with color film.

Color Compensating filters are used to make adjustments to the red, blue or green characteristics of light.

Fog filters mimic this effect of atomized water droplets in the air.

Star filters create points of light, like "stars," streaking outward from a central light source.

Polarizing Filter: A polarizing filter cuts reflections from water or glass which gives a subtle look and
objects do not appear very shiny. It also enhances colors and reduces haze. Polarizing filters are very
useful when taking photographs indoors. You may have experienced that when you take a picture of a
person wearing glasses their eyes don’t show since the reflection from their glasses obscures them, a
polarizing filter will cut out the reflection and the persons’ eyes won’t be obscured any more.

• Neutral Density Filters: These filters reduce the amount of light entering the camera which gives you
the benefit of taking a longer exposure; it is good if you want to take a picture of flowing water like
waterfalls, or streams, the resulting image will make the water very smooth. These filters come in 0.3,
0.6, and 0.9, which lowers the f-stop by 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
• Warming & Cooling Filters: These filters were more useful when using film, with digital cameras
however, the use of these filters become somewhat redundant since you can set the white balance
according to your needs and that takes care of the warmth or the cool.

• Enhancements Filters: These come in Red, Blue, Green, and enhances that particular color. There is a
sepia filter as well, which makes photos have an old look, however, this filter has become redundant as
well since you can add the sepia from an image enhancement software and even from your digital camera.
However many photographers prefer the authentic look of using a filter over softwware.

• Graduated Color Filters: These filters can make landscape photographs look even more beautiful, you
can make the skies bluer, or you can add a really nice golden to a sunset or a sunrise. These filters come
in a variety of colors.

Bellows:

In photography, a bellows is the pleated expandable part of a camera, usually a large or medium
format camera, to allow the lens to be moved with respect to the focal plane for focusing. Bellows are
also used on enlargers.

The bellows provides a flexible, dark extension between the film plane and the lens. In some cameras, the
photographer can change the angle of the film plate with respect to the optical axis of the lens, providing
alterations of perspective distortion and of the object plane of focus.

Two kinds of bellows are commonly used on cameras; bag bellows are normally used with a lens of short
focal length, and accordion bellows with a much longer range of extension.
 Types of lighting

Flat light
When you have your light source facing directly at the front of your subject, this is flat lighting. Flat
lighting on a face will mean that your subject is well lit and you are unable to see any shadows along their
face.

This is not a heavily desired look in portraits as you need shadows to draw your subject to life. However,
there are circumstances where it’s beneficial. Since shadows can draw out imperfections and textures, flat
lighting is beneficial when photographing babies in their acne skin weeks, teens with heavy blemishes,
and elderly people feeling insecure about their wrinkles. If you have a photo that is oozing character and
personality, you can also get away with flat light on your subject.

Split light
Split lighting is another type of side lighting but it is defined as light that hits your subject from the side at
a 90 degree angle.

You can easily recognize split lighting in an image by half of the subject being lit and the other half in the
shadows. With a face specifically, you’ll see the shadow line straight down the middle of the forehead,
nose, and chin.
Split lighting tends to make your subject look tough and masculine so you want to really consider your
subject when choosing this type of lighting.

Backlight
Backlight is just that, light that comes from behind your subject. This is commonly seen in photos from
the beloved golden hour, when the sun is low in the horizon and starting to set, but can be done at all
hours of the day.

Sources of backlight can include a window behind your subject in the middle of the day to a flash placed
behind with a colorful gel for something fun.

As beautiful as backlight is, it comes with its own challenges which can include a look of haziness and
lack of clarity in your subject. Because of this, I like to do a few things
Rim light
Rim light falls under the backlight category but deserves a spot of its own. With backlight you often see
the hazy or airiness from the light in the background resulting in highlights but you don’t have that with
rim light.

With rim light, you’ll see the light from behind only highlight the edges of your subject (there’s a little
haze falling into the top right of the frame below but you can see how the rim light separates the subject
from the background). This is great to use when you need to separate your subject from the background.

Butterfly light
With butterfly light, the light is placed above and in front of your subject to create a small shadow under
the nose resembling a butterfly (hence the name). This type of light beautifully highlights prominent
cheekbones which is why you most often see it used on women.

However, it emphasizes the shadows from deep set eyes. Again, know your subject’s face and how the
light will affect their features. Butterfly light is also commonly referenced as paramount light.
Ambient Lighting
What is ambient light and how does it affect your photography?

Ambient light is the general "man-made" background light shining all around us. It softens any contrasts
between brightly lit "task" areas and their surroundings. Fluorescent, halogen or incandescent recessed
lights for example, usually found in the ceiling, cast light directly downward and outward.

With each or these kinds of ambient lighting comes a problem for the digital photographer as they tend to
leave a harsh color cast in your images, usually yellow or red.

You can adjust for this at the time of shooting by switching to manual white balance and adjusting
accordingly and/or adjusting the color tones in post-processing later on.

Try combining ambient lighting with bounced or diffused flash.

3-Point Lighting Technique

The Three Point Lighting Technique is a standard method used in visual media such as video, film, still
photography and computer-generated imagery.

The technique uses three lights called the key light, fill light and back light. Naturally you will need three
lights to utilize the technique fully,

 If you only have one light, it becomes the key.

 If you have 2 lights, one is the key and the other is either the fill or the backlight.

Key Light
This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is
placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.
Fill Light
This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows
created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To acheive this, you could
move the light further away or use some spun. You might also want to set the fill light to more of a flood
than the key.

Back Light
The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct
lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the
subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional
look.

If you have a fourth light, you could use it to light the background of the entire scene that is called Four
Point Lighting
 Interior Photography

Images of property interiors need to be well lit and natural looking in order to show off the rooms at their
absolute best, especially for real estate. It is sometimes an idea to turn on the ambient lighting to create a
feeling of warmth and homeliness.

Use both lights on full power if shooting large rooms and place both lights behind you, evenly spaced and
as far back as possible. Use white, translucent umbrellas for good diffusion,

Think about what the light will do. It will hit the inside of the brolly and explode out bouncing off the
walls and ceiling creating a nice even spread rather than a simple flash burst causing unsightly shadows.

If shooting a small room, extend the light or soft box right up to the ceiling, aim it directly upwards and
fire that way. This will enable the light to hit the ceiling on full power, break itself up and fall nicely and
diffused on the room and all the items in it.

Types of artificial light sources used in photography today

 incandescent
 fluorescent
 LED
 studio strobe
 Incandescent

 This lighting ranges from the common light bulb to large tungsten “hot
lights” used in the studio and on movie sets. They are warm in color temperature compared with
natural daylight.

 The light from a bare bulb is pretty harsh. That’s why we use lampshades on lights in our homes. The
quality of incandescent lighting can be modified using flags, reflectors and diffusion material.
 Fluorescent

 Most public buildings and offices are lit with fluorescent lighting tubes. They’ve been around for
decades. They aren’t common in photography, but we sometimes get stuck with them if we’re shooting
in corporate offices. One problem is that the tubes come in different color temperatures. Traditionally
they were greenish, and you had to have a magenta filter on your lens to correct for it.

 LED

 LED stands for light emitting diodes. Usually there are a series of
hundreds small light diodes on one of the LED panels. These lights are really new on the photography
and video market and their use is getting more common, especially as perimeter lighting for domestic
use.

 They are very stable in colour temperature. The brightness can be varied with a built in rheostat
with no change in white balance. The quality of the light is harsh, like the incandescent lights, so you
might need to soften this light with diffusion material, or bounce it off a wall.

 Flash and Studio Strobe

  Strobe (or flash) lighting is not continuous like the other lights
it bursts out a huge amount of light in a fraction of a second. As such it’s a bit harder to visualize how
that light is going to look on your photos.

 Strobe lighting is probably the most common used artificial lighting in photography. Strobe lighting is
not suitable for video, as the duration of the flash is too short.

 The light from your camera flash is very harsh as well. Most people like to modify the light by
bouncing it off a small card or by putting plastic diffusers in front of the flash head.

Exposure Meters
A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, a light meter is often used
to determine the proper exposure for a photograph. Typically a light meter will include a computer, which
allows the photographer to determine which shutter speed and f-number should be selected for an
optimum exposure, given a certain lighting situation and film speed.

Light meters are also used in the fields of cinematography and scenic design, in order to determine the
optimum light level for a scene.

There are two general types of light meters: reflected-light and incident-light.

Reflected-light meters measure the light reflected by the scene to be photographed.

incident-light meters which measure the amount of light falling on the subject

using an integrating sphere placed on top of the light sensor. Because the incident-light reading is
independent of the subject's reflectance.
Differential Focus:

Differential focusing is a technique where you deliberately choose which area of an image is sharp and which is
soft and out-of-focus. Out-of-focus areas in an image also help to create a sense .

When shooting using the differential focusing technique, the first thing to decide is where the sharpest part of the
image should be.

The only way to get close to the look is to use the lens at maximum zoom and to use the largest aperture
available.

We don’t like to look at out-of-focus areas in an image. Our gaze naturally glides over these areas to find the bits
that are sharpest. Differential focusing is therefore ideal as a way of directing where a viewer looks in an image.

However, we can still ‘read’ the content of out-of-focus areas as long as they’re not too out-of-focus. With care,
out-of-focus areas can still contribute to a viewer’s understanding of an image. There’s a balance to be struck
when using differential focusing of getting the out-of-focus areas out-of-focus, just not too out-of-focus.

Types of Flashes:
Built-In & Pop-Up Flashes are flash units constructed within the main camera body. They are on-
axis with the lens, when you fire these flash units, the light fires in one direction only, directly at your
subject. This is usually problematic, because the on-axis light causes harsh contrast and shadows

The dedicated flash is a flash unit that fits into your camera’s hot shoe (that slot on the top of the
camera body). The dedicated flash is a great piece of gear that communicates with the camera. In
combination, the camera and flash use information about lens length, ISO sensitivity, f-stop and shutter
speed to determine optimal flash-strength output. The dedicated flash is preferred over the Built-in/Pop-
up flash for many reasons, but one of the best is that you can avoid red-eye by angling the flash and
bouncing the light onto your subject.

A ring light flash fits on the barrel of the lens by screwing onto the attachment threads. It provides a
soft, diffused light source that is ideal for Macro Photography. The fragile parameters of Macro
photography preclude using a built-in flash, and a dedicated flash unit doesn’t have the exacting direction
capabilities to properly illuminate a Macro subject.

The Ringlight Flash enables you to get as close as possible to your close-focus subject and flash it with a
light source that will not give you hard contrast or shadows. Instead you’ll get soft, even illumination that
will bring out the details.

A hammerhead flash is a flash unit that is separate from the camera and is not attached to the hot
shoe; it screws into your camera’s tripod bushing. The flash unit sits to the side of the camera and it off-
axis just enough to limit red-eye in your subjects. It’s a favorite among press and wedding photographers
because the hammerhead has a high light output and it provides a better angle and grip than other types of
flashes.

Types of film
Panchromatic Film - Colour Films are generally sensitive to the whole of the range of visible light, films
are balanced for lighting conditions which 'corrects' the film to show what we as humans would see.

Orthochromatic Film - Orthochromatic film is sensitive to the blue end of spectrum used in some
graphic arts applications as well as the medical industry. Fuji UM-MA

Infra Red Film - Infra red film is used in both scientific and creative photography. film which has
sensitivity to the red end of the spectrum.

Film Sensitivity:

 Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light. The most recent being
the ISO system. Insensitive film, has a lower speed, requires more exposure to light termed a slow
film.

 It is important to remember that the lower the ISO rating the better the image quality is going to
be. the lower the ISO the smoother, cleaner, and “better” images you will have.

 ISO between 100 and 200 will give you the best results, depending on the image sensor and the
camera’s engineering you can get away with ISO 400 and still have clear, clean and sharp images.

 Highly sensitive films are correspondingly termed fast films. Fill sensitivity and image quality is
seen in this picture.

Colour temperature:
This is the color of the light as perceived by the human eye. It is measured in degrees Kelvin (°K) The
color temperature is derived from heating a block of carbon to the specified temperature and observing
the color it glows.

Reversal Photography:

 In photography, a reversal film is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on
a transparent base.

 Reversal film is sometimes used as motion picture film, mostly in the 16 mm

 This avoids the expense of using negative film, which requires additional film and processing to
create a positive film print for projection.

 Reversal films are the preferred film choice of professional photographers for images intended for
reproduction in print media. This is because of the films' high contrast and high image resolution
compared to negative

Things to consider when cropping

 Duplicate your images first. It’s always good to keep an original that you can go back to later to
find a different way to crop.

 Take your time when cropping. There are almost unlimited ways to crop an image and it’s worth
trying a few of them before settling on one.
  If you change the shape of your image this could make printing more difficult, especially if you’re
going to a photo lab which generally only print in standard shapes and sizes.

 Cropping works best when you’re starting with a fairly large image. When you crop an image and
then try to view it at the same size as it was before you cropped you’ll notice that the pixels are
large. If you’re using small images keep this in mind or you’ll notice the quality of your images
can decrease to an unusable level.

 For this reason the ideal is to use cropping as a fine tuning of a well framed picture. With
experience you’ll find your framing of images gets better and you’ll probably find yourself
cropping drastically in post production less and less.

Developing and printing process in photography:

Basic Materials necessary for developing process

 A negative
 Rubbing Alcohol

 A light tight room (Must be well ventilated)

 Running water

 Safe light

 4 Trays for chemicals

 Enlarger with a condenser head (and bulb)

 Paper easel (holds the paper in place under the enlarger)

 Timer

 Drying rack/clothes line and pins

 Gloves and apron are optional.

 Chemical storage bottles.

Black and white Film developing.

Developer

The developer converts the latent image to metallic silver. Slide the test strip into the developer, making
sure it gets completely covered with chemicals. Gently agitate (lift the corner of the tray every 5 seconds)
for the duration. In less than 15 seconds you will start to see the image appear on the paper. Leave the
paper in the developer for 1 ½ to 2 minutes; making sure it gets fully developed. Even if the photo starts
to get too dark, DON'T TAKE IT OUT. It is hard to see everything with only the safe lights and we want
all of the detail to appear. It is important to be consistent with the timing so the final results don't get
skewed.

Stop Bath

A stop bath, typically a dilute solution of acetic acid or citric acid, halts the action of the developer. Let
the photo sit in this tray for 30 seconds to stop the developer from processing.

Fixer

The fixer makes the image permanent and light-resistant by dissolving any remaining silver halide salts.
Fixer is sometimes called hypo, a deprecated term originating from casually shortened form of the
alchemist's name hypo sulphite. Place the photo in the fixer. After 30 seconds, the photo is safe to be
viewed in the light. For the photo to be archival later, it needs to be in the fixer for 5 minutes. Lack of
fixing can make your print to turn purple later down the road.

Once you are finished looking at it, return the print to the fixer for the complete 5 minutes. Again, make
sure you drip the excess chemicals when the time is up.

Wash

If you printing multiple photos, it is easier to leave your prints in a holding bath of room temperature
water until you finish. When you are done printing, empty the current water and put the prints under
running water for 10 minutes. During this time you should be moving around the prints making sure they
all get rinsed off thoroughly.

Dry

Darkrooms have different drying techniques. Some popular methods are:

hanging prints

drying racks
electric dryers

PHOTO ENLARGER

Aesthetics in photography
 Fill the frame.
 Check the background for clutter and distractions.
 Wait for a nice moment when the subject reveals personality or an interesting aspect of the story.
Once photographers have this approach down, they can begin to think about good composition in
more depth. Consider these basic compositional ideas:

 Simplicity – nothing should be in the photo that does not contribute to the message.
 Rule of thirds – mentally divide the scene into thirds horizontally and vertically, keeping the
main subject out of the physical center of the picture but close to where those horizontal and
vertical lines intersect. This makes for a more dynamic image.
 Leading lines and framing – use things in the foreground to lead the viewer’s eye into the image
and the main subject. This will add depth and meaning to your photo.

What is photo journalism?

  Photojournalism tells a story, It conveys a message that goes beyond words or language. Hard
news is timely
something that’s current. Photojournalism is not staged. It shows the subject as it happened.

 The public has to trust what they see is true. It’s historic.

 Sometimes news photos can impact public opinion.

 During war time pictures of dead soldiers or civilians often influence the public to stop the war.

 Breaking News - Hard news that’s happening right now. An on-going story.

 Feature Photos - Seeks to entertain rather than inform. Can go with a feature story or stand alone.

 Portraits - Capture the essence of a person. Can be used with a feature or hard news story.

 Sports - Captures the action as it happens

 Sports Reaction - Sometimes what happens after the event is more important than the action.
Watch for the emotion throughout the event.

Photo Essay

A photo-essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series
of emotions in the viewer.

A photo essay will often show pictures in deep emotional stages. Photo essays range from purely
photographic works to photographs with captions or small notes to full text essays with a few or many
accompanying photographs.

Photo essays can be sequential in nature, intended to be viewed in a particular order, or they may consist
of non-ordered photographs which may be viewed all at once or in an order chosen by the viewer

 News magazines often have multi-page photo essays about significant events, both good and bad,
such as a sports championship or a national disaster.
 A single montage or collage of photographic images, with text or other additions, intended to be
viewed both as a whole and as individual photographs.
 Creating mood in photography
Overall feel of a picture Created by

 Perspective
 Color
 Focus (isolation and distance)
 Weather and light

Characteristics of a good photo

 Shape - Tends to be noticed first, before texture and pattern
Easiest and most recognizable composition tool
o Shape helps create a mood/character for the picture
o Search for the unconventional or surprise shape in objects

 Line - Line leads the eye

Focal point/subject, Diagonals, S-curves
 Pattern - Orderly combination of shape, line, or color
Pattern can help echo the character of a photo

 Texture - Adds realism (sense of touch) to a photo

Side lighting highlights texture

Planning a Photo Studio

1. You can never have too much space. we want AT LEAST 12 feet between our subject and the
background and preferably 15-20 feet to allow for things like props, backdrops, etc.

2. High ceilings are important. If we want lots of room for anything from light stands to booms, high
ceilings really make working with any sort of camera setup easier.

3. If we are targeting high-end clients, we have to find space that is in a safe area of town at a minimum.

4. Natural light is always best, but controllable light is more important. So if you have lots of natural light
that you can’t control, better to pick a spot you’ll have to artificially light that you CAN control.

6. The camera room should be separate from the sales room. If not completely separate, the two should be
separated by distance or configuration. The only thing you should ever do in the camera room is shoot.
Everything else should happen somewhere else.
7. A dressing room is always a plus if you plan on photographing people. The dressing room should offer
complete privacy and in a perfect world, be at least 5×5′ to allow for easy movement. The dressing room
should also offer a small chair and table as well as hooks to hang clothing. A bathroom can double as a
dressing room as long as it’s big enough to accommodate a person moving around.

8. Power – and lots of it. You should assume that an average studio will use a great deal more power than
the traditional office workspace. I like to have a space with its own circuit to make sure nobody else using
a great deal of power can put me out of business.

9. In most cases the camera room should be white, black, gray or neutral in color. This helps to avoid
unintentional reflections.

Elements of a Visual Storytelling

There are five basic elements of a good visual storytelling

Mood: The correct mood can be achieved by experimenting with the background. Try different effects or
shots. Blur the background to create a dramatic effect. Bring out the mood in the scene by making sure
that the background has a relationship with the main subject. So if your subject is a little lost boy, your
background can be that of a crowded place where he can feel so small.

Idea: Illustrating an idea through photography can be quite difficult. Once you have a sure one, though, it
will be easier to deliver. For the little lost boy story, you can use an abstract image or symbolism. Perhaps
a close-up of the lost boy’s tears?

Emotion: Use facial expressions if you want your photo to convey the right emotions. You can also do
this by capturing an action performed by your subject. After showing a close-up of the little boy’s tears,
for example, you can show his face streaked with tears, his eyes so red because of crying and his hands
clenched into fists.

Narration: To make photo narration work, you should have an established shot of what happened before
the little boy got lost. For example, you can show him holding on to his mother or father’s hand while
looking at toys on display at a store in the mall. You should know what to include or exclude in the scene,
though. As such, you need not show the mother or father’s face. Just a shot of the little boy’s hand and the
parent’s hand. It can be a close-up, but a medium range shot is better because you can establish their
location, although you’ll have to blur it for maximum effect.

The message: Find a theme for your photos. Use this theme to establish the message you want to convey.
It can be an object, the location, colors, style or a combination of everything. Leave clues so viewers will
be able to formulate ideas of what can still happen. In the case of the lost little boy’s story, you can use
the location (the mall) to establish the message.

Glossaries:

AE-L (Automatic Exposure Lock) - Metering feature that used to hold the exposure setting when used in the
automatic mode.

Ambient Light - The available natural light completely surrounding a subject.

Angle Of View - The area of a scene that a lens covers or sees. Angle of view is determined by the focal length of
the lens.

B(Bulb) Setting
A shutter-speed setting on an adjustable camera that allows for time exposures. When set on B, the shutter will
stay open as long as the shutter release button remains depressed.

Blowup An enlargement; a print that is made larger

Composition - The pleasing arrangement of the elements within a scene

Darkroom - A light tight area used for processing films

Double Exposure - Two pictures taken on one frame of film,

Film Speed - Indicated by a number such as ISO 100 or ISO 400 etc. The sensitivity of a given film to light,

Fisheye lens - Ultra-wide angle lens giving 180 angle of view.

Focal Length - The distance between the film and the optical center of the lens

K - Kelvin. A scale use to measure the color temperature. 5000 K refer to normal daylight.

Lux - A measurement of the light intensity.

Perforations - Regularly and accurately spaced holes punched throughout the length of film

2K
2K is a 17:9 format, defined by the Digital Cinema Initiatives, is a resolution of 2048 x 1080. It is most
commonly found on professional cinema cameras and gear.

4K DCI
This is 4K as is defined by the Digital Cinema Initiatives. It is a 17:9 format that is a resolution of 4096 x
2160. It is most commonly found on professional cinema cameras and gear.

Anti-Shake (Image Stabilization)

Also known as Image Stabilization (IS), Vibration Reduction (VR), or simply image stabilization, anti-
shake technology is a method of reducing the effects of camera movement on the photographic image

Aspect Ratio
The ratio is derived by dividing the width and height of the image by their common factor.

Average Metering
Average metering takes all of the light values for a given scene—highlights, shadows, and mid-tones—
and averages them together to establish an overall exposure. Average metering is best used for front-lit
subjects under average lighting conditions.

BMP
A bit-mapped file format used by Microsoft Windows. The BMP format supports RGB, indexed-color,
grayscale, and Bitmap color modes.

CCD (Charge-Coupled Device)

A semiconductor device that converts optical images into electronic signals. CCDs contain rows and
columns of ultra small, light-sensitive mechanisms (pixels) that generate electronic pulses when
electronically charged and exposed to light.

CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor)

A type of imaging sensor, CMOS chips are less energy consuming than CCD-type sensors and are the
dominant imaging technology used in DSLRs.

Codec
A codec is file format for recording video files. Popular codecs include H.264, MJPEG, MPEG-4
AVC/H.264 and AVCHD.

Color Palette
A palette is the set of available colors. For a given application, the palette may be only a subset of all the
colors that can be physically displayed. For example, many computer systems can display 16 million
unique colors, but a given program would use only 256 of them at a time if the display were in 256-color
mode.

Color Temperature
A linear scale for measuring the color of ambient light with warm (yellow) light measured in lower
numbers and cool (blue) light measured in higher numbers. Measured in terms of “degrees Kelvin*,”
daylight (midday) is approximately 5600K, a candle is approximately 800K, an incandescent lamp is
approximately 2800K, a photoflood lamp is 3200 to 3400K, and a midday blue sky is approximately
10,000K. For more on this subject, see the explora article,

Depth of Field (DOF)

Literally, the measure of how much of the background and foreground area before and beyond your
subject is in focus. Depth of field can be increased by stopping the lens down to smaller apertures

Depth of Focus
Depth of focus is the measurement of the area in focus within an image, from the closest point of focus to
the furthest point of focus.

DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex)

A single lens reflex (SLR) camera that captures digital images.

Dynamic Range
The range of brightness and tonality reproduced in a digital (or traditional) photographic image. Wider
dynamic range translates into greater tonal values (and detail) between the darkest shadows and the
brightest highlights

DPI (Dots per Inch)

Printing term for resolution. Also referred to as ppi (pixels per inch) when describing monitor resolution.
The higher the ppi/dpi, the higher the resolution of the resulting image will be

Effective Pixels
Effective Pixels is a measurement of the number of pixels that actively record the photographic image
within a sensor. As an example, a camera might hold a sensor containing 10.5 megapixels, but they have
an effective pixel count of 10.2 megapixels.

Exposure
Exposure is the phenomenon of light striking the surface of film or a digital imaging sensor. The exposure
is determined by the volume of light passing through the lens aperture (f/stop) combined with the duration
of the exposure (shutter speed). For more on this subject

F-Stop (Aperture)
A term used to describe the aperture, or diaphragm opening of a lens. F-stops are defined numerically:
f/1.4, f/5.6, f/22, etc. Larger, or wider apertures, allow more light to enter the lens, which calls for faster
shutter speeds. “Faster” (wider) apertures also allow for selective focus (narrow depth of field), while
slower (smaller) apertures allow for greater depth of field. Wider apertures are preferable for portraits,
while smaller apertures are preferable for landscapes.

Gamma
The brightness curve of the color spectrum as displayed (or reproduced) on a computer monitor, a printer
or scanner.

Hot Shoe
A “live” accessory shoe, usually located on the top of the camera prism housing, which enables you to
mount and trigger an electronic flash or wireless transmitter.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

Film speed rating expressed as a number indicating an image sensor’s (or film's) sensitivity to light. The
higher the number, the more sensitive and faster the sensor (or film) When shooting at extended ISO
levels, image quality begins to suffer in terms of sharpness levels, noise, contrast, and added “graininess.”

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

Megapixel
A megapixel contains 1,000,000 pixels and is the unit of measure used to describe the size of the sensor in
a digital camera.

Overexposure
The result of recording too much light when taking a picture, which results in a lighter image.

Parallax
The difference between the image, as seen by a camera’s viewing system, and the image recorded by the
imaging sensor. In point-and-shoot cameras, this variance increases as subjects move closer to the lens.
Only through-the-lens (TTL) viewing systems are adjusted to avoid parallax error.

Raw Files
When processed, raw files can be adjusted far more extensively than images captured in other imaging
formats, and can be saved as JPEGs, TIFFs, etc. The original raw file remains unaltered and can be
reprocessed at any time for other purposes.

Red-Eye
Red-eye is the term used to describe the reddened pupils of a subject’s eyes that sometimes occurs when
photographing people or pets with an electronic flash.

Resolution
Refers to the number of pixels, both horizontally and vertically, used to either capture or display an
image. The higher the resolution, the finer the image detail will be.

Saturation
Saturation is the depth of the colors within a photographic image. Photographs with deep levels of color
are described as being heavily saturated. A photograph with lighter levels of saturation is described as
having a muted color palette. A totally desaturated color photograph becomes monotone—or black and
white

Shutter
A mechanism in the camera that controls the duration of light transmitted to the film or sensor. Leaf-
shutter lenses, which include most view camera lenses and many medium-format lenses, contain their
own proprietary shutters.

Shutter Priority
A metering mode in which the shutter speed is fixed and the exposure is controlled by opening or closing
the lens aperture. Most modern cameras have step-less shutters that can be triggered to open and close
infinitely between the camera's fastest and slowest shutter speeds.

Shutter speed
The length of time the shutter remains open when the shutter release is activated, most commonly
expressed in fractions or multiples of a second.

Spot Metering
Spot metering is the measurement of very small portions of the total image area.

TIFF (Tagged-Image File Format)

TTL (Through the Lens)

TTL refers to a metering system that determines the proper exposure based on measuring the light that
strikes the imaging sensor (or film plane) after passing through the camera's lens

Underexposure
The result of recording too little light when taking a picture, which results in a dark image

Viewfinder
System used for composing and focusing on the subject being photographed

Watermark
Traditionally, a watermark is an image or icon that is embedded into paper for security purposes
(American paper currency has a watermark). In digital photography, a watermark refers to information
that is embedded in the image data to protect the copyrights of the image.

White Balance
The camera's ability to correct color cast or tint under different lighting conditions including daylight,
indoor, fluorescent lighting, and electronic flash. Also known as “WB,” many cameras offer an Auto WB
mode that is usually—but not always—quite accurate.