THE SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES OF PHOTOGRAPHY

A Brief word on the history of Photography

The word 'PHOTOGRAPHY' is a fusion of two Greek words i.e. 'photos' implying 'light' and
'graphos' implying 'writing'. So literally, this is about writing with light. And the word camera also
comes from the Greek 'kamara' meaning anything with an arched cover. Over the years, the
photographic camera has come to be a light tight box (the 'arched cover) with a light sensitive
film at one end and a lens or a pin-hole to admit controlled amount light as an image at the other.

Actually, the history of photography goes back to 320 BC, to the time of the great philosopher,
Aristotle. But major advances have only been made in the last century and a half starting from the
times of Joseph Nicephore Niepce, Jacques Mande Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot (the
inventor of negative – positive type photographic method). Of great importance, in between, was
the discovery of the role of SODIUM THIOSULPHATE (also called HYPO) in producing stable prints.
Initially, photographs were little more copper plates coated with the light sensitive silver halide
solution that was 'developed' into a picture by selective washing off of the exposed coating. It was
in 1888 that George Eastman introduced his first Kodak Camera. This was a box with a lens and a
shutter and it was loaded with a roll of paper coated with gelatin bromide and took a hundred
exposures. The whole camera was sent to the factory to get the roll processed. It was reloaded
and given back to the owner. And advertised as 'You press the button; we do the rest'.

A TY PICAL CAMERAIS MADE UP OF:

A light tight chamber that contains the following parts

1. A lens – to project a sharp picture on the film.
2. A shutter- to shut out unwanted light.
3. A film chamber- where light sensitive materiel is stored.

Types of Cameras
1. Box camera
2. Folding camera
3. Miniature camera
4. Reflex camera

Criteria for differentiating Cameras

1. Lens
2. Film
3. Shape
4. Focusing system
5. Shutter

CHARACTERISTICS
Box camera
- single element meniscus lens
- disc aperture
- lens mount focus system ( fixed focus)
- lens shutter ( lens cannot be changed)
- film type : 120 or sheet

Folding camera
- unastigmate compound lens
- direct ground glass focusing system
- lens shutter
- iris type aperture
- bellows type body
- Film used: mainly sheet, rarely 120.
 Miniature camera
- Unastigmate compound lens
- Visible from front: two viewfinders and one lens.
- Parallax removing focusing system
- Lens type shutter with variable shutter speeds
- Iris type aperture
- Film type : No.135, 35mm

Reflex camera (reflection based viewfinder)

These are of two principle types: SLR and TLR

SLR or SINGLE LENS REFLEX

- Unastigmate compound lens
- One lens visible from front.
- Penta-prism focusing system
- Iris type aperture
- Focal plane shutter ( reason for interchangeability of lenses)
- Lens are changeable
- Film type: No. 135, 35mm. ( Rarely 120)

TLR or TWIN LENS REFLEX

- unastigmate compound lens
- Two similar looking lenses visible from front.
- Reflection based ground glass focusing system.
- Lens shutter
- Iris type aperture
- Film type: 120 roll film.

- SLR cameras are the most widely used in the world today.
*A compound lens is a combination of several elemental lenses
*'Unastigmate' implies free from errors
*In TLR cameras, both lenses are changed as a matched pair.

Using a Camera
Get familiar with your camera controls and practice using them. If you are right handed, then
support the camera base in your left palm with your fingers cradling the protruding lens assembly.
Wrap the palm of your right hand around the side of the camera with your thumb at the back and
three fingers up front. Use the right hand forefinger for shutter release and the thumb for
advancing the film. The left- hand forefinger and thumb are used for focussing, aperture selection
and zooming in and out.

Lens focusing systems

In general, there are two different ways opted by camera makers to help
the user focus accurately.
1. Split image type
2. Mosaic image type

Split image type focusing system

The image visible in the viewfinder center circle appears split horizontally if image is not properly
focused. The split disappears when focus is right.

Mosaic image focusing system

The image visible in the viewfinder center circle
appears grainy/broken into tiny elements if not
properly focused. The graininess disappears and
the whole image appears sharp if focus is proper.
 Parts of a single lens reflex camera

 Film compartment
 Lens
 Self timer
 Flash wire lead connection point
 Lens assembly release button (optional)
 Shutter release button
 Flash hot shoe (fixed contact)
 Shutter speed selection knob
 Film re-winding lever
 Film advance lever
 Aperture setting ring
 Depth of field scale
 Focusing ring
 Distance marker scale
 Film winding pulley (for motor attachment)
 Tripod mount
 Film release mount
 Viewfinder
 TYPES OF FILM
Film

B&W COLOUR
Slow

Orthochromatic Panchromatic Negative Diapositive Med

Slow (S) S
Daylight Fast
Medium (M) M Daylight Tungsten
S S Tungsten
Fast (F) F
M M Slow

F F Medium

Fast
Film speed : The sensitivity of the film towards light .

Film speed classification

ASA : American Standards Association
DIN : Deutsche International Standards
ISO : International Standards Organization
Camera Control Elements

Aperture – A mechanism for controlling the amount of incident light on

the film. This is usually accomplished by allowing light to fall on the film
through a variable diameter hole or aperture.

Shutter speed – A mechanism that controls the time for which the
incident light falls on the film after passing through the aperture.

Exposure – A combination of aperture and shutter speed.

Aperture
Of two types: Iris
Disc

Aperture controls the amount of light that falls on the film and also the
depth of field/zone of sharpness. Aperture size is represented by numbers
that are related to the focal length of the camera lens.
The numbers are: 1.4, 2, 2.8, 3.5, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32. The greater
the aperture number, the smaller is the aperture size i.e. smaller numbers
allow more light while bigger numbers allow less light.

Each succeeding number (aperture size) allows half the amount of light than the number preceding
it. For e.g., f 2.8 allows half the light than that allowed by f 2.

Aperture diameter = 1/f where 'f' is the focal length of the lens. Since this number is a ratio, it is
the same irrespective of the lens focal length or size.
Depth of field
In some photographs, the object of interest is sharp but areas
behind it and in front of it are fuzzy. The focus falls off in front
of and behind the subject. The sharp area is called the Depth of
Field. Aperture defines the depth of field. The smaller the
aperture, the larger the depth of field. In terms of apperture
numbers, the smaller the aperture number, the narrower is the
resultant depth of field. For e.g. when taking portraits, a narrow depth of field is preferable since
it lets the subject remain in sharp focus while reducing the foreground and background to a fuzzy
blur. So, an apperture setting of 5.6 or even 4 would be preferable. Conversely, landscapes need a
wide depth of field as everything from the nearest to the farthest detail needs to be in sharp
focus. So, apperture numbers of 16 and above are the best. For lenses, the higher is the focal
length of the lens, the narrower is the depth of field through it. And also, the closer we get to the
subject, the narrower becomes the depth of field.

Shutter speed
Controls the time for which the film is exposed to
light. This time is usually represented in terms of
fractions of a second e.g. 1/30 implying 30 t h part
of a second. Typical shutter speed settings are B
(brief), 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500,
1000, 2000 etc. An 'X' marked alongside any
shutter speed indicates the synchronization speed
with a flash gun and this is the only shutter speed
to be selected when doing flash photography.
Shutter speed becomes essential if the subject is
moving. It decides whether the subject, when moving, will be sharp or blurred in the photograph.
The shutter speed and aperture operate identically. Each halves or doubles the amount of light
that falls on the film as we select succeeding or preceding numbers.

Aperture is used in conjunction with the shutter speed to free it to cope with moving subjects.
REFERENCE
EXPOSURE TABLE

ISO No. Brigh Hazy Open Shade

t sunligh shade
sunli t
ght

100 f f11/125 f8/125 f5.6/12

16/12 5
5
200 f16/2 f11/250 f8/250 f5.6/25
50 0
400 f16/5 f11/500 f8/500 f5.6/50
00 0

Use the shutter speed number that is

the closest to the ASA number.
For e.g. use 1/125 t h of a sec for a 100 ASA film.

A modern film can reproduce a subject in which the brightest highlight has a 1000 times the intensity of the
deepest shadow.

COMPOSING PICTURES
 The rule of thirds or intersection of 3's

This rule suggests that you divide a typical 135/35mm negative frame
into three equal parts, both horizontally and vertically. The four
points where these lines intersect are called ' Strong Points' or 'The
Points of Interest' . Preferably, place the subject on any of these
points.

Points

 Fill the frame. Avoid empty spaces in the frame.

 In case of landscapes, the center of interest should not be in the center of the frame.
 Do not place the horizon line across the center of the frame. Use the 'Rule of Thirds' and place
the horizon either at the lower 1/3 r d or the upper 1/3 r d of the frame.
 Preferably, include some living thing to give a scale of reference.
 Arrange the picture so that the eye is led towards the center of interest.
 Diagonals running into the picture e.g. curving rivers and mountain roads lead the eye into the
picture
 Try and include enough foreground interest to balance a distant scene
 Strong diagonals can be irritating unless you include a 'stop' lie a tree, another mountain, a
house etc.
 Most labs crop off some of the frame when printing so leave plenty of space around the subject
when shooting negative film.
 With distant scenes where none of the subject matter is close to the camera, manual focus
cameras can be set to infinity and there is no need to focus between pictures.
 Sunsets can fool the exposure meters of even the most sophisticated cameras. To set exposure,
take a reading from an area of the sky just adjacent to the sun but not including it.
 Action pictures are less blurred if the subject is moving towards the lens rather than crossing
the frame.
 Wide apertures produce less sharp pictures. Try not to use a lens at full aperture.
 Backlighting misleads the cameras' meter producing underexposure. Over-expose by half or one
stop.
 Long focus lenses exaggerate camera shake. Preferably use fast shutter speeds or support the
camera on a rigid support.
 For good pictures by candlelight, shoot when the subjects' face is close to the flame since light
falls off rapidly with distance. And when taking an exposure reading, keep the flame out of the
frame or the meter will make you underexpose.
 Accommodating too many colours in a single picture clutters it up.
 Warm colours such as reds, yellows and orange advance towards the viewer. When you
superimpose them over a cool background in blue or green hues, the picture takes on almost
three-dimensional qualities.
 To catch colours at their brightest, shoot them in direct and bright sunlight.
 When using wide-angle lenses, take care to keep foreground filled and yet uncluttered.
 Add the moon to night shots even when it cannot be accommodated within a single frame by
using the double exposure technique. Use your longest focal length lens to photograph the
moon. Then photograph the moonlit landscape with a shorter focal length. (Note: to cock the
shutter without moving the film, press the rewind button on the base of the camera and wind
forward a frame with the windup lever. Then release the rewind button)
 A polarizing filter enriches the colour of the blue sky esp. the side facing directly away from the
sun. Rotate the filter as you look through the viewfinder to find the orientation that gives the
max. effect.