LO2 Photography

Camera Control
Aperture
Aperture is the hole that allows the light to come through to the image
sensor. The aperture controls how much light comes through the image.
You can control the depth of field with the aperture. These settings are
called f stops. A small aperture creates a large depth of field which is f
stop 22 and above. A large aperture allows more light to come into the
image. This is because the iris is fully open, meaning that the image has a
narrow depth of field.

Shutter Speed
Shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time when the sensor is
exposed to light. The cameras shutter speed and aperture determine the
amount of light that reaches the sensor. If the shutter speed is set at
1/500th of a second, you can capture fast moving object as a still image so
that it is not out of focus or blurry. This is a fast shutter speed. If the
shutter speed is set to 1/15th of a second this will create a slow shutter
speed allowing the moving object to have a trail of blurry movement
behind it. However, anything lower than 1/60th of a second can create
camera shake, so using a tripod can help stop this from happening.
Another setting that allows you the capture a slow shutter speed is the
setting bulb as it lets you keep the shutter open for as long as you can
hold it down.
Film speed is measured in ISO. 50 ISO film is used in very bright conditions
and produces very fine grain images. 125 ISO film is used in normal
conditions and produces fine grain images. 400 ISO film is used when the
light levels are low and produce grainer images, while 1600 ISO film is
used when light levels are very low and produces very grainy images. For
example if you speed up the shutter speed, you must increase the
aperture or ISO rating.

Focus
You can adjust the focus in 2 different ways on cameras depending if the
camera is digital or film. You can either hold down the shutter and the
camera will adjust the focus automatically, or you can do it manually by
twisting the lens. When an image is in focus it is said that the image is
sharp. If the photo is blurry then it is out of focus and you must adjust the
lens. Focus is also linked with different aperture settings, because if you

have a shallow depth of field you can choose that only the foreground is in
focus. Not all images need to be in complete focus as sometimes
backgrounds can ruin the image. Having certain things in an image
focused draws more attention to it instead of having the whole image in
focus, it draws people away from the main point of the image.

Lenses and Filters

Lenses of different focal lengths allow photographers to have more
creative control. There are 4 main different lenses. Standard lens, wideangle lens, telephoto lens and macro lens. The standard lens produces
images with a perspective close to the human eye, usually on a 35mm
camera. The standard lens has a focal length of 50mm. On digital cameras
the sensor is often smaller than 35mm frame. This means that the focal
length of a lens is effectively 1.5 times longer. So a 50mm lens on a digital
camera is effectively has a 75mm lens. Wide angle lenses have a wider
field of view, so they show more. They also have a large depth of field for
any given aperture. With a great sense of space they extend the
perspective of the photograph. Wide angle lenses are typically used for
landscapes and architecture. Telephoto lenses have a smaller field of view
as they magnify the image. They have a smaller depth of field for any
aperture. They compress the perspective. Normally used for wildlife or
sports photography. On the other hand macro lenses have the ability to
focus much closer to the subject than a normal lens.

Film Speeds and Types

Different types of film are used for different styles of photography. You
have black and white film, colour negative film, colour transparency film
and instant film. Each films has its own unique characteristics and
qualities. Black and white film produces monochrome images. Film speed
ISO helps determine the characteristics of the photographs as do
processing techniques. Low ISO (125 or less) film has a fine grain and a
wide tonal range but needs a lot of light. High ISO film (400 or more) has
coarse grain and narrow tonal range but can be used in low light. Colour
film comes in two types, negative and transparency. Negative film was
traditionally used for family photography because it is easy to use.
Transparency film is used by professional because the colour quality is
better, however the exposure has to be precise. Instant film is designed to
give immediate results for people that didnt want to wait for images to be
processed. There are different manufactures for film which have different
characteristics. These manufactures include Ilford and Kentmere.

Processing and Printing

Time Control
Time control is how long each process takes. Time control is very
important because you can overdevelop or under-develop if your timing is
incorrect. In the graph below I have put a red box around how long each
process takes with two different types of Kentmere films. I personally
prefer Kentmere 400. It is instructed that you should keep the developer in
for 14 minutes, stop bath for 30 seconds and the fixer for 12 minutes then
in the wash
for 5
minutes.
However it
all depends
on the ISO
setting you
keep your
camera on.

Temperature Control
Temperature control is very important when you put the developer in. This
is because the water must be at a specific temperature. You must use a
thermometer to check that the water is 20 degrees otherwise if the water
is too hot or cold then it can ruin your developing.

Push and Pull Processing

It is an old fashioned developing technique used when photographers
didnt have enough light. The photographer would under expose the
image to light and then overdevelop the final image so the image would
appear as desired. By overdeveloping the image it could be up to 5
minutes long instead of 10 seconds long. This process gave the image a
gritty look to it. Many photographers today do this to add effect to their
images.

Negative Storage
Negative storage bags are acid free. They are important in stopping
negatives from getting damaged.

Contact Sheets
A contact sheet is produced by placing the negatives on photography
paper. It produces a set of thumbnail images of all the photographs that
you have taken allowing you to pick out the ones you would like to view
more clearly and which ones you werent so sure on.

Paper Choice
There are many different makes of photographic paper. You can get either
glossy or matte paper for you images to gives different looks. You can

different sizes of photograph paper depending on how large or small you

want your image.

Test Strips
A test strip is a strip of photographic paper that allows you to see what
the best exposure time for your image or contact sheet should be. To
make a test strip, you place your negative in the enlarger and then place
your photographic piece of paper under the enlarger. You the expose the
photographic paper for 2 seconds, you cover a small section of the
photographic paper and then expose the paper for 4 seconds. You repeat
the process again but each time doubling the last number. For example 2,
4, 8, 16, 32.

Cropping
You can crop your prints while processing and printing your negative. You
can do this with the enlarger. It is best to use an easel to frame your
negative with your photographic paper so you can see where your paper
is to your image. This makes it a lot easier to crop your images. To crop
your image using negatives, you adjust the height of the enlarger.
Adjusting the height on the enlarger allows you to zoom in and out of your
negative. You must always focus your image after adjusting the height of
the enlarger.
Dodging and Burning
Dodging and burning is a process you can do with negatives as well as digital
images when editing on Photoshop. Dodging is when you make a selected
section of your image lighter by hovering card over the chosen part of your
photography while you expose the rest of the image to light. Burning is making a
section of your image darker than the rest of the image. To do this you hover
card over all the parts of the image you dont want dark, leaving the section you
do want darkened exposed to the light.

Masking
The mask lets you control how layers are applied. It is useful when layering two
images together for when you want to blend them together to create one image.

Special Effects
There are many different special effects you can use of your image. These
special effects include solarisation and turning the negative photo into a positive
one. Another special effect you can do is you can paint or splash developer on to
different parts of your image, so only parts of the image will develop when you

put it in the stop bath. You can also layer your negatives together to create effect
or double images. These are known as double negatives.

Immersion Time
Immersion time is how long the photographic paper is in each bath. Developer
for 2 minutes, stop bath for 30 seconds and fixer for 4 minutes. It is important
that each process is done for the right amount of time, because if you dont
develop your image for long enough you wont get a strong black and if you
dont put your image in the fix for long enough it will start to fade.

Bath Temperature
You must use a thermometer to check that the stop bath is 20 degrees otherwise
if the water is too hot it can overdevelop or under-develop the film if too cold.

Chemical Exhaustion
Chemical exhaustion is when the chemical reaction from the photographic paper
and the chemicals start to fade away and the process stops. This is because the
chemicals can only process a certain amount of images before it starts to fade.
This is why photographers keep count of how many images they process as they
will need to change the chemicals before they start to fade.

Digital Manipulation
Cropping and Shape
Cropping is when you cut the photo down removing any unwanted background.
This allows the person looking at the image to see straight to the point of the
image. You can crop digital images on Photoshop. You can also crop your image
into a shape.

Colour
You can adjust the colour of your image on Photoshop by playing with the levels
of the image or adjusting the different colours one by one. On Photoshop you can
also turn your image into black and white, negative/positive or multiple colours.
Digital manipulation of colours makes the image look better as it enhances the
colours.

Texture

You can change the texture of your image through Photoshop. You have multiple
textures you can do to manipulate your image. You might add a texture to your
image to create an effect.

Stamps
The stamp tool is very similar to the copy tool, however it only copies the section
you circle. Each circled area will always be the same size.

Lasso Tool
A lasso tool allows you to cut around an object or model removing it from its
background. It can be done free hand and is good when trying to paste the
desired piece of image onto a new background or removing the object/model
from the photograph.

Layering
Layering in digital manipulation through Photoshop is using Bridge and layering
multiple images that you have to create another image.

Digital Printing
Laser printers can be used as a cheap way of digital printing however the quality
is poor. Ink jet printing is of much higher quality however more expensive. The
two main papers of choice are glossy and matte, however there are many others
you can use when using an ink jet to add different effect and textures.