Digiscoping

Digiscoping

Digiscoping is a method of taking photographs using a digital camera along with a spotting scope. When looking for the proper spotting scope for your digital camera, consider choosing a scope that contains any or all of the following features: high definition (HD), apochromatic (APO) glass (glass that has been cleared of color and shape distortions), and extra-low dispersion and fluorite components.
In short, digiscoping is an updated version of traditional telescope photography practices. If you are planning to use digiscoping methods, experts suggest that you stick to smaller lens, as they keep focus better.
However, you will need more equipment that merely the digital camera and the scoping lens if you plan to properly digiscope. An adapter that connects the scope to the camera, a tripod, a cable release and a computer are all other essential tools that can ensure you will correctly implement digiscoping. Other helpful tools include extra batteries and memory cards, as well as imaging software products for your computer.
Digiscoping is often used for wildlife shots or any other pictures in which the photographer has to telescope the object being photographed. Ideally, digiscoping should be used on a still object, rather than one that’s in motion.

Contre-jour

Contre-jour

Contre-jour, a French word meaning “against the light,” refers to the manner of taking a photograph in which a camera more or less faces the light source. In Italian, the technique of contre-jour is known as chiaroscuro, meaning “light-dark.” The Italian term refers to the contrast produced by the interplay of shadow and light that contre-jour produces.
Contre-jour photographs often will render the central object as a darker silhouette that is surrounded by a soft, halo-esque light. This technique emphasizes the backlight of the photo which leaving the main image with less detail and definition.
Contre-jour tends to emphasize an object’s size, shape and lines. Moreover, it adds a dramatic effect to the photo by clearly defining the object’s borders while illuminating it from behind. The contrast between light and shadow that occurs with the contre-jour technique can add a grave and serious tone to any photograph.
One pitfall associated with contre-jour portraits involves the possibility that the resulting photo will pick up glare because the camera directly faces with the light source. Experts recommend using a lens hood to reduce the glare.
Contre-jour is most often used in nature, landscape or cityscape shots

Choosing Camera Lense

Choosing Camera Lense

Choosing camera lenses demands both knowledge of and experience with different types of camera lenses. Although knowing which lenses work best in given conditions is important, a photographer also chooses a particular lens to produce a specific photographic effect. Light, composition and subject matter of a scene all influence photographers’ choices of lenses.
Wide-Angle Lens

Although some will take landscape shots with telephoto lenses, most photographers opt for the wide-angle lens. Because a wide-angle lens has a wider field of vision than the human eye, it can take in more of a topographical expanse. Consequently, the wide-angle lens is one of the preferred landscape camera lenses.
A wide-angle lens can focus on the foreground and background simultaneously, another ability that the human eye lacks. Wide-angle camera lenses are best for large, dynamic landscapes where background and foreground both catch the eye’s attention. However, a photographer should refrain from using a wide-angle lens if he wants to focus in on the details of a single, distinct subject.
Zoom Lens

A zoom lens allows the photographer to widen or shorten the lens’ focal length to increase or decrease the magnification of the subject. This feature makes the zoom lens a popular camera accessory in many types of photography, ranging from landscape to portrait photography. However, because zoom lenses have small apertures (or lens openings), they are not well suited to taking pictures in low-light conditions.
Zoom lenses have replaced the fixed focal length camera lens in most camera models, especially with the advent of digital cameras. When choosing camera lenses, bear in mind that an optical zoom lens and a digital zoom lens are different.
While an optical zoom lens magnifies the image, a digital zoom lens crops the image after the maximum zoom is reached. Essentially a digital zoom enlarges and crops the image seen in the viewfinder instead of magnifying the subject. This digital enlargement results in lower resolution and, therefore, a poorer quality image.
When choosing camera lenses with zoom capabilities, photographers should look for high optical zoom capabilities rather than being deceived by claims about digital zoom capability. Pictures are of much better quality with an optical zoom lens.
Telephoto Lens

The difference between a zoom lens and a telephoto lens is subtle. A zoom lens enlarges and magnifies the image. In contrast, a telephoto lens brings the subject “closer” to the photographer, reducing the distance between objects in the photograph and the camera’s lens. This allows a telephoto lens to show greater detail than the human eye could see at the same distance.
Fixed-Focal Length Camera Lens

A fixed-focal length camera lens is a permanent, non-adjustable lens found on some low to mid-range quality cameras. Often (but not always) doubling as a wide-angle lens, fixed-focal lenses tend to work well for low-light photos.
A fixed-focal length lens can do wonders for beginning photographers by helping them learn the art of photography. Without zoom capabilities, the photographer must give more thought to basic photography composition to produce good quality shots. Consequently, a budding photographer may learn the basics of good photography faster if by choosing a fixed-focal length lens.
Fixed-focal length camera lenses are less common than they once were, in part because most mid-range digital cameras now have built-in zoom lenses.
The Macro Lens

A macro lens is used to take extreme close ups of objects. Its short focal length allows the photographer to take pictures at close distances without distortions. The resulting image is as large as, or larger, than the original subject.
Choosing a macro lens has been complicated by digital camera settings. Originally, a macro lens was an extension tube for the camera lens. However, today’s digital cameras often have a macro setting. Although the setting replaces the traditional lens, it stillproduces the same effect as the previous macro lenses.
Macro lenses or macro settings are best used for magnifying the details of already smallobjects. For example, a photographer can use his macro setting to photograph ripples in water, the dew on a flower petal or the crevices of a rock.
Fisheye Lens

Fisheye camera lenses distort the subject image, producing photos with curved and convex appearances. The fisheye lens was first developed for astronomy photography that seeks to capture as wide a range of sky as possible.
Today, the fisheye lens has become popular with landscape photographers, as the lens distortion curves horizons and hints at the earth’s curve. A portrait of a person taken with a fisheye lens has the distortion similar to what’s seen when looking through a door’speephole.
Front of Lens Accessories

Choosing among different camera lenses isn’t an issue for most mid-range cameras because they already have built-in lenses that cannot be changed. While single lens reflex (SLR) cameras have interchangeable lenses, their steeper prices tend to make them a tool for professionals or serious amateur photographers.
For the hobbyist who doesn’t have an SLR camera, front of lens accessories that mimic the effects of certain lenses are available. A front of lens accessory is a disc that clips onto the front of a camera lens to provide specific effects. While some front of lens accessories filter out light, others mimic the effect of a wide-angle or fisheye lens.
Photos taken with a lens clip on accessory lack the quality of those taken with camera lenses designed for the same effect. As choosing a lens is not possible with many cameras, front of lens accessories increase the average photographer’s options.

Bokeh

Bokeh
Bokeh refers to the technique of blurring an image to add to the aesthetic quality of a photograph. The word bokeh, derived from the Japanese word “boke” (pronounced “bo-keh”), literally translates to ‘fuzziness’. When a photographer wants to make an image appear softer, bokeh will put the object slightly out of focus without completely destroying the integrity of it’s definition.
Often, bokeh is confused with the idea of a picture’s “sharpness.” Rather than describing the point of focus, however, bokeh is the blurring of the background or foreground.
When an image within a camera’s lens is “in focus,” the camera has positioned the image at the point where most of the light has converged on the image to a fine point. Yet, if an image appears out of focus, then the light appears as a blurred disc, rather than a focused point. To create bokeh in a picture is to put the image out of focus without making it unrecognizable.
When bokeh is used incorrectly, a picture will render a combination of sharply defined lines combined with blurriness.
To the contrary, correctly performed bokeh produces an image with no sharp edges. Instead, the fuzziness produced by bokeh suggests the image without distinct borders.

Air Brushing

Air Brushing

Air brushing refers to the photographic editing technique in which an image is retouched and smoothed over to improve picture quality. While air brushing has been done long before the advent of digital photography, digital imaging and editing programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, have made the use of air brushing much easier and more accessible to amateur photographers.
Although air brushing may be used in a various types of photography, it is most commonly employed in glamour photography, wedding photography and portraiture. For example, when a photographer wants to brush out the imperfections of a model’s face (e.g. acne or scars), he will air brush the image to make it appear smoother.
In particular circumstances, entire people or other details of a scene can be wiped out, altering the original image entirely. For this reason, documentary photographers and photojournalists alike heavily discourage and frown upon the implementation of air brushing in their respective fields. Similarly, any area of photography in which the integrity of the image is crucial to the resulting photograph will avoid air brushing or any other digital editing technique.

Advanced Photo System

Advanced Photo System

Advanced Photo System (APS) refers to the 24 mm film that is the standard format for still photography. There are three different types of APS film that are classified as either “H,” “C” or “P.” In this system, “H” stands for HDTV format, “C” for classic format and “P” for panoramic format. Apart from the occasional disposable camera, nearly all APS cameras come equipped to record in each of these formats.
In the HDTV and classic mode of advanced photo systems, the film records the image in a particular aspect ratio that can then be reprinted in a variety sizes.
Unlike other film formats, APS film can record more that just the image. Along with the visual details of a given scene, APS film can also document the date, time, a caption and details related to how the shot was captured (i.e. the particular setting of the shutter speed or aperture).
The film generally records this information in “magnetic IX” or “optical IX” modes. While higher end cameras use the magnetic IX method, less expensive cameras, such as disposable cameras, tend to use the optical IX version of information storage. Because the magnetic IX mode is only available on more expensive cameras, it accurately records more information.

Auto Backlight Control

Auto Backlight Control

Auto Backlighting Control (ABC) refers to a feature on a camera that automatically adjusts a camera’s settings to accommodate the backlighting of a given frame. When turned on, the ABC setting can set the camera’s flash, aperture and shutter timer to compensate for the lighting conditions in the scene.
Photographers should only turn on the auto backlighting control if they want to accentuate the quality of backlighting in their pictures. Backlighting gives photos a mysterious, intriguing quality.
If the backlight within the camera’s lens is dull (and the film is of normal speed), then the auto backlighting control will widen the aperture, make the flash brighter and extend the shutter timer. The point of each of these settings is to ensure that the film receives enough light possible. With less light available in the scene, the ABC setting will open up every possible avenue of light on the camera to try to capture the image.
Conversely, if the backlighting of a scene is brighter, the auto backlighting control (ABC) will adjust the camera’s settings so that less light enters the camera’s lens. As a result, the aperture will be constricted, the flash will dampen and shutter time will be shorter.

Glamour Photography

Glamour photography is a sexy, romantic form of photography meant to be erotic without being pornographic. Posing for glamour shots has been common for models and movie stars for years. Because of glamour photography’s allure, many advertisements use glamour photography to catch people’s eyes and interest.
Because glamour photography is featured in magazines, advertisements and other widely circulated mediums, it is a lucrative industry. Consequently, many institutions of higher learning offer course (or degrees) in glamour photography.

Glamour Photography History

Glamour photography is redefined by every generation depending on the social and political currents of the time. In the 1940s, pictures of “pinup” girls were considered glamourous. Pictures of Betty Grable, one of the most popular glamour photography models, were carried to war by hundreds of GIs. Glamour photography from the war era featured models either fully clothed or wearing swimsuits.
Over time, glamour photography has become more risquT. By the 1960s, models were posing for glamour shots in skimpier clothing, smaller bathing suits, lacy lingerie or partially nude.
Women have most often been the subject of glamour photography, probably because men were usually behind the camera! While today women are still posing for glamour shots more than men, men are gaining a stronger presence in the realm of glamour photography.

Glamour Photography is Not Pornographic

While posing for glamour photography can mean posing nude or partially clothed, glamour photography is not intended to be pornography. At most, glamour photography consists of erotic pictures taken within a general consensus of good taste. A full evening gown can be just as much a part of glamour photography as a nude photo that tastefully hides the model’s genitals.
Glamour photography relies on the power of suggestion, alluding to curves and erogenous zones without actually showing graphic details. Consequently, glamour photos carry a tone of mystery and romance, as much as physical allure. Playfulness is also a key part of part of glamour photography, as if the model were flirting with the viewer. The crudeness of pornography should not be part of a glamour photography shoot.
While the model is the central feature of glamour photos, other aspects light lighting and soft filters are key to producing a professional looking glamour shot. Like fashion photography, glamour photography locations are either in studio or at exotic locations.
For example, Maxim is one of the more popular magazines that exhibits glamour photography. In contrast, Playboy is a more pornographic magazine and, therefore, not considered to be a display of glamour photography.

Why Glamour Photography?

Why is posing for glamour photo shots so popular? People become interested in glamour photography for many reasons. While models may wish to pose for glamour shots for their job portfolios, advertisers use glamour photos to sell their products.
Sometimes, glamour photos are for personal rather than commercial use. The person posing for glamour shots may intend to give someone special the photo as a present. Others may enjoy posing for glamour shots to get a taste of being the center of a glamorous life. Being the center of a photo shoot, made up with alluring clothing, can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

Posing for Glamour Shots

Posing for glamour shots requires that the model trust and feel comfortable with the photographer, especially if the person being photographed is not used to modeling. Most people feel self-conscious and possibly silly posing for glamour shots. Experienced photographers are considerate, striving to create a trusting, comfortable atmosphere.
Talk with potential photographers before posing for glamour shots. Discuss what types of poses, dress and attitude you want the resulting photos to contain. Do you want the glamour photography to have a mysterious or nostalgic theme? Do you want to present a loved one with a “cheesecake” or “beefcake” photo? Or do you have a specific theme in mind?

The Cheesecake or Beefcake Picture

A cheesecake photo refers to an erotic photo of a scantily dressed woman that is meant to be a pinup photo. Similarly, a beefcake shot is a seductive picture of a male for pinup purposes

Preparing for a Glamour Photography Shoot

Before going into the shoot, assess the degree to which you’re comfortable with nudity or partial nudity. If you aren’t comfortable with something, let the photographer know before the shoot. A photographer who tries to “force” the shoot by insisting on certain conditions isn’t the best choice for amateurs posing for glamour shots.
However, once you’ve discussed your intentions and limits, trust the photographer. Listen to his direction during the glamour photography shoot–you’re paying him for his professional expertise, after all. You can also collaborate with him by offering your own suggestions. Posing for glamour shots can be a fun experience that may provide you with photos you (and others) will never forget.
Glamour photography has been around since at least World War II when American GIs took pinup pictures of Betty Grable to war. Since then, posing for glamour photographs has become a popular way to present a spouse or loved one with a uniquely sexy photo. While glamour photography can include nude shots, more often it features a partially or even fully clothed model.
Glamour photographers of note are Herb Ritts, Beverley Goodway and Harrison Marks. Similarly, famous glamour models include Bettie Page, Lena Li and Sydney Moon.

Fine Art Photography

Fine Art Photography

Fine Art Photography, also known simply as art photography, refers to the branch of photography dedicated to producing photos for purely aesthetic purposes. Fine art photography, housed in museums and galleries, is mainly concerned with presenting beautiful objects or ordinary objects in beautiful ways to convey intensity and emotion.

Much of art photography is produced in limited quantities and, at times, is used in advertisements or magazines.

However, because each person has an individual view of what constitutes beauty, deciphering what is or isn’t fine art photography is entirely subjective. Another challenge in the world of fine art photography is the fact that photography is a relatively new medium of art, as compared to painting or music.

While it can be aligned with fashion photography, fine art photography generally lies in opposition to documentary photography that exists primarily for utilitarian purposes.

Many colleges and universities offer undergraduate and graduate programs in fine art photography. Some of the more noted fine art photographers include Albert Sands, Timothy O’Sullivan and Carleton Watkins.

Darkroom Construction

Darkroom Construction

Maney photographers crave their own darkroom to process pictures. If you are building your own darkroom, don’t fret! It’s easier than you think. Even a beginner can turn a garage or an extra room into a darkroom dream-come-true.

The basic requirements for a darkroom are running water, light blockage, a dry area to dry your pictures and sturdy work surfaces. To lightproof a darkroom, start by blocking any windows with black masking tape, aluminum foil and a blackout shade. Then hang a blackout shade in front of the door that extends to the floor and beyond the door’s sides.

Darkroom Photographic Supplies

Divide your space into a Dry Side for printing and a Wet Side for chemical processing.

Darkroom Equipment: Dry Side
film tanks and reels

an enlarger

a light-tight paper safe

a safe light

a timer

an easel

a grain magnifier

a paper cutter

a dodging and burning kit to darken or lighten areas of a picture

sufficient storage space

a safelight near the enlarger

a print dryer

a place to hang the film to dry.

Darkroom Equipment: Wet Side
running water

a sink at least five feet long

one deep tray with holes on one side

a short hose from faucet to deep tray

four smaller trays, preferably 11”x14”

print tongs

film clips for hanging processed film to dry

small, medium and large graduates for mixing chemicals

6 to 10 large dark bottles for chemical storage

surgical gloves and face masks

a safelight over the trays.

Darkroom Photo Enlarger

Although you can get a good photo enlarger for as little as $200, keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If cost is an issue, check auction sites that have good used equipment. Make sure that the enlarger you purchase has a standard lens mount, an option for a glass-less negative carrier. Also the bulbs the enlarger uses are affordable and easily obtained in your area.

Darkroom Chemicals and Safety

Ventilation is very important. While you can install a lightproof extraction fan above the “wet” area, this is an expensive method. A cheaper alternative is to use a range hood or conventional extraction fan, such as those used in a kitchen or bathroom. These fans can be purchased from a building supply warehouse.
If you have pets and children, be sure to store photographic chemicals in a secure place with the caps tightly sealed to prevent spillage.

Darkroom Construction

Darkroom Construction

Maney photographers crave their own darkroom to process pictures. If you are building your own darkroom, don’t fret! It’s easier than you think. Even a beginner can turn a garage or an extra room into a darkroom dream-come-true.
The basic requirements for a darkroom are running water, light blockage, a dry area to dry your pictures and sturdy work surfaces. To lightproof a darkroom, start by blocking any windows with black masking tape, aluminum foil and a blackout shade. Then hang a blackout shade in front of the door that extends to the floor and beyond the door’s sides.
Darkroom Photographic SuppliesDivide your space into a Dry Side for printing and a Wet Side for chemical processing.
Darkroom Equipment: Dry Side
film tanks and reels an enlarger a light-tight paper safe a safe light a timer an easel a grain magnifier a paper cutter a dodging and burning kit to darken or lighten areas of a picture sufficient storage space a safelight near the enlarger a print dryer a place to hang the film to dry. Darkroom Equipment: Wet Side
running water a sink at least five feet long one deep tray with holes on one side a short hose from faucet to deep tray four smaller trays, preferably 11”x14” print tongs film clips for hanging processed film to dry small, medium and large graduates for mixing chemicals 6 to 10 large dark bottles for chemical storage surgical gloves and face masks a safelight over the trays. Darkroom Photo EnlargerAlthough you can get a good photo enlarger for as little as $200, keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If cost is an issue, check auction sites that have good used equipment. Make sure that the enlarger you purchase has a standard lens mount, an option for a glass-less negative carrier. Also the bulbs the enlarger uses are affordable and easily obtained in your area.
Darkroom Chemicals and SafetyVentilation is very important. While you can install a lightproof extraction fan above the “wet” area, this is an expensive method. A cheaper alternative is to use a range hood or conventional extraction fan, such as those used in a kitchen or bathroom. These fans can be purchased from a building supply warehouse.
If you have pets and children, be sure to store photographic chemicals in a secure place with the caps tightly sealed to prevent spillage.

Fashion Photography

Fashion Photography
Fashion Photography is the area of photography that concentrates on taking pictures of clothing or accessories (on models or alone) to be published in fashion magazines, advertisements or circulated among designers

Baron Adolphe de Meyer is credited as the first fashion photographer. In 1913, Meyer took the first fashion photographs for Vogue. Modern fashion photography can be done with a commercial or aesthetic twist. Fashion shots tend to be taken in exotic locales with dramatic lighting.
Some of the more noted fashion photographers include Phillipe Halsman, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts. Vogue, Bizarre and Life magazines have all been noted sources of fashion photography.
Fashion photography tends to be a credible watermark of beauty ideals of a given era, as well as an indicator of the political and social climate. For example, with the enduring Iraq War, fashion trends (and, consequently, fashion photography) display a remarkable increase in fatigue-print clothing.

Documentary Photography

Documentary PhotographyDocumentary Photography refers to the area of photography in which pictures are used as historical documents. Rather than serving as a source of art or aesthetic pleasure, documentary photography is often used to incite political and social change due to its ability to capture the “true” nature of an image or location. In simple terms, this school of photography uses pictures as documented evidence of a particular situation.
Lewis Hine and James Van DerZee are two of the pioneers of documentary photography. While documentary and artistic photography are considered to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, Paul Strand is one of the few photographers famous for slyly blending these two opposing schools through his avant-garde style.
Oftentimes, pictures taken in the vein of documentary photography tend to be shocking, grotesque, vivid and intense to prove a point and evoke a viewer’s emotions. Some of the most common examples of documentary photographs are featured in modern newspapers and magazines.
Through these images, the public learns truth information about cultural, political and environmental situations. Given this fact, it is no surprise that documentary photography exploded into the American consciousness during the Great Depression of 1930s when photographers were documenting the pervasive poverty.

War Photography and Combat Photography

War Photography and Combat Photography

War photography changed how people perceived war and how news publications reported armed conflict. While people may not fully understand the grim reality of war by reading a news article, they often immediately grasp it by viewing graphic pictures of war.

War photography has always been controversial, both in terms of the explicit nature of combat photography and potential military censorship of images. Both issues are as true to day as they were when Mathew Brady’s team first took pictures of the American Civil War during the 1860s.
War Photography HistoryThe American Civil War marked the first time a team of photographers took pictures of war. The resulting photos of battle and death shocked the public, who were used to seeing war portrayed as a romantic, noble endeavor.

While combat photography had been around for over a century before World War I, not many pictures were taken during this war due to extensive military censorship. Combat photography during World War II prompted both patriotism and public outrage, culminating in the horrific pictures of the Nazi concentration camps.

Since the Second World War, war photos have become almost commonplace. The Vietnam War proved war photography could sway public opinion against a war.
Famous war photos from the Vietnam era include one of a little girl running as she burned from a napalm attack and one of the massacre of Vietnamese villagers by U.S. troops in My Lai.
In recent years, war photography has covered the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq. In both cases, war photos influenced both supporters and protestors of the wars.

Combat Photography DangersCombat photographers place themselves in great danger to capture pictures of war. Although international law protects journalists and photographers, both are still targets in a war zone.

In addition to the dangers inherent to a war zone, war photographers are sometimes deliberately targeted, abducted or executed. Evidence of this has become clear with the abduction of journalists during the Iraqi War.

War Photography SubjectsWar photos cover a wide range of subjects, both on and off the battlefield. Pictures of war and combat are only one possible subject for war photography. Often combat photography shows images of the aftermath of conflict, depicting destroyed buildings and casualties.

Combat photography has been accused of desensitizing the public to scenes of violence and death. However, many war photos attempt to put a human face on war. Such war photos might include a portrait of an exhausted soldier, civilians fleeing a hot zone or the sad features of a child caught in a war zone.

While the subjects of war photography are varied in nature, pictures of prisoners of war (POWs) are considered to be off-limits to this genre. Although military groups do air photos of captured prisoners, war photos of POWs are considered an unnecessary humiliation.

Terrorist groups operating in Iraq have broadcast images of captured American military personnel to the outrage of the American public. American forces themselves came under fire for publishing a photo of Saddam Hussein after his capture.

War Photography and the PublicWar photography can have powerful effects on the general public. Sometimes war photos reinforce the belief that the war is justified, stirring up feelings of patriotism and solidarity within the troops. Such pictures show a country’s forces in a positive light or depict crimes committed by the opposing forces.

However, pictures of war can have the opposite effect, turning public opinion against a military campaign. Vietnam War photos are a prime example.

A steady stream of images of American dead in Vietnam slowly turned popular sentiment against the war, as the public began to believe the war was not worth the lives of so many U.S. soldiers.

Combat photography can also prove that a country’s own soldiers are capable of atrocities, a fact that can quickly turn public sentiment against a war. A country’s public generally wants to believe in the decency of their armed forces. Combat photography that contradicts this belief, such as war photos of the massacre at My Lai, can quickly turn pubic support into public outrage.

War Photography and the MilitaryThe power of combat photography is not lost on military organizations. The right war photos, published at the right time, can either serve as demoralizing propaganda or as a rally for public support.

The history of war photography shows that pictures of war can turn public sentiment against war. As a result, the military tends to see combat photography is a double-edged sword.
During the 20th century, various military and paramilitary groups have attempted to censor or use war photography for their own ends. In countries that value freedom of the press, censorship inevitably brings the military into conflict with journalistic freedom.

To be fair, the military must walk a tightrope: Too little censorship can put military forces in jeopardy on the battlefield or cause them to lose public support. Too much censorship causes the public and journalists to wonder what’s being hidden.

The Gulf War saw the U.S. military attempt to control almost all journalism and combat photography in the war zone. Critics believed that the military was attempting to “sanitize” the war and avoid negative reactions. Similar charges have been made during Operation Freedom in Iraq.

Combat Photography TodayWar photos have often been decried as too gruesome or violent for the public. Attempts by the military (in any country) to control pictures of war have led to what some call a whitewashed portrayal of war.

War photos released of smart bombs striking buildings are not as personal as pictures of dirty, exhausted combatants. Some have claimed military-sanctioned war photos attempt to portray the image of a war without casualties.
One fact remains clear: For better or worse, combat photography influences how we see war and conflict.

Light and Color in Photography

Light and Color in Photography

Light is one of a photographer’s most important considerations. In fact, any photograph captures the effect of light on objects, whether taken in natural light or the warm glow of incandescent light. A photographer who understands how the eye and lens perceive the color spectrum can make full use of light in photography.

The Color Spectrum

Both the natural light of the sun and artificial incandescent light appear white to the naked eye. However, if you shine light through a prism, it splits into a rainbow of colors. This effect shows how the “color” white contains every shade in the color spectrum.

When light hits an object, the object absorbs some of the color spectrum and reflects back the rest of the colors. The portion of the color that is not absorbed by the object but reflected back to eye is the color that the object appears to the human eye. For instance, a white wall reflects most of the color spectrum black. So our eyes (and the camera lens) see white. While a red rose reflects the red portion of the color spectrum and absorbs the rest, a black object absorbs the entire color spectrum.

Natural Light in Color Photography

Natural light in photography is not as consistent as you may think. At different times of the day, different shades of the color spectrum dominate natural light. For instance, at midday, the blue portion of the color spectrum is dominant, producing a “cool” light. Color photography taken at midday produces the clearest, sharpest pictures in bright light.

In contrast, natural light at sunrise and sunset emphasizes the red portion of the color spectrum. Known as warm light in photography, sunrise and sunset light produces warmer pictures with a softer contrast.

Artificial Light in Photography

When photographers use artificial light in photography, the effect of the lighting depends on the type of bulb used. The warm dispersed glow of incandescent light produces an effect that is dramatically different from that produced by the sharp, narrow, focused beam of a street light.

Photographs taken with incandescent light often have a yellow tinge. A photographer can combat this tint in two ways. One method is to use a blue filter to offset the excessive yellowing. If you’re using a film camera instead of a digital one, you can use tungsten film that is designed for professional studio lights. Although it wasn’t intentionally designed with incandescent light in mind, tungsten film reduces the yellow tones so often found in indoor color photography.
Florescent lights produce a diffuse light that often translates into greenish tinges in color photography. Using a fluorescent or daytime filter helps remove this unappealing color.
Street lamps, like florescent lights, may cause a greenish tint in the resulting pictures. However, a photographer can use this effect to his advantage: in the darkness, this greenish quality can produce mysterious or ghostly effects.

Diffuse and Direct Light in Photography

The direction of light in photography is important: different angles of light produce different shadows, changing the appearance of your subject.
Light in photography may be diffuse or direct. Direct light, such as light from the noon sun, hits the subject from one direction. If you’re looking for high contrast between light and shadows, direct light is a good choice.

On the other hand, diffuse light hits the subject from several directions. Florescent lighting is one example of diffuse light in photography. The loss of contrast that diffuse light produces mutes colors and softens the image.

Digital Cameras and Light in Photography

Digital cameras come with specialized light settings. Here are some of the common settings:

auto: when you want the camera to adapt to changing light

cloudy: for outdoor use in cloudy or overcast skies

daylight or sunny: for outdoors and bright sunlight

flash: for taking pictures with the flash

fluorescent: for scenes lit by fluorescent lights

incandescent or tungsten: for incandescent lighting

manual: when you want to manage the lighting of each shot. This requires that the photographer aim the camera at white paper to change the lighting settings manually.

Color Photography or Black and White?

While lighting is important for color photography, it is even more important for black and white or sepia photography. While this fact seems counterintuitive, the lack of color means that the key feature of black and white photography is the contrast between light and shadow.

The basic rules of light in photography apply to black and white photos just as they do to color photography. For example, direct light creates a higher contrast than diffuse light. Because the contrast between light and shadow is much more obvious in black and white than in color photography, the photographer should opt for direct light when composing the shot.

100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography

100 Things I’ve Learned About Photograpy

Since I found photography two and a half years ago I have learned different things which I would like to share with you today. These lessons have made me richer and I hope that you will find them refreshing and inspiring on your journey with the camera, too.

1. Never do photography to become a rock-star.
2. Enjoy what you are shooting.
3. Prepare well for your shooting, realizing that your battery isn’t charge when you’re setting up for that sunrise shoot is too late!
4. Always take one warm garment more than you actually need with you
5. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions while you are shooting
6. Set goals you can achieve
7. Write tips about photography, because writing is also learning
8. Never go shooting without a tripod
9. Be pleased with the little prosperities
10. Build relationships with potential photo buddies
11. Watch the place you want to shoot first with your heart then with the camera
12. Always stay calm
13. Know that you tend to overestimate yourself
14. Perspective is the killer
15. Dedicate yourself to photography, but never browbeat yourself too much
16. Take part in a photography community
Treeklein17. Keep your camera clean
18. Never compare yourself to others in a better or worse context
19. Find your own style of photography
20. Try to compose more and to hit the shutter less
21. Seek out and learn to accept critique on your images
22. Do something different to recover creativity
23. Get inspiration from the work of other photographers
24. Criticize honestly but respectfully
25. Get feedback from your lady
26. Don’t copy other photographer’s style
27. Be bold
28. Take care of the golden ratio
29. 10mm rocks!
30. Take selfportraits
31. Read books about photography
32. To give a landscapephotograph the extra boost, integrate a person (maybe yourself)
33. Every shooting situation is different than you expect
34. Pay attention to s-curves and lines
35. Always shoot in RAW
36. Keep your sensor clean, so you can save some work cleaning your image in post production
37. Discover the things you think are beautiful
38. It takes time to become a good photographer
39. The best equipment is that what you have now
40. You can’t take photographs of everything
41. Break the rules of photography knowingly, but not your camera ;)
42. Pay attention to the different way that light falls on different parts of your scene
43. The eye moves to the point of contrast
44. Clouds increase the atmosphere of a landscape
45. Start a photoblog
46. Accept praise and say “thank you”
47. ‘Nice Shot’ is not a very useful comment to write
48. ‘Amazing!’ isn’t useful either. Try to describe specifically what you like or don’t like about an image.
49. You are not your camera
50. Ask a question at the end of your comment on a photo to get a ping-pong conversation with the photographer
51. Do a review of your archives on a regular basis, the longer you photograph - the more diamonds are hidden there
52. Always clarify what the eyecatcher (focal point) will be in your image
53. No image is better than a bad one
54. Everyone has to start little
55. Your opinion about photography is important!
56. Leave a funny but thoughtful comment
57. Speak about your experiences with your photo buddies
58. Limit your photograph to the substance
59. Participate in Photocontests
60. Post processing = Optimizing your image to the best result
61. Shoot exposure latitudes as often as possible
62. Use photomatix as seldom as possible, HDR’s always have a synthetic flavor
63. Always remember what brought you to photography
64. Never shoot a person who doensn’t want to be photographed
65. Always turn arround, sometimes the better image is behind you
66. It’s who’s behind the camera, not the camera
67. Mistakes are allowed! The more mistakes you make, the more you learn!
68. If you have an idea and immediately you think : No, this is not going to work - Do it anyway. When in doubt - always shoot.
69. Understand and look to your histogramm while shooting. It delivers very important information about your image
70. Know your camera, because searching the menu button in the night is time you don’t want to waste
71. Shoot as often as possible
72. Believe in yourself
73. Don’t be afraid of getting dirty
74. Pay attention to qualitiy in your image
75. Your photographs are a personal map of your psyche
76. Re-check your ISO-Settings. It’s aweful to detect the wrong settings on your screen.
77. Be thankful for long and thoughtful comments on your images
78. Never trust your LCD. Normally it is brighter and sharper as the original image.
79. Provide for enough disc space, because it’s cheap and you will need it.
80. Learn to enjoy beautful moments when you don’t have a camera with you.
81. Always arrive at least half an hour earlier before sunrise / sundown, composing in a hurry is a bad thing.
82. Try to amplify your mental and physical limits. Takes some extra shots when you think “it’s enough”
83. Pay attention to structures in the sky and wait until they fit into structures in the foreground
84. Visit the same place as often as possible. Light never shows the same mountain.
85. Print your images in big size. You will love it.
86. Calibrate your monitor. Working with a monitor that is not accurate is like being together with someone you can’t trust. It always ends badly.
87. Don’t think about what others may say about your image. If you like it, it’s worth publishing.
88. Never address reproaches to yourself. Learn from your mistakes and look forward, not backward.
89. Fight your laziness ! Creativitiy comes after discipline.
90. Ask yourself : What do you want to express in your images ?
91. Always try to think outside the box, collect new ideas about photographs you could do and ask yourself : Why not?
92. Search for a mentor.
93. Photography is never a waste of time.
94. Every community has it’s downsides. Don’t leave it out of an emotional response.
95. There will always be people who will not like what you are doing.
96. Henri Cartier-Bresson was right when he said that “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
97. A better camera doesn’t guarantee better images.
98. Always have printing in mind when you postprocess your images.
99. Photography is fair : You gain publicity with the quality of your images. Unless the images are stolen, there is no way of cheating yourself higher.
100. Write a 100 things list

Do you have learned something that I didn’t mention ? I would be glad if you let me know it as a comment, so I can learn from you !

Social and Cultural Implications of Photography

Social and Cultural Implications of Photography

There are many ongoing questions about different aspects of photography. In her writing “On Photography” (1977) Susan Sontag discusses concerns about the objectivity of photography. This is a highly debated subject within the photographic community (Bissell, 2000). It has been concluded that photography is a subjective discipline “to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one’s self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power” (Sontag, 1977: p 4). Photographers decide what to take a photo of, what elements to exclude and what angle to frame the photo. Along with the context that a photograph is received in, photography is definitely a subjective form.

Modern photogrpahy has raised a number of concerns on its impact on society. The concept of the camera being a 'phallic' tool has been exemplified in a number of Hollywood productions. In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), the camera is presented as a promoter of voyeuristic inhibitions. 'Although the camera is an observation station, the act of photographing is more than passive observing' [Sontag Susan 1977: p 12]. Michal Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) portrays the camera as both sexual and sadistically violent technology that literally kills in this picture and at the same time captures images of the pain and anguish evident on the faces of the female victims.

"The camera doesn't rape or even possess, though it may presume, intrude, trespass, distort, exploit, and, at the farthest reach of metaphor, assasinate- all activities that, unike the sexual push and shove, can be conducted from a distance, and with some detachment" [Sontag Susan 1977: p 12]

Photography is one of the new media forms that changes perception and changes the structure of society (Levinson, 1997). Further unease has been caused around cameras in regards to desensitization. Fears that disturbing or explicit images are widely accessible to children and society at large have been raised. Particularly, photos of war and pornography are causing a stir. (Sontag). Sontag is concerned that “to photograph is to turn people into objects that can be symbolically possessed”. Desensitization discussion goes hand in hand with debates about censored images. Sontag writes of her concern that the ability to censor pictures means the photographer has the ability to construct reality.

Technical Photography

The camera has a long and distinguished history as a means of recording phenomena from the first use by Daguerre and Fox-Talbot, such as astronomical events (eclipses for example) and small creatures when the camera was attached to the eyepiece of microscopes (in photomicroscopy). The camera also proved useful in recording crime scenes and the scenes of accidents, one of the first uses being at the scene of the Tay Rail Bridge disaster of 1879. The set of accident photographs was used in the subsequent court of inquiry so that witnesses could identify pieces of the wreckage, and the technique is now commonplace in courts of law. The set of over 50 Tay bridge photographs are of very high quality and when scanned at high resolution, can be enlarged to show details of the failed components such as broken cast iron lugs and the tie bars which failed to hold the towers in place. They show that the bridge was badly designed, badly built and badly maintained. The methods used in analysing old photographs are known as forensic photography.
Between 1846 and 1852 Charles Brooke invented a technology for the automatic registration of instruments by photography. These instruments included barometers, thermometers, psychrometers, and magnetometers, which recorded their readings by means of an automated photographic process.

Digital Photography

The Nikon D1, the first DSLR to truly compete with, and begin to replace, film cameras in the professional photojournalism and sports photography fields.

Nikon DSLR and scanner, which converts film images to digital
Main article: Digital photography
See also: Digital versus film photography
Traditional photography burdened photographers working at remote locations without easy access to processing facilities, and competition from television pressured photographers to deliver images to newspapers with greater speed. Photo journalists at remote locations often carried miniature photo labs and a means of transmitting images through telephone lines. In 1981, Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the Sony Mavica. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital. In 1990, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, the first commercially available digital camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than photojournalism and professional photography, commercial digital photography was born.

Digital imaging uses an electronic image sensor to record the image as a set of electronic data rather than as chemical changes on film. The primary difference between digital and chemical photography is that chemical photography resists manipulation because it involves film and photographic paper, while digital imaging is a highly manipulative medium. This difference allows for a degree of image post-processing that is comparatively difficult in film-based photography and permits different communicative potentials and applications.

Digital point-and-shoot cameras have become widespread consumer products, outselling film cameras, and including new features such as video and audio recording. Kodak announced in January 2004 that it would no longer sell reloadable 35 mm cameras in western Europe, Canada and the United States after the end of that year. Kodak was at that time a minor player in the reloadable film cameras market. In January 2006, Nikon followed suit and announced that they will stop the production of all but two models of their film cameras: the low-end Nikon FM10, and the high-end Nikon F6. On May 25, 2006, Canon announced they will stop developing new film SLR cameras.[4]
According to a survey made by Kodak in 2007, 75 percent of professional photographers say they will continue to use film, even though some embrace digital.[5]

According to the U.S. survey results, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of professional photographers prefer the results of film to those of digital for certain applications including:

• Film’s superiority in capturing more information on medium and large format films (48 percent);
• creating a traditional photographic look (48 percent);
• capturing shadow and highlighting details (45 percent);
• the wide exposure latitude of film (42 percent); and
• archival storage (38 percent)
  Because photography is popularly synonymous with truth ("The camera doesn't lie."), digital imaging has raised many ethical concerns. Many photojournalists have declared they will not crop their pictures, or are forbidden from combining elements of multiple photos to make "illustrations," passing them as real photographs. Many courts will not accept digital images as evidence because of their inherently manipulative nature. Today's technology has made picture editing relatively simple for even the novice photographer.

Recent changes of in-camera processing allows digital fingerprinting of RAW photos to verify against tampering of digital photos for forensics use.

Photography Styles

Commercial photography

Commercial photography is probably best defined as any photography to which money exchanges hands. In this light money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself. Wholesale, retail, and professional uses of photography would fall under this definition. The commercial photographic world could include:

• Advertising photography: photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. These images are generally done with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team.
• Fashion and glamour photography: This type of photography usually incorporates models. Fashion photography emphasizes the clothes or product, glamour emphasizes the model. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and in men's magazines. Models in glamour photography may be nude, but this is not always the case.
• Crime Scene Photography: This type of photography consists of photographing scenes of crime such as robberies and murders. A black and white camera or an infrared camera may be used to capture specific details.
• Still life photography usually depicts inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made.
• Food photography can be used for editorial, packaging or advertising use. Food photography is similar to still life photography, but requires some special skills.
• Editorial photography: photographs made to illustrate a story or idea within the context of a magazine. These are usually assigned by the magazine.
• Photojournalism: this can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story.
• Portrait and wedding photography: photographs made and sold directly to the end user of the images.
• Landscape photography: photographs of different locations.
• Conceptual photography: Photography that turns a concept or idea into a photograph. Even though what is depicted in the photographs are real objects, the subject is strictly abstract.
• Wildlife photography that demonstrates life of the animals.
• Pornography: explicit depiction of sexual subject matter, especially with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer using a variety of media including photography. See History of erotic photography.
• Photo sharing: publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online.
  The market for photographic services demonstrates the aphorism "one picture is worth a thousand words," which has an interesting basis in the history of photography. Magazines and newspapers, companies putting up Web sites, advertising agencies and other groups pay for photography.
  Many people take photographs for self-fulfillment or for commercial purposes. Organizations with a budget and a need for photography have several options: they can employ a photographer directly, organize a public competition, or obtain rights to stock photographs. Photo stock can be procured through traditional stock giants, such as Getty Images or Corbis; smaller microstock agencies, such as Fotolia; or web marketplaces, such as Cutcaster.
  
  Photography as an art form
  
  During the twentieth century, both fine art photography and documentary photography became accepted by the English-speaking art world and the gallery system. In the United States, a handful of photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, John Szarkowski, and Edward Weston, spent their lives advocating for photography as a fine art. At first, fine art photographers tried to imitate painting styles. This movement is called Pictorialism, often using soft focus for a dreamy, 'romantic' look. In reaction to that, Weston, Ansel Adams, and others formed the f/64 Group to advocate 'straight photography', the photograph as a (sharply focused) thing in itself and not an imitation of something else.
  The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argued that photography was the mechanical reproduction of an image. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer. The controversy began with the earliest images "written with light"; Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, and others among the very earliest photographers were met with acclaim, but some questioned if their work met the definitions and purposes of art.

Clive Bell in his classic essay Art states that only "significant form" can distinguish art from what is not art.

There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist; possessing which, in the least degree, no work is altogether worthless. What is this quality? What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions? What quality is common to Sta. Sophia and the windows at Chartres, Mexican sculpture, a Persian bowl, Chinese carpets, Giotto's frescoes at Padua, and the masterpieces of Poussin, Piero della Francesca, and Cezanne? Only one answer seems possible - significant form. In each, lines and colors combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions.

On February 14th 2006 Sotheby’s London sold the 2001 photograph "99 Cent II Diptychon" for an unprecedented $3,346,456 to an anonymous bidder making it the most expensive of all time.

Comparison with film photography

Comparison with film photography

Advantages of consumer digital cameras

• The advantages of digital photography over traditional film include:
  Instant review of pictures, with no wait for the film to be developed: if there's a problem with a picture, the photographer can immediately correct the problem and take another picture
• Minimal ongoing costs for those wishing to capture hundreds of photographs for digital uses, such as computer storage and e-mailing, but not printing.
• If one already owns a newer computer, permanent storage on digital media is considerably cheaper than film
• Photos may be copied from one digital medium to another without any degradation
• Pictures do not need to be scanned before viewing them on a computer
• Ability to print photos using a computer and consumer-grade printer
• Ability to embed metadata within the image file, such as the time and date of the photograph, model of the camera, shutter speed, flash use, and other similar items, to aid in the reviewing and sorting of photographs. Film cameras have limited ability to handle metadata, though many film cameras can "imprint" a date over a picture by exposing the film to an internal LED array (or other device) which displays the date.
• Ability to capture and store hundreds of photographs on the same media device within the digital camera; by contrast, a film camera would require regular changing of film (typically after every 24 or 36 shots)
• Many digital cameras now include an AV-out connector (and cable) to allow the reviewing of photographs to an audience using a television
• Anti-shake functionality (increasingly common in inexpensive cameras) allow taking sharper hand-held pictures where previously a tripod was required
• Ability to change ISO speed settings more conveniently in the middle of shooting, for example when the weather changes from bright sunlight to cloudy. In film photography, film must be unloaded and new film with desired ISO speed loaded.
• Smaller sensor format, compared to 35mm film frame, allows for smaller lenses, wider zoom ranges, and greater depth of field.
• Ability to use the same device to capture video as well as still images.
• Ability to convert the same photo from color to sepia to black & white
  Advantages of professional digital cameras
  
• Immediate image review and deletion is possible; lighting and composition can be assessed immediately, which ultimately conserves storage space.
  
• Faster workflow: Management (colour and file), manipulation and printing tools are more versatile than conventional film processes. However, batch processing of RAW files can be time consuming, even on a fast computer.
  
• Digital manipulation: A digital image can be modified and manipulated much easier and faster than with traditional negative and print methods. The digital image to the right was captured in RAW format, processed and output in 3 different ways from the source RAW file, then merged and further processed for color saturation and other special effects to produce a more dramatic result than was originally captured with the RAW image.
  Recent manufacturers such as Nikon and Canon have promoted the adoption of digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) by photojournalists. Images captured at 2+ megapixels are deemed to be of sufficient quality for small images in newspaper or magazine reproduction. Six to 14 megapixel images, found in modern digital SLRs, when combined with high-end lenses, can approximate the detail of film prints taken with 35 mm film based SLRs, and the latest 16 megapixel models can produce astoundingly detailed images which are believed to be better than 35mm film images and the majority of medium format cameras
  Disadvantages of digital cameras
  
• Dependence upon spare batteries which are heavy to carry and whose lack makes equipment unusable. Batteries used by some film cameras are smaller and not drained as quickly.
  
• Many digital sensors have less dynamic range than color print film. However, some newer CCDs such as Fuji's Super CCD, which combines diodes of different sensitivity, have improved this issue.
  
• When highlights burn out, they burn to white without details, while film cameras retain a reduced level of detail, as discussed above.
  
• High ISO image noise manifests as multicolored speckles in digital images, rather than the less-objectionable "grain" of high-ISO film. While this speckling can be removed by noise-reduction software, either in-camera or on a computer, this can have a detrimental effect on image quality as fine detail may be lost in the process.
  For most consumers in prosperous countries such as the United States and Western Europe, the advantages of digital cameras outweigh their disadvantages. However, many professional photographers continue to prefer film. Much of the post-shooting work done by a photo lab for film is done by the photographer himself for digital images. Concerns that have been raised by professional photographers include: editing and post-processing of RAW files can take longer than 35mm film, downloading a large number of images to a computer can be time-consuming, shooting in remote sites requires the photographer to carry a number of batteries and add to the load to carry, equipment failure—while all cameras may fail, some film camera problems (e.g., meter or rangefinder problems, failure of only some shutter speeds) can be worked around. As time passes, it is expected that more professional photographers will switch to digital.
  In some cases where very high-resolution digital images of good quality are needed it may be advantageous to take large-format film photographs and digitise them. This allows the creation of very large computer files without speed or capacity disadvantages at picture-taking time. This is discussed in detail in an article with the provocative title A 100 MP Digital Camera System for Under $2,000.

History of photography

Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs were made, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1040) invented the camera obscura and pinhole camera,[2] Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) discovered silver nitrate, and Georges Fabricius (1516–1571) discovered silver chloride. Daniel Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1568. Wilhelm Homberg described how light darkened some chemicals (photochemical effect) in 1694. The fiction book Giphantie, by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche, described what can be interpreted as photography.
Photography as a usable process goes back to the 1820s with the development of chemical photography. The first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce. However, the picture took eight hours to expose, so he went about trying to find a new process. Working in conjunction with Louis Daguerre, they experimented with silver compounds based on a Johann Heinrich Schultz discovery in 1724 that a silver and chalk mixture darkens when exposed to light. Niépce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued the work, eventually culminating with the development of the daguerreotype in 1837. Eventually, France agreed to pay Daguerre a pension for his formula, in exchange for his promise to announce his discovery to the world as the gift of France, which he did in 1839.
Meanwhile, Hercules Florence had already created a very similar process in 1832, naming it Photographie, and William Fox Talbot had earlier discovered another means to fix a silver process image but had kept it secret. After reading about Daguerre's invention, Talbot refined his process so that it might be fast enough to take photographs of people. By 1840, Talbot had invented the calotype process, which creates negative images. John Herschel made many contributions to the new methods. He invented the cyanotype process, now familiar as the "blueprint". He was the first to use the terms "photography", "negative" and "positive". He discovered sodium thiosulphate solution to be a solvent of silver halides in 1819, and informed Talbot and Daguerre of his discovery in 1839 that it could be used to "fix" pictures and make them permanent. He made the first glass negative in late 1839.
In March of 1851, Frederick Scott Archer published his findings in "The Chemist" on the wet plate collodion process. This became the most widely used process between 1852 and the late 1880s when the dry plate was introduced. There are three subsets to the Collodion process; the Ambrotype (positive image on glass), the Ferrotype or Tintype (positive image on metal) and the negative which was printed on Albumen or Salt paper.
Many advances in photographic glass plates and printing were made in through the nineteenth century. In 1884, George Eastman developed the technology of film to replace photographic plates, leading to the technology used by film cameras today.
In 1908 Gabriel Lippmann won the Nobel Laureate in Physics for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference, also known as the Lippmann plate

Uses of photography

Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists are equally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police, and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorite times, to capture special moments, to tell stories, to send messages, and as a source of entertainment.
Commercial advertising relies heavily on photography and has contributed greatly to its development.

Controlling the photographic exposure and rendering

Camera controls are inter-related. The total amount of light reaching the film plane (the "exposure") changes with the duration of exposure, aperture of the lens, and, the effective focal length of the lens (which in variable focal length lenses, can change as the lens is zoomed). Changing any of these controls can alter the exposure. Many cameras may be set to adjust most or all of these controls automatically. This automatic functionality is useful for occasional photographers in many situations.
The duration of an exposure is referred to as shutter speed, often even in cameras that don't have a physical shutter, and is typically measured in fractions of a second. Aperture is expressed by an f-number or f-stop (derived from focal ratio), which is proportional to the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture. If the f-number is decreased by a factor of , the aperture diameter is increased by the same factor, and its area is increased by a factor of 2. The f-stops that might be found on a typical lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, where going up "one stop" (using lower f-stop numbers) doubles the amount of light reaching the film, and stopping down one stop halves the amount of light.
Exposures can be achieved through various combinations of shutter speed and aperture. For example, f/8 at 8 ms (=1/125th of a second) and f/5.6 at 4 ms (=1/250th of a second) yield the same amount of light. The chosen combination has an impact on the final result. In addition to the subject or camera movement that might vary depending on the shutter speed, the aperture (and focal length of the lens) determine the depth of field, which refers to the range of distances from the lens that will be in focus. For example, using a long lens and a large aperture (f/2.8, for example), a subject's eyes might be in sharp focus, but not the tip of the nose. With a smaller aperture (f/22), or a shorter lens, both the subject's eyes and nose can be in focus. With very small apertures, such as pinholes, a wide range of distance can be brought into focus.
Image capture is only part of the image forming process. Regardless of material, some process must be employed to render the latent image captured by the camera into the final photographic work. This process consists of two steps, development, and printing.
During the printing process, modifications can be made to the print by several controls. Many of these controls are similar to controls during image capture, while some are exclusive to the printing process. Most controls have equivalent digital concepts, but some create different effects. For example, dodging and burning controls are different between digital and film processes. Other printing modifications include:
Chemicals and process used during film development

• Duration of exposure – equivalent to shutter speed
• Printing aperture – equivalent to aperture, but has no effect on depth of field
• Contrast
• Dodging – reduces exposure of certain print areas, resulting in lighter areas
• Burning – increases exposure of certain areas, resulting in darker areas
• Paper texture – glossy, matte, etc
• Paper type – resin-coated (RC) or fiber-based (FB)
• Paper size
• Toners – used to add warm to cool tones to black and white

Photography

Photography (IPA: [fә'tɒgrәfi] or IPA: [fә'tɑːgrәfi][1]) is the process and art of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a film or an electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects expose a sensitive silver halide based chemical or electronic medium during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically. Photography has many uses for both business and pleasure. It is often the basis of advertising and in fashion print. Photography can also be viewed as a commercial and artistic endeavor.
The word "photography" comes from the French photographie which is based on the Greek φώς (phos) "light" + γραφίς (graphis) "stylus", "paintbrush" or γραφή (graphê) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light." Traditionally, the product of photography has been called a photograph, commonly shortened to photo.

Photographic cameras

The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.
Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Digital cameras replace film with an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.
In all but certain specialized cameras, the process of obtaining a usable exposure must involve the use, manually or automatically, of a few controls to ensure the photograph is clear, sharp and well illuminated. The controls usually include but are not limited to the following:

• Focus of the lens


• Aperture of the lens – adjustment of the iris, measured as f-number, which controls the amount of light passing through the lens. Aperture also has an effect on focus and depth of field, namely, the smaller the opening [aperture], the less light but the greater the depth of field--that is, the greater the range within which objects appear to be sharply focused.


• Shutter speed – adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an angle, with mechanical shutters) 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 speeds (that is, those of shorter duration) decrease both the amount of light and the amount of image blurring from subject motion or camera motion.


• 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. In addition to using white balance to register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a warm color temperature.


• Metering – measurement of exposure at a midtone so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras feature this ability, though it is traditionally accomplished with the use of a separate light metering device. To translate the amount of light into a usable aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to input the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. Thus there needs to be a setting for "film speed" or ISO sensitivity.


• ISO speed – traditionally used to "tell the camera" the film speed of the selected film on film cameras, ISO speeds are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of the system's gain from light to numerical output and to control the automatic exposure system. A correct combination of ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed leads to an image that is neither too dark nor too light.


• Auto-focus point – on some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR) feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder.
  Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:
  Focal length and type of lens (telephoto or "long" lens, macro, wide angle, fisheye, or zoom)


• Filters or scrims placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or behind the lens


• Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.


• The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in pixels or grains of silver halide.