The Camera

Photography is all about how light interacts with film and with paper. Cameras are designed to control the amount of light that reaches film. Light enters the camera through a lens and hits the surface of the film. Objects that are light in color reflect a lot of light and objects that are dark in color reflect very little light. The light reacts with the film and creates an underlying image.

SLR Single Lens Reflex Camera

Read the Documentation that comes with your camera.

Camera Parts

Film advanced lever- A device, usually on the top of the camera, that winds the film forward a measured distance so an unexposed segment moves into place behind the shutter. Flash Shoe -Base where the flash slides into Rewind lever- A device, usually at the top of the camera, for winding film back into a cassette once it has been exposed.

Film compartment- Where the canister/cassette of film resides. Viewer-An opening in the camera through which the photographer can see the scene to be photographed. Camera back- exactly that, the back covering of the camera. Take-up spool - where you feed the beginning of the strip of film and is where the film rolls onto once the camera advances. Rewind button- Located on the bottom of the camera and is used after all film is finished. Must be pressed while using the rewind crank to reel the film back into the canister/cassette.

There are 3 aspects of Exposure: (Also know as exposure triangle) 1) Aperture (Depth of field) 2) Shutter Speed (duration-time) 3) ISO (sensitivity to light) ISO

Aperture Aperture- is the opening that light travels through when it reaches your film. The __ bigger ___ the hole of the aperture, the more light that gets through. The _ smaller _ the hole of the aperture the smaller the amount of light that reaches your film.

Apertures range in size of the opening

Shutter Speed Shutter-speed– How fast your camera’s shutter speed opens and closes to expose the sensor. The longer the shutter is open the more light is exposed to the sensor and vice-versa. The __ faster _ the shutter speed, the __ sharper ___ the moving object will appear.

Fast vs. Slow - Shutter Speed

The shutter speeds are expressed as fractions. 1 over a number. 1/1 is 1 1/250 is 250

When looking through the viewfinder and where to locate the dial on top of the camera.

Your shutter speed will change towards your subject-matter and the effect you want to create.

Apertures and Shutter Speeds Work together.

This is a more modern digital metering system. When the numbers are red the exposure is incorrect. When the numbers turn green the exposure is correct.

Read Your Documentation

Film Speed Known as: ISO ISO - is the light sensitivity of either the film or sensor in a camera.

Less grain or noise More grain or noise

__Slower__ the film _smaller_ the grain. Slower film speed also has more accurate color. A _fast_ film will let the photographer use a shutter speed of 1/500 sec. _Grain_ are the little dots that make up the picture. They are like _pixels_ which make up a digital photo.

Available light Grain

Image Area Using different lenses

normal Wide-angle telephoto

Normal wide telephoto

*The most commonly used normal lens is 50 mm. Any between about 40 and 58 mm are also considered normal

Camera Shake Camera shake- is a phenomena that happens when you have a slow shutter speed and you can’t hand hold the camera without moving a little bit. Solution: use a tripod

Motion Blur Motion blur- is something that happens when there is an object in the picture that is moving too fast for the shutter speed being used to freeze the motion.

Panning Panning - is the act of moving the camera with a relatively slow shutter speed so that the camera follows the movement of the moving object in the scene. The background is blurred as a result.

Depth of Field Depth of field - is the amount of the picture which is in focus. The _ larger __ the opening the __ narrower __ the depth of field. The _ smaller _ the opening the __ wider __ the depth of field.

When the lens is focused at infinity, everything at some distance away and farther will be sharp: with this lens at f/22 everything WILL BE SHARP from 50 ft.

Is useful when you are not sure if an exposure is correct or if you want to see the results from different exposures of the same scene. F 1.4 F 5.6 F 8 When all else fails use bracketing.

When all else fails use bracketing ORIGINAL: shutter speed 1/60 and f/5.6 Then bracket for one stop MORE exposure which is shutter speed 1/60 and f/4. Then you would bracket one stop LESS exposure which is shutter speed 1/60 and f/8 (A step up (doubling) or down (halving) by one EV is called a “stop”.) F 1.4 F 5.6 F 8

We will soon…. Review the darkroom and developing a print.