# Photography

"View from the Window at Le Gras" by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was taken in 1826, and is the oldest known photograph.
**Photography** is a way of making a picture using a camera. A person who makes pictures using a camera is called a *photographer*. A picture made using a camera is called a photograph or photo. Photography became popular in the middle 19th century with Daguerreotype. Later wet plate and dry plate methods were invented. Most photography in the 20th century was on photographic film and most in the 21st uses digital cameras.

## Camera

Color photography was done long before color film, as seen in this 1903 portrait by Sarah Angelina Acland. In its early years, the need for special equipment, long exposures, and complex printing processes made it rare.
A camera is, in its simplest form, a box with a hole in its front. There is a special piece of glass in front of the hole called a lens. To take a photograph, the lens makes a small picture of the object inside the camera, which it does by focusing light. A lens in a camera works like a lens in glasses (spectacles) or a magnifying glass. One type of camera called the Pinhole camera has no lens but uses a very small hole to focus light.

To make a photograph with a camera, the *shutter release* button is pressed. Pressing the button opens the *shutter*. The shutter is like a door. It covers the hole in the camera box. The shutter is behind the lens. When the shutter is closed no light can enter the camera box. When the shutter is open light can enter the camera. When the button is pressed the shutter opens and then closes. This happens very fast. The amount of time the shutter stays open for is called the *shutter speed*. The shutter speed can change between 1/1000th of a second (0.001 s) to a few seconds. Normally the time taken for the shutter to open and close is far less than 1 second.

Some cameras have an *aperture ring*. It controls how much light enters the camera box.

Photography is the art and practice of creating images by recording light on a photosensitive surface, such as photographic Archived 2023-12-27 at the Wayback Machine film or a digital sensor. The word “shooting” comes from the Greek words “photo’s,” meaning light, and “graphs,” meaning drawing or writing. It essentially means “drawing with light.” Archived 2023-12-27 at the Wayback Machine

The photograph in a camera may be made on film or, if it is a digital camera, on an electronic sensor.

## Film

A Film Camera
Manhattan, New York City seen from the top of the now defunct World Trade Center with an apple in the foreground, an allusion to the city's nickname, *Big Apple*.
The picture the lens makes is recorded on photographic film. Film is placed inside the camera box. Light coming through the lens, aperture and open shutter shines on the film. Photographic film is coated with chemicals that react when light shines on it. Letting light shine on the film is called *exposing* the film.

There are many different types of photographic film. There are films for taking colour photographs and films for taking black and white photographs. There are different sizes of film. The most common size is *35 mm*. It is called 35 mm because the width of the film is 35 millimetres.

Another difference between films is how sensitive they are to light. Films have a number, called an *ISO number*, which tells how fast a film reacts when light shines on it.

## Film Processing

Once the film has been exposed it is *processed*. Processing has to be done in total darkness or the film will be exposed too much and the picture will be lost. Processing stops the film reacting to light any more. After the film has been processed the picture can be seen on the film.

A photographic *print* is a photograph made on paper. A light sensitive paper is used. The picture on the film is placed in an *enlarger*. An enlarger is a machine that shines light through the film and makes a bigger picture on the light sensitive paper. A chemical reaction happens in the paper, which turns the areas hit with light black when the paper is 'developed'. (The more light, the darker the area.) *Developing* makes the picture appear on the paper – now it is a photograph. Then the paper is put into other chemicals that make it not sensitive to light any more. This is called "fixing". Last, the paper is washed so that there are no more chemicals on it and then dried. Then it is finished.

## Digital photography

Digital Camera
Digital photography uses a digital camera. Sometimes it is called *digital imaging*. Like other cameras a digital camera has a lens, aperture, and shutter. The picture the lens makes is recorded by a light-sensitive electronic sensor. A digital camera does not use photographic film to record a picture. Digital photographs are stored in storage devices such as SD cards. They can later be transferred to a computer. Paper prints can also be made from digital pictures. Digital cameras are also not expensive to use, as there is no film to buy.

## Taking a photograph

One of the most important things when taking a photograph is focusing the lens. If the lens is not focused well, the photograph will be blurry. Autofocus cameras focus automatically when the shutter release is pressed. There are also *manual* focus cameras (usually older ones).

Three other things are important when taking a photograph. These control how bright or dark the photograph will be. The brighter you have it the more transparent the picture comes out, if you have it to bright the whole screen can turn out to be all white, if the camera settings are set to be to dark, well, then the picture will come out to dark. So it really depends on how you want the picture, some cameras automatically come in with the setting at 50%, this is most recommended if you want to take a normal picture, but if you want to adjust the settings, it is recommended to keep it between 45% and 75%.

1. The shutter speed – how long the shutter is open for. This is written in the form "1/400," or one four-hundredth of a second.
2. The aperture – how big the aperture in the lens opens. This changes how much light is let in. This is written in the form "f/5.6," which describes the ratio between focal length and the size of the aperture opening.
3. The film speed – how quickly the film/sensor records the picture. This is also called ISO, and is written in the form "400."

A slower shutter speed, a bigger aperture, and faster film/higher ISO sensor all make a brighter picture. A faster shutter speed, a smaller aperture, and a slower film/lower ISO sensor all make a darker picture. A good picture is not too bright and not too dark. When it is too bright it would be called "overexposed". An automatic camera changes these things by itself when the shutter release is pressed.

## Camera types

Though there are many types of cameras, all include five indispensable components:

* the camera box, which holds and protects the sensitive film from all light except that entering through the lens
* film, on which the image is recorded, a light-sensitive strip usually wound on a spool, either manually or automatically, as successive pictures are taken
* the light control, consisting of an aperture or diaphragm and a shutter, both often adjustable
* the lens, which focuses the light rays from the subject onto the film, creating the image, and which is usually adjustable by moving forward or back, changing the focus
* the viewing system, which may be separate from the lens system (usually above it) or may operate through it by means of a mirror

## Related pages

* Photographic memory