Evening star., 1948-10-17
Camera Angles
Autumn Colors Urge Photographers


Pastel shades of autumn always
bring out the color film addicts in
droves. This year. with lots of color
film available, more and more anna
teurs are going in for color-some
for transparencies and others for
color prints. In addition to the film
manufacturers who do the bulk OF
the processing, many excellent color
laboratories have sprung up in COM
munities where speedy service is
available to the photographer who
doesn't care for the long wait that
goes sometimes with mail orders.
A good many amateurs are under
the impression that special and ex-
penSive equipment is necessary to
good color photography. This is
not true at all. Almost any camera
that will take good black and white
pictures will be satisfactory for
color work. However, the lens
should be no slower in speed than
f:6.3, because of the relatively slow
speed of color film, both outdoor
and indoor types. Although we have
set f:6.3 as an arbitrary figure, we
do not mean to imply that it is i'm
possible to expose color film with a
slower lens. Lighting circumstances
at a given time will be the controll-
ing element.
Generally speaking, slower lens
is not satisfactory because the pho
tographer will be extremely limited
in the scope of his work. While he
may be able to make q good expo
sure under conditions where light
is very bright, there will be more
occasions when he will be unable
to obtain an adequate exposure be-
cause of the combination of slow
lens and film speeds.
Paradise for Color Fans.
Opportunities for topnotch color
shots in the fall are unlimited. In
the country-even in the city-there
is riot of color as the leaves begin
to turn with red, orange and yellow
predominating. There are some Of
the most spectacular flowers, in
cluding the dahlia and chrysanthe-
mum running the gamut of the color
spectrum. And II these subjects
are not enough, sunrises and sunsets
are at their very best at this time
Of year. All this adds up to a real
paradise for the camera fan with
color film.
Color photography is not difficult
at all-even for those who have had
no experience with monochrome
shooting. AS q matter of fact the
beginner can just as well start with
color as with black and white. 1t
is the photographer who is accus-
toned to using high-speed films
who sometimes has difficulty in
adapting his habits to the use of
the slower materials. There are
really fewer basic rules to remember
when working with color film.
In the first place there are just
two types of film to concern the
average color fan-indoor Aim and
outdoor film. Each type has its own
speed. But indoor film must be
used indoors with artificial light
and outdoor film must be used out
of-doors with natural light. The
only exception to this rule Is when
a compensating filter Is used. Since
both types Of film are readily avail
able, there is little point in attempt
ing this procedure.
Color Contrasts.
Clashing colors are seldom found
in nature SO almost any subject that
you may select in the way of land
scape or garden shot will photo
graph well. But If you should in
troduce subject matter Of your own,
care must be taken to avoid poor
color combinations. For instance,
If you wish to have a subject pose
against blue sky, some costume
in contrasting colors should be Sc
lected. II a blue sweater is used
in a case like this the subject would
tend to blend into and be lost in
the background of the sky. On the
other hand, q red garment would
offer contrast and color combina-
ton.
The one great failing of most
amateurs who deal with color in
landscape work is the effort to in
clude too much subject matter in
one picture. This defeats their pur-
pose. 1t is better to select a small
area where each color area or mass
will stand out in comparison with
the rest OF the entire composition.
Trying to include the whole coun-
tryside on one small piece of color