Evening star., 1953-06-07
Camera Angles

some one said to me the
other day that If he knew what
photography was he might be
able to make better pictures.
That statement might well
have come from any Of the
millions who take pictures year
after year without having any
understanding Of what actu-
ally takes place between the
click of the shutter and the
delivery of the finished print.
Now, it may not seem impor-
tant so long as you get back a
picture for each time you make
an exposure. but the fact is
that you will make much bet
ter pictures if you have an un-
derstanding of what is actually
happening at the time you trip
the shutter.
The first step in photog-
raphy is the capture of a pho
tographic image of a subject
with camera. This can be a
Cardboard box or one of plastic
or cast aluminium. Regardless
of specification. all have one
common feature-light-tight
construction. At one end of this
box is an aperture that can be
opened or closed at the will
of the photographer by means
of a mechanical shutter. At
the other end is a sheet of
material that is extremely SEN
sitive to light-the film. When
the shutter is opened, light re-
f1ected from the outside enters
the camera through a lens
which collects and directs the
entering light rays to the fiat
surface of the film.
The subject of the picture,
If viewed photographically,
would look like a pincushion
with millions of light rays
bouncing eff it in all direc-
tionS in straight lines. Some
of these rays move directly
toward the lens of the camera
and pass through the lens to
the film as the shutter is
opened Some rays are more
intense than others and make
a greater impression on the
sensitive surface of the film
than do the others. This is
because all surfaces do not
reflect light equally. If you
are making the picture of a
person. his face, being light,
will reflect considerably more
light than the dark coat he
Is wearing. Dark colors tend
to absorb a great deal of the
light while the lighter colors
reflect most of it. Black will
reflect no light while white
bounces most of it back. In
between tones reflect light in
direct proportion to their re-
lation to the gray scale, which
runs from black to white
through all the middle tones.
Light Intensity Vories
Therefore we can readily see
that all the light rays coming
from the subject are not of
the same degree of intensity
and will not have an equal
effect on the sensitized film.
Reverting once more to our
human subject, let's see what
actually happens during that
tiny interval while the shut
Ter Is open. The relatively
powerful rays which are travel
Ing to the film from the face
Of the subject will register
on the film emulsion.
At the same time the weaker
rays coming from parts of the
clothing and the background
will be registering. but with
much less impression. If the
coat is a dense black there will
rot be enough reflection from
t to affect the film at all.
Since all of the subject in it's
Iarying degrees of ref1ectivity
S exposed for the same length
If time, it can be seen that
he film will not be uniformly
Effected by the light.
When the shutter closes, the
ight-ref1ected image of the
ubject has transferred itself
o the film. You still don't
lave a picture for even then
he image is still locked within
he Photographic emulsion. If
'ou looked at the film now, as
uming that you could without
mining II UnII If,oI11Snif COO O