Evening star., 1953-05-24
Camera Angles
Photo Prob|em Questions
Answered by Co|umnist
Camera Angles
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian institution

Since our last question-and
answer column a number of in
quiries have been received which
are of such general interest tha
they are worth passing along
together with answers and com.
mentS.
Q. Can you help me with &
rather unusual Photographic
problem? I have noticed a pc.
culiar phenomenon in connection
with my negatives. I will gc
along for several months taking
pictures with my folding cam
era, obtaining negatives with
excellent definition. Then, fol
no apparent reason, a roll of film
will come back from the f1nisher
with one or more negatives hav-
Ing very poor definition, although
others on the same roll are o. K
The fact that most of the shots
are satisfactory from this stand
point would indicate some other
cause for loss of definition other
than camera failure. What do
you think?
A. If nothing is wrong with
the camera (and it would not
seem so in this case) the
trouble is probably due to the
effect of atmospheric changes
on the film. For instance, if
you advance the film imme-
diately after making an ex-
posure, and then let a day or
so go before using the camera,
radical changes in tempera-
ture and humidity conditions
may cause the film to buckle or
bulge slightly. If the camera
is stored in a hot place, even
temporarily. this may happen.
Also, when the camera front
is pulled out, the suction Gre
ated by the bellows extending
may pull the film slightly out
OF position at the focal plane
with the same unhappy re-
suit. One sure way to prevent
this would be to advance the
film just before you are ready
to take the picture. Once the
exposure has been made. the
film in position at the focal
plane is safe on that score.
However, you do run the risk
of possible uble-exposure if
you forget to advance the film
before the next shot, unless
your camera is double-exposure
proof. If, after trying this
suggestion. the trouble still
persists we suggest you send
your camera to the factory for
q checkup.
Q. have no difficulty in TO-
cusing my camera, but, all
though the subject I am pho
tographing is sharp enough,
objects in the background are
often out of focus. What can
be done to make the back
ground sharp.
A. This question obviously
came from a beginner, but
since many of our readers are
beginners we will give the an
swer. Sharpness in depth can
be obtained by stopping down
the lens. Just how much to
stop down must be learned by
experience unless you are using
a single-lens reflex camera or
a view camera. In either of
the latter cases, a visual check
can be made as the lens aper-
ture is being narrowed. When
the overall image has reached
the desired degree of sharpness
the lessening of the aperture
can be halted. With other
cameras reference can be made
to depth tables that are usually
to be found in camera man
uals, or a few trial-and-error
shots will give you the answer.
@. I would like to try nv
hand at flash photography.
Will one flash at the camera
be adequate or would you sug-
gest more?
A. Where the subject mat
ter is confined to a small area.
as in portraiture, one flash
unit would be adequate to in
sure getting a usable picture.
But a usable picture may not
be the best. Our advice is this:
Use just as many flashlamps
for a picture as you would
use floodlamps for the same
purpose. Few capable pho
tographers would light a por-
trait with only one f1oodlamp
because of the f1atnesS that
would result. In general prac-
tice one flood is used for a
main light. another for fill-in,
one for hair illumination, and
still another for the back
ground. In flash photography,
a comparable portrait would
require the same number of
lamps in more or less the same
positions. A single flash is often
all that is needed when max
ing pictures by sunlight-the
flash being used to tighten
the shadows on the side of
the face fartheSt from the