THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES
Subject :
The subject can be anything. If it can be seen it can be photographed, just as there must be light to form an image, there must be a subject from which to form the image. In photography,a landscape, person or a model, any physical object an abstract or regular form can be used as a subject.
The Light Source :
Photography which means Writing with Light has the word Light inherent in it. It is acomponent without which no picture can be made. NO PICTURE NO LIGHT. It is thelight which makes impression on the film and in the case of Digital Camera on the CCD, that is Charged couple devices. Light has its own characteristics which at any point of time has its own effects. To understand lights properly, we must understand about the types of light &their properties.
TYPES OF LIGHT AND PROPERTIES:
Lights as we know keeps varying throughout the day, the effect of this can be seen
during the day, and during the seasons. For example in the months of summer light
is very strong even harsh while in the months of winter it is very pleasant, it is very
warm, while on the other hand during monsoon light can be very flat. It can be overcast,
leaves no shadow, therefore one has to be careful as far as play of light is concerned.
Camera records these effects faithfully and it is up to the cameraman to study and to
make the best possible use of it. Therefore study of light by the cameraman is absolutely
essential. Primarily there are two sources of Light. One is the natural source and the other
one is artificial source. Let us see the natural sources of light. Sun is the biggest source of
Light, which is available to us throughout the year. Besides this what we normally fail to
realize is that even the moon is a source of light. There are bright stars in the sky besides
the sun nearly hundred of them which are a source of light. Terrestrial body like
milky-way also forms part of natural light. Besides we also have even fireflies. Even what
you call jelly fish which are a natural source of light. Volcanoes are a big source of light
the amount of fire they bring out and light they create it immense. These are some of the
sources where natural light is available. Yet another source of light is lightening which
we normally take it as a subject or thrill matter but the fact is that the amount of light it
gives can be used even for doing great Photography.
Let us now see the Artificial sources of light, the first one is the one, which is the one
Combustion based lamp on the walls, on the ceilings else one of the best sources
available in the olden period. Today they are used as antiques and they have great amount
of decorative values. During those days whale oil was used to light up these lamps. But,
these days these pieces have lost their values and can be found in beautiful settings,
drawing rooms or at some other places. Outdoor lamps or Circular lamp, these lamps had
a round wick and they were very beautifully made and were decorated and at the same
time they were very useful. Today they can be seen in the movies of olden days as a piece
of antiques or something like that.
Next we will have is the Argon Flash which is very bright and is used for very brief
moment, that is all. It doesn’t do anything except, it can be used for flash purposes.
CANDLES:
These need no introduction. Solid wax with wick inside. These are most decorative
pieces today and they are also very useful and when they are lighted up they create a
beautiful atmosphere, a mood, a romantic mood and an ideal candle light dinner.
PYROTECHNICS:
These were initially used by the army to light up an area so that they could fire up the
enemy. Today they are used all over for the sports event, for any function. Today
pyrotechnics have played a very important role, they themselves are subject to shoot and
are so beautifully managed and beautifully displayed all over the world.
GAS LIGHTING:
These are the famous old time gas lights used for lighting up the house and even the
business places; these are also used during the marriages possession and things like that.
They are very useful and the amount of light they generate is for a very long time and
white light which is pure manages to last very long.
ELECTRIC BULB:
Most commonly used tungsten bulbs need no introduction. They are still in great demand
and great use.
We now have Halogen Lamps, they also need no introduction you must have seenthem during weddings during any function they are very useful, they help you in doingphotography when you don’t have flash light available to you.
COMPACT FLOROSCENT LAMPS:
This is the latest Introduction in the lighting system, these lights are very expensive, theyare very bright and at the same time they are very economical. The trend is catching on touse them and they can be used including for Photography.
CARBON ARC
This is the light source which is used in Cinema Halls for Projection Purposes as it givesNatural Lights.
And the last we have is,
MERCURY AND SODIUM VAPOURS LIGHT:
Which we must have seen in the streets, on the roads, and avenues not only looksbeautiful but have a certain amount of charm in it.
MODERN CAMERA FORMATS :
With that exhaustive list of specialized cameras, let us now move on to the modern
cameras and before we discuss them let us see what are the three formats of cameras
which are available in modern world.
Miniature Cameras : these are the cameras which have the size of 35mm or below.
Mostly 35mm is used and the other ones are outdated.
Then we have Medium Format Camera which uses a 120mm film and the negative size
in 6cm on one side and on other side it can vary from 6 x 6 to 6 x 7 to 6 x 8 to even 6 x
70.
Then we have Large Format Cameras which starts with 4” x 5” and go up to 20 x 24”
also. But the most popular ones are 4” x 5” and 8” x 10”.
TYPES OF MODERN CAMERA
Having seen the three formats of the camera let us now see as to what are the cameras
available to us in these formats.
We first have the view camera, then we have the view finder camera, then we have the
TLR camera, SLR camera, and of course the most modern and the most useful DSLR camera.
View camera
View Camera is basically ‘Light Tight Seal’ which means to say that no light can enter
into the camera unless it is planned for. The bellows are something like the bellows of an
accordion or a harmonium, which can move up and down and backward and forward. It
was first introduced in the 19th century and over to the period of time it is being refined
and over refined and today it is particularly one of the top cameras which is being used
simply because of the large size of the negative. Though cumbersome looking this
camera has its own advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage is it has a high
quality picture. -
1. It permits you to use a picture in the ground glass before it is clicked.
2. The front holding lens and the real ground glass can be moved to ensure proper
focus, perspective and depth of field.
3. The camera being heavy is in bearably placed on a stand thereby avoiding camera
shake.
VIEW FINDER CAMERAS :
We will now see View finder cameras. First of all let us understand as to what a view
finder camera is? A view finder is primarily a facility available for the photographer to
look through the eyepiece and see what is the composition going to be like? He can
manipulate, he can move up and down, He can move right and left to get what he wants
in his frame. He can see all this clearly and there after proceed with the next action.
View finders are found in both single lens reflex and twin lens reflex cameras. You
would have seen the cameraman looking through the eyepiece trying to focus the subject
also trying to compose the picture and ultimately pressing the shutter.
DSLR :
That is Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera;
Having seen the film cameras, let us now have a look at the latest and the most modern in
the photographic technology. The Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras – The digital
camera is a system which permits recording an image on an image sensor. An image
sensor is a device which enables recording of a visual in a digital information.
Image sensors are of two types – CCD and the CMOS. CCD are preferred simply because they have been used over a period of time,they are been time tested, lot of improvement has taken place, development is takingplace and they are therefore first choice as far as recording an image is concerned.
Photographic Film & Chemicals for film processing:
Today we are going to see black & white process of a film. As we all know when we
expose a film, a latent image is formed on the film, Now this image has to be developed and
that is what we called developing an image.
Developing the Film
There are various kinds of black & white films available in the market. To name a few, we
have the AGFA Pan 25, we have AGFA Pan 400, &we have Ilford FP 4, Ilford FP 5, Kodak
Tri-X Pan, one of the best films that is available at 400 ASA, and Kodak Verichrome Pan.
Now these are some of the film that we have used for black and white photography.
To develop the film we have various developers available to us, for example D-76 or ID then AGFA Rodinal and Paterson Acutol. These are some the famous developer which are used
for developing a film.
We also use Ilford FP4 and the developer is D-76. Now for D-76 at 18 degree centigrade we
require a time of 6 to 8 ½-minutes for developing.
As far as sheet film are concerned these process is different in which case the film is process
through different tanks and it is moved from one tank to another in absolute darkness then we
also have the tray processing in which it is not like that this because there is no day light
developing tank there and you have to control processing under different light conditions.
Black and white films besides being negative films are also there which are in the form of
slide films. Slide films have a different chemical process to be used and those films are
basically used for making black and white films or slides, otherwise mostly the black and
white negative films are going out of fashion particularly in this part of the world and
whatever films are available there are processes and mostly what happens is the negative film
the color negative film is used, it is processed in the lab and then the prints can be made in
the grey tone that is to say black and white tones.
Photographic Processes
Monochrome Process
We all know that originally the photography was in black and white or monochrome.
Between Black and Pure white there are Grey tones in between, now these tones are the
ones which makes a picture give a classic picture. The more the Grey tones the better
there picture is. And therefore one should try to get picture with as many grey tones as
possible, another point to note is that while Black and White picture is considered
between Pure Black and Pure White there is a thing called cyanotype pictures which are
also in the same category as Black and White. Now in this there is Blue tone instead of
Pure White Or Pure Black tone. Another tone which is available is Albumen where in
the tones are brownish.
Today we can produce Black and White picture through digital cameras also and
monochrome pictures will always have a special place in the world of Photography
because of their Appeal. The permanence due to the Silver halide based chemicals used
in process make it long lasting and of archival value.
The Color Process
The first permanent color picture was taken in 1861 using three color separation
principle. Take three separate black and white photographs using Red, Green, and Blue
filters. These provides us the three basic channels required to create an image.
Transparent prints of the Images could be projected through similar colour filters and
super imposed on the projection screen. This is additive method of Color Reproduction.
Autochrome
The first commercially successful color process was introduced by Lumiere Brothers in
1907. In 1935 Kodachrome introduced the first integrated tri pack and it captured three
color component in multi layer emulsion. A color print in Paper could be produced by
super imposing carbon print of three images made in their complementary colors that is
the subtractive method of color reproduction which is Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.
Instant color film used an Special Camera which yielded a unique finished color print
only a minute or two after the exposure, was introduced by a Polaroid in 1963.
Digital Process
In 1981 Sony Introduced Sony Mavica a Digital Camera using Charged Couple Device
(CCD) this eliminated the need for a Film Camera. While Mavica saved Images to Disk
the images were displayed on Television and the camera was not fully digital. In 1991
Kodak introduced its first digital single lens reflex camera, it was very expensive and