Photography Magazine

Did you know that you can synchronize your photography with a sound operated switch? This has many applications – some that are fun, some that are for scientific uses and some that find their applications in advertising photography. It is very interesting, and at the very least – something that you would like to try your hand at, just for the sake of the challenge. This project however, requires you to have at least a basic understanding of electronics if you would like to construct the apparatus required your self. On the other hand, you could always have it made at an electronics outlet or even but a ready made sound switch from something like Radio Shack (which would obviously cost you a bit more). Do keep in mind that this project is harder than anything we’ve covered so far, and is aimed at the advanced amateurs and professional photographers.

The Principle Behind Sound Photography

Have you ever considered the factors that influence your lighting when using a flash unit? Well, the main light source is of course the flash unit itself. It is true that when you use a slowish shutter speed to get a ‘mixed lighting effect’, ambient light does come into the picture. But, when you use a high shutter speed, say for example the flash sync speed of the camera, it is nothing but the flash that has a major effect on your photograph. If you are shooting in a darkened environment, or at night in the outdoors, it is solely the flash that will effect your lighting and nothing else, whatever the shutter speed, even if it is something as slow as 4 seconds or above. When you consider the fact that the duration of flash is much much shorter than the highest shutter speed on most cameras, it becomes quite obvious that this short burst of light can freeze a high speed action quite effectively. If the high speed action is accompanied with a burst of sound (for example, a firecracker exploding, a balloon bursting or an ice cube falling into a glass), the flash can be triggered using a sound switch; to capture the ‘decisive moment’ when the action is at its peak.  Let us look at the construction of the switch…

The Sound Switch

This trigger was constructed using a DIY ‘clap switch’ circuit (readily available with hobbyists). If you are making it your self, do mention at the hobby store that you intend to use it as a trigger and not as a power output circuit. Alternatively, you can get readily available sound triggers dedicate to photographic use, but they would cost you a bit more. In any case, the apparatus would have a microphone one one ‘end’, and a flash connection socket at the other. If your flash unit does not provide an output cable, you will need to invest in a hot shoe adapter and a connecting cable. Connect the flash to the circuit and test it by clapping your hands. If everything is as it should be, the flash should fire when you clap your hands!

Did you know that the first people to use a camera-like apparatus (the camera obscura) were in fact artists who needed to trace out the image of the landscape (or whatever subject before them)? Once they traced out the outline of the scene, they could go home and make their image at peace, with the right perspectives. After this, the eventual and logical next step was to try and capture the ‘tracing’ on a paper rather than hand-draw it. And this is what led to the birth of the classic black and white process we are so very familiar with today. Many different light sensitive processes and chemical coatings were used and experimented with until the silver halide was accepted as the most dependable. This is what we shall speak about…

The black and white photo chemical process involves three basic steps (be it paper or negative) - developing of the light sensitive material/ a water bath and finally making it a permanent impression using a fixing chemical. The black and white process is a fairly simple one compared to the later color chemical procedure, and can easily be undertaken in the comfort of a light tight room at your house. One of the most common developing agents or ‘developers’ as they are commonly called, was the D-76 chemical. You can purchase it at photo markets all over the world. Apart from this developer you will need to get a bit of ‘fixer’ or simply a small amount oh hypo crystals to begin processing your own black and white negatives or prints. Of course you will need three trays for the three stages of the process - developing, water wash and fixing.

Take the exposed film out of the camera in a light tight room. Take care that the room is completely light tight. Even a speck of a light leak can ‘fog’ your film and make it appear overexposed and over softened. As an alternative one could always use a developing tank to process an entire roll of film.

The film tank can develop an entire roll of film, and all you need is to load it in the dark, after which the lights can be turned on. Whatever method you choose, leave your film in the developer for about 5-7 minutes (check the developer packing for accurate instructions), after which the film needs to be immersed in a water bath for about 5-7 minutes. In case of the developing tank, you may agitate the tank mildly to ‘wash’ the film well. Once this stage is past, remember - the film is already developed but it is still light sensitive, which means it would eventually turn black if exposed to light. So - the final stage of fixing in the fixer (or hypo crystals) removes the light sensitivity of the film, and thereby ‘fixing’ the image. The lights can be turned on after about 6 minutes in the fixer, after which it is recommended you leave it immersed for another 10 minutes.

As mentioned in the previous article, Ansel Adams introduced the famous ‘zone system’ to black and white photography. Also, we have seen that photographers try and get both extremes of gray (that is the colors black and white) in their print to make it look attractive. There are about 7 shades in between, the middle shade being ‘the middle gray’. The middle gray shade if often used to calculate the exposure, and in modern studios to compare and calculate white balance effects. More often than not, you will hear of the middle gray shade in reference to black and white photography.

These are the zones of Ansel Adams. If you notice, they are a gradual change from pitch black to paper white. As far as photography goes, one could look at that as totally underexposed to totally overexposed. Remember, you need to select the point in your landscape (or whatever subject you are photographing), from where you take your exposure. THIS point will appear as the middle gray in your image. If you want it to appear darker or lighter you need to under or over expose accordingly. Keep in mind that all other tones in the photograph would be equally affected from your exposure. If you have honed the skill of visualizing then this should be not very difficult. In any case you do get used to it over a period of time.  So - when you are photographing a subject, you need to identify the middle gray or the center zone and take your exposure from that area in the scene/subject.

One cannot stress enough on this point - if you follow the camera’s (or hand held meter) meter reading, EVERY image will be similarly exposed. Let us illustrate this with a simple example. Take three cards of black, gray and white shade. Load black and white film into your camera (or shoot using the BW mode). Take meter reading from the different cards and expose accordingly. Every card will appear to be the middle gray in the three images. This is because, speaking in terms of reflected light readings 9which is what the camera does), the meter suggests (+) or (-) depending on the amount of light reflected back to it from the subject. A black subject will obviously reflect less light and that is why it compensates to make it appear the middle gray in your image. So, when you want a black object to appear the same shade in the image, you need to UNDEREXPOSE it adequately. Similarly when you wish for a white subject to appear white, you will need to OVEREXPOSE it accordingly.

Try experimenting with a variety of shades on black and white film (or mode) so as to make them appear the same shade/different shade as per your choice. Also, try and make the same object appear a darker or a lighter shade by controlling exposure. Soon you will begin to feel in control over the tonal range of your black and white photographs.

If you have been following our tutorials on panoramic photography, you were probably able to make near perfect panoramic images, with a little bit of luck. If your photographs didn’t seem to stitch together well, the most probable cause is that you had objects very close to you. Read on…

If you have been shooting panoramas hand-held, its about time you started using a tripod. And not just any tripod (although just any tripod is better than no tripod at all). Let us consider an ordinary tripod with a regular camera mounted on it. Try this test - compose your viewfinder image in such a manner so as to have a vertical line close to the camera (say 2 or 3 feet away) and another away from the camera (maybe 6 to 10 feet away). The closer vertical line could simply mean the edge of a near object such as a computer monitor or a fence (if outdoors). Similarly the further vertical line could be the edge of an object or a wall some distance away from your camera. Notice the distance between the two vertical lines in your view finder. Now, turn the tripod head towards the right or to the left while keeping your eyes on the distance between the two (vertical lines). Nine times out of ten, the gap will seemingly increase or decrease as you rotate the tripod head. This is simply thanks to the parallax error caused by the fact the camera does not have its tripod mount socket located at the optic center of the lens. In fact it is not possible to have the tripod mount at the optic center of the lens, since that point is somewhere inside the camera body! To avoid the parallax error, we need to make sure that the camera is mounted to the tripod in such a manner so as to rotate from its optic center when you turn the tripod head. That is the only way you can shoot perfect panoramas.

That is exactly where the panoramic tripod head can help, and it is specifically designed so as to allow you to shoot perfect panoramic images that can be stitched to each other without a problem. The panoramic head usually has a vertical arm and a horizontal arm that allow you to move the camera mount horizontally as well as vertically. To adjust the camera so as to allow it to rotate from the optic center of the lens, you need to mount the camera on the tripod indirectly using the panoramic head (the panoramic head fits on to your regular tripod head). Then you need to, as mentioned earlier, position your camera so you see one near and one far vertical line in the finder. Now, you experiment by moving the camera vertically and/or horizontally until it is positioned in such a manner so as to totally avoid the parallax error. By this we mean, there would be no change in the distance between the two vertical lines when you rotate the camera this way or that.

With the advent of the digital camera, many people have changed their preference from film to digital camera because of many reasons. In digital camera, you can see the image immediately after it has been taken and there are no processing costs. The people who still use film camera are the ones who are either professional photographers or people who have a passion for film camera photography.

The first camera was called daguerreotypes and it didn’t use any film at all. It was in 1885 that Kodak built the first photographic film and at that the time, the film was coated with paper. It was not before 1889 when the first plastic transparent film was produced. The first truly photographic film was actually made from a highly flammable material called nitrocellulose and camphor was added to it as a plasticizer or celluloid.

Around the 1920s, a cellulose acetate or safety film replaced the nitrate film. The Kodak or fuji films were used extensively by one and all and also by professionals in wildlife photography, nature photography etc. Finally, by the end 20th century digital cameras brought with them the near extinction of film cameras.

Types of Photographic Films

There are primarily 2 important types of photographic film and they are:

Print film: When a print film is developed, it forms a negative, which has inverted colors or white and black values in a B&W film. The print film can be viewed only after printing or when kept on a photographic paper. Print films are available in both color and B&W formats.

Color reversal film: Once you develop a color reversal film, it is known as a transparency. The only way to directly view it is through a projector or a loupe. A reversal film that is mounted with cardboard or plastic for the purpose of projection is known as a slide. There are several manufacturers who market it as a slide film. The most common use of a color reversal film is for producing digital scans and even for color separations used in mass-market printing.

You can produce photographic prints from a color reversal film, but it is considered to be an expensive process; more expensive than the normal camera print film development process. A black and white reversal film is quite uncommon and this is one of the primary reasons why color reversal films are mostly used by professional photographers like ad photographers etc.

A color reversal film is far more superior than the normal print film as far as color reproduction is concerned.

The only way to produce an image that can be used, a photographic film should be exposed properly. Both excessive and low exposure can destroy the image. There is a degree of exposure variation that any photographic film can endure in order to produce a high quality image. This degree of exposure variation is called exposure latitude. A color print film will always have higher exposure latitude as compared to any other film.

Another important aspect of a print film is the optical density, which refers to the concentration of silver salts or dyes that remain on the film even after development. Normally, a darker image as seen on the negative will have a higher optical density as compared to a transparent image.

Most of the print films are affected by silver grain activation, which helps in setting a certain amount of light that is required for exposing a single grain. It is also affected by the statistics behind random grain activation using photons. This simply reflects at the fact that the print film will require a minimum degree of light radiation before it can start to expose, and soon after it will start responding by following a progressive darkening over a wider dynamic range as far as exposure is concerned. This will keep on happening till all the grains have been exposed and thus the film will achieve its maximum optical density after development.

Some of the most common print film speeds that is used in film cameras start from ISO 25, 50, 64, 100, 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. The consumer print films normally have a ISO range varying from ISO 100 to ISO 800.

The first ever photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 and he used a sliding wooden box camera. Photography has come a long way since then. The first camera was called Daguerreotypes created by Louis Jacques Daguerre and was followed by the Calotype created by William Fox Talbot. In that era, photography was a luxury but today, due to the technological innovations, photography is one of the most generic hobbies.

The Early Years
If we take a walk back into history, we will find that the first ever photographic film was developed by George Eastman, a man who was considered a pioneer in the world of photographic films and equipments. In 1888, he gave the world a camera called Kodak and in 1900 he created Brownie, which allowed him to enter the mass-market for camera. Today Kodak is a brand name that offers photographic films as well as digital cameras.The 35mm format, which any digital, SLR or point and shoot photographer uses as the benchmark became a popular format in 1925. The introduction of the Leica I (short for Leitz camera) brought about a revolution, and prompted Kodak to join the legion of the 35mm. Almost a decade later, the Japanese entered the worldwide camera market with the launch of Canon 35mm rangefinder and this was just the beginning of a new era in photographic equipments and precision photography.

Digital Photography Age
The development of a digital camera caused quite a stir in the industry and results point out the fact that today the digital camera has achieved higher sales within a short period of time as compared to its predecessor, the 35mm camera. The concept of a digital camera came to the forefront when Steven Sasson of Eastman Kodak who developed the camera using CCD image sensor chips. The drawback was that the camera weighed almost 8lbs and could take only Black & White images with a resolution of 0.01 megapixels. The first image was captured in 1975 by Steven Sasson’s camera.

The first truly digital camera was the Fuji DS-1P with a built-in 16MB memory card although it was never really sold commercially. It was in 1990 that the first commercial digital camera was launched and it was the Dycam Model-1 also known as Logitech Fotoman and it had CCD image sensors. Some of the top digital camera’s today include the Nikon D40x, Canon Digital Rebel, Olympus FE-130 and the Olympus E-510, Fuji F6000 etc.

Processors & Digital Camera Equipments
The performance of a digital camera is dependent on several factors like resolution, which is governed by different parameters like aspect ratio, actual pixel count etc. But the most important component of the Digital camera that assists in digital photography is the processor. Most of the top digital camera firms or manufacturers develop and manufacture their own processors like Canon’s DIGIC chip, which is an all-in-one processor. The DIGIC processor enhances different functions of a digital camera to enable faster AF, improvement in image quality, quick JPEG compression, longer battery life and even rapid continuous shooting. Zoran is another company who has launched a digital camera processor that is capable of supporting DivX Video.

Although internal processors are an integral part of a digital camera but there are several external enhancers that can influence the overall performance and is mostly used by professional photographers using DSLR’s (Digital Single Lens Reflex). The external enhancers sometimes defined under camera equipments will include different type of lens like macro, shift lens, AF lens (can be mounted on both DSLR and SLR), tele-zoom, wide angle etc. Some of the top camera firms develop/manufacture their own lens like the Canon EF200mm f2.8L II USM, which is a tele-zoom lens used mostly by sports photographers. Some of the other popular or commercial digital camera lenses and filter manufacturers include Asahi/Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Tamron, Sigma, Fotoman, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, Horseman, Kodak, Leica, Marumi, Panasonic, Samsung etc.

The world of digital camera has become bigger, wider and more competitive as firms vie with each other to develop and manufacture compact equipments, which are easier to handle and can create a perfect digital photography experience for both amateurs and professionals.