When we had our first meeting in the DDC class, my lecturer told us that there some rules for this class, and one of them is that we need to have SLR Camera. I was wondering, what are we going to do with the Camera? Since there`s a Photography class we can take for the second semester, I thought there will be no photography`s lesson in this class. But I was wrong, one day my lecturer told us to take 3 pictures with our camera, and he`ll grade our photos, so who took the best pictures would get the highest score. And he also told us to find out about the principles of using camera, so that we can take good photos. And I was like; this is going to be so much fun! So, before I took the pictures, I tried to know more about Photography. And here`s some information that I got.
What is Photography?
Photography is the process, activity and arts of creating still or moving pictures by recording radiation on a radiation-sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or electronic image sensors. Photography uses foremost radiation in the UV, visible and near-IR spectrum. For common purposes the term light is used instead of radiation. Light reflected or emitted from objects form a real image on a light sensitive area (film or plate) or a FPA pixel array sensor by means of a pin hole or lens in a device known as a camera during a timed exposure. The result on film or plate is a latent image, subsequently developed into a visual image (negative or dispositive). An image on paper base is known as a print. The result on the FPA pixel array sensor is an electrical charge at each pixel which is electronically processed and stored in a computer (raster)-image file for subsequent display or processing. Photography has many uses for business, science, manufacturing (Photolithography), art, and recreational purposes.
The History of “Photography”
As far as can be ascertained, it was Sir John Herschel in a lecture before the Royal Society of London, on March 14, 1839 who made the word "photography" known to the whole world. But in an article published on February 25 of the same year in a german newspaper called the Vossische Zeitung, Johann von Maedler, a Berlin astronomer, used the word photography already. The word photography is based on the Greek φῶς (photos) "light" and γραφή (graphé) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light".
Something that you should know about Photography and the Camera Controls
Here are the controls that exist in the camera, that we should know before we could playing around with our camera, cause these are the basic info that really important;
Control | Description |
The adjustment to place the sharpest focus where it is desired on the subject. | |
Adjustment of the lens opening, measured as f-number, which controls the amount of light passing through the lens. Aperture also has an effect on depth of field and diffraction – the higher the f-number, the smaller the opening, the less light, the greater the depth of field, and the more the diffraction blur. The focal length divided by the f-number gives the effective aperture diameter. | |
Adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an angle, with mechanical shutters) of the shutter to control the amount of time during which the imaging medium is exposed to light for each exposure. Shutter speed may be used to control the amount of light striking the image plane; 'faster' shutter speeds (that is, those of shorter duration) decrease both the amount of light and the amount of image blurring from motion of the subject and/or camera. | |
On digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated with a given set of lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such on the imaging chip and therefore that the colors in the frame will appear natural. On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by the operator's choice of film stock or with color correction filters. In addition to using white balance to register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a warm color temperature. | |
Metering | Measurement of exposure so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras meter and set exposure automatically. Before automatic exposure, correct exposure was accomplished with the use of a separate light metering device or by the photographer's knowledge and experience of gauging correct settings. To translate the amount of light into a usable aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to adjust for the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. This is done by setting the "film speed" or ISO sensitivity into the meter. |
Traditionally used to "tell the camera" the film speed of the selected film on film cameras, ISO speeds are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of the system's gain from light to numerical output and to control the automatic exposure system. The higher the ISO number the greater the film sensitivity to light, whereas with a lower ISO number, the film is less sensitive to light. A correct combination of ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed leads to an image that is neither too dark nor too light, hence it is 'correctly exposed,' indicated by a centered meter. | |
Autofocus point | On some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR) feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder. |
Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:
- Focal length and type of lens (telephoto or "long" lens, macro, wide angle, fisheye, or zoom)
- Filters placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or behind the lens
- Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.
- The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in pixels or grains of silver halide.
Other image forming techniques
Besides the camera, other methods of forming images with light are available. For instance, a photocopy or xerography machine forms permanent images but uses the transfer of static electrical charges rather than photographic film, hence the term electrophotography. Photograms are images produced by the shadows of objects cast on the photographic paper, without the use of a camera. Objects can also be placed directly on the glass of an image scanner to produce digital pictures.
Before we go further about the techniques and principles of using camera, i got a problem on choosing the camera that i wanted to buy, so, i tried to find out some information that can give me suggestions on choosing the camera that i`m going to use.
Factors to Consider when Choosing a Digital SLR Camera
- Lens Compatibility
- System expandability, and last but not least
- The Price
After i read the whole article and hear some other suggestions, i decided to choose Canon EOS 60D DSLR.Basic Rules for a good Photography
These are some basic rules we should know before using Camera SLR:
- Rule of Thirds
- Simplicity
- Leading Lines
- Straight Horizon
- Framing
- Perspective
- Color
- Symmetry
source: http://blog.lorrifreedman.com/index.php/2008/11/10/basic-rules-for-better-photography/
After i read them all, after i got all information about photography and stuff, i started to play around with my SLR Camera, and these are some of the photos that i`ve taken by the SLR Camera:
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| i took this photo on my way to bandung, it`s the railroad for bandung-jakarta`s trains (i didnt use the SLR camera for this one, i used my usual digi-cam) |
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| one of my fave cafe at Bandung, Congo |
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| i called this one, the gate of love :P |
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| a very nice view i got at one of the famous University in Bandung |
*so sorry for the bad quality, it`s because i need to compress it before i post it :)
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography
