the book of photography

[...]... transmitted through the camera to form a latent image on the film (or digital chip) Lens A simple lens consists of a convex disk of ground and polished glass that refracts the widening light rays traveling away from every point of the subject, so that they converge to form coherent points The point at which the lens focuses these rays – the focal plane – coincides with the position of the film when the lens is... connects the flash head to the power pack Diffused lighting Softbox diffuser A diffuser produces a soft, wide spread of light Flashlight travels through the gauze material of the softbox, making the front panel the light source Flood flash head A flood produces an even spread of illumination over the whole subject Wide beam of light Barn doors flash head A set of four hinged flaps placed around the flash... as above, the bust was shot using a medium-speed film (ISO 200) Note that grain becomes coarser the faster the film Here the film is much faster than the ISO 32 film (each doubling of the ISO number is a doubling of the sensitivity), but the quality is still good, and the grain can only just be detected MODERATE-FAST FILM With the film speed doubled to ISO 400, the appearance of the bust on the full-frame... situations, since they increase the chances of achieving a correctly SLOW FILM This marble bust was shot using a very slow-speed film (ISO 32) Note the delicate, almost creamy texture of the statue’s surface and the soft gradation of tones between the lit right-hand side and the shadowy left-hand side Even in the enlargement (see inset), the appearance of any grain is negligible MEDIUM FILM Using the same lighting... type of film is so sensitive that it will give you acceptable results even by the light of a match The graininess of the resulting image can add to the dramatic impact of the shot DIGITAL CAMERAS The sensitivity of digital sensors can often be changed electronically for each shot to give a range of “film speeds.” FILM SPEED AND C AMERA EQUIPMENT 33 BASIC CAMERA EQUIPMENT For the 35mm SLR user there... Focal plane This is where the rays of light refracted by the lens converge to form a sharp, upside-down image Light traveling from different distances from the camera needs varying degrees of refraction to focus at the focal plane, so a focusing mechanism moves the lens toward or away from the back of the camera The position of the film, or chip, and focal plane coincide if the lens is correctly focused... look, and the flash head is far enough away from the lens to avoid the problem of red eye FLASH FALL-OFF The farther the flash, subject is from the the less light it receives •If the flash-to-subject distance is doubled, the light is spread over four times the area Direct light from built-in flash Bounced light from add-on flash Bounced light from hand-held flash Built-in flash This type of built-in... overriding the automatic exposure system Pentaprism has mirrored surfaces to flip the image on the focusing screen so that it appears the right way round when seen in the viewfinder Frame counter on LCD display Aperture control ring Internal mirror reflects the image onto the focusing screen, so photographer can see the image as it will appear on the film .The mirror swings upward out of the light path when the. .. slightly different The surface of the bust looks less fine and the contrast between light and shade is beginning to increase slightly As you would expect with a faster film, the grain is now fairly noticeable in the enlargement ULTRA-FAST SPEED FILM The ISO 1000 film used for this photograph of the bust is 1.5 times more sensitive than the ISO 400 film, and now the grainy nature of the film emulsion... modify light quality A control switch allows you to alter the strength of the light Larger units require a power pack, linked to the flash head and shutter by a synchronization cable Size and shape of the reflector surrounding the flash head determine the spread of light Central column of lighting stand is telescoped up or down to alter the height of the head Power pack is connected to mains supply; larger . from every point of the subject, so that they converge to form coherent points. The point at which the lens focuses these rays – the focal plane – coincides with the position of the film when the lens. focusing mechanism moves the lens toward or away from the back of the camera. The position of the film, or chip, and focal plane coincide if the lens is correctly focused. Aperture The diameter of the lens diaphragm. attraction of digital cameras is the immediacy of the results. As soon as the picture is taken, you can view the shot on screen. As there is no processing stage, there is also the advantage of low