Exam Study Guide

LaBrie Photography 1

SAFETY & DARKROOM:

Safety/Handling & First Aid with Chemicals:

Spilled liquids should be wiped up immediately to avoid slipping.

USE TONGS to get paper out of chemicals.
Everyone is responsible for safety in the class, not just the teacher
In all cases of eye contact with chemicals, flood the eye with water or saline solution immediately,
continuously and gently for at least 15 minutes.

Chemicals Used:

Developer (film & darkroom)

Stop Bath (film & darkroom)
Fixer (film & darkroom)
Photo Flow (film)

B&W Film Photography

The film cameras we use are called SLR

SLR Single Lens Reflex

35mm This is the kind of film our SLR cameras use. We use Black and white film.

Enlarging:

Contact Sheet: This is the first step in enlarging. It is a sheet that lets you see what all of your negatives look
like, so you can decide on which image to enlarge.

Test Strip: The first step to enlarging, which allows you to see your image at different exposure times and
then decide which exposure is best for that image.

CONTRAST in a black and white image is the difference between the light (white), dark (black) and the
amount of greys in between.

PHOTOGRAM

A photogram is creating a photographic image without use of a negative or camera.

To do this, we lay objects on top of photo paper, and then expose the paper to light. The object blocks light
where it is laying, thus allowing for the paper to be exposed where the object is not. The exposed paper
turns black when developing. The areas where the object was laying will be either white, or shades of gray
if a little light hit it.

LIGHT & EXPOSURE

BASIC LIGHT THEORY:
*

When light is emitted from a source, it moves away or radiates in straight

lines in all directions (This is why a room appears to instantly fill with light
when you turn on a light switch.)
*

Light waves have two characteristics that can be measured

*

Wavelength: the distance from one crest of one

wave to the crest of the next (measured in
Nanometer)

Frequency is a measure is a measure of the number

of waves (cycles) passing a given point in one
second (Hertz)

The portion of light that the human eye can detect or see is referred to as the visible spectrum.

When light is composed of red, green, and blue wavelengths in approximately equal proportions, it is said to
be white light.

LIGHT & OBJECTS:

EXPOSURE:
ISO SPEED: Will control the sensitivity of the sensor
to light
*

The lower the number, the less

sensitive

APERTURE: Controls the size of the diaphragm (hole) that lets light
into the camera.

The aperture affects the Depth of Field. Of an image.

SHUTTERSPEED: Determines how fast the diaphragm (hole) closes while taking a picture. (How long it stays open)

The faster the shutter, the less light enters the camera
The slower the shutter the more light will enter the camera.

HISTORY:

In 1814 Joseph Niepce achieved the first photographic image with the camera obscura - however, the image
required eight hours of light exposure and later faded.

In 1837 Louis Daguerre developed the Daguerreotype; an image that was now fixed and did not fade. This
image also only needed less than thirty minutes of light exposure.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY & FILE TYPES / SIZES:

DSLR: Stand for Digital Single Lens Reflex camera.

Digital cameras do not use film. Instead, they use electronic circuitry to capture a digital image.

SAVING AN IMAGE
Images can be saved in different file formats. The most widely used we will use in class:

.psd: (working document) Photoshop Document (PSD/PDD). This format is a Photoshop-native document,
which means that it was created for the application itself. When you save a file as a PSD document, you'll be
able to retain layers, channels, paths and every other attribute that can be applied in Photoshop.

.jpg: (good for printing) a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital photography (image). The
degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image
quality. is the most common image format used by digital cameras and other photographic image capture
devices

.tiff: (good for printing) One of the most common formats for Photoshop users is the TIFF format.

A TIFF

(Tagged Image File Format) is the most widely used printing format on both Macintosh and PC platforms.
There are few compatibility issues, because most graphic programs will identify a TIFF and interpret the file
correctly. So, if you want to print an image, the TIFF format is the best choice.

.png: (good for web viewing) Common file format when saving for web viewing.

This is a lossless format

that creates a smaller size image without losing quality and supports alpha transparency when saving in
photoshop.

Image size and quality is determined by resolution, also known as dpi (dots per inch) which tells how many
pixels per inch make up the image. Different resolutions are good for different purposes.

Image to print should be 300+ dpi

Image for web viewing should be 72 dpi

File Size is determined by Bytes. each increment increases by 1024 bytes. So, the smallest file size is a byte. The
sizes increase as follows:

1. 1024 bytes = 1KB (kilobyte)

2. 1024 kb

= 1MB (megabyte)

3. 1024 mb = 1GB (gigabyte)

4. 1024 gb

= 1TB (terabyte)

Portfolio is a collection of photographs that displays the best and most recent work of a photographer. These can
be displayed digitally as well as on paper.

Depth of Field is the range of distance in a photo that appears in focus.

Depth of Field is changed with aperture.

Destructive Editing is when you perform edits on the original image data.

This cannot be changed or undone

easily.

Non-Destructive Editing is when you perform changes to a file by creating new layers and editing on those
layers. This type of editing does not alter the original image data and can be easily changed later or removed.

When a camera records an image onto the sensor, the image is

recorded upside down and negative.

Compositional Tools in Photography

Rule of Thirds:
Imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal segments by 2 vertical
and 2 horizontal lines. The rule of thirds says that you should position
the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the
points where they intersect. Doing so will add balance and interest to
your photo.

Balancing Subjects:
Placing your main subject off-center, as with the rule of thirds, creates a
more interesting photo, but it can leave a void in the scene which can
make it feel empty. You should balance the "weight" of your subject by
including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

Leading Lines:
When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. By
thinking about how you place lines in your composition, you can affect
the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the
subject, or on a journey "through" the scene. There are many different
types of line - straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag, radial etc - and each can
be used to enhance our photo's composition.

Symmetry & Pattern:

We are surrounded by symmetry and patterns, both natural and manmade. They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in
situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them
is to break the symmetry or pattern in some way, introducing tension
and a focal point to the scene.

Viewpoint / Perspective:
Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you
will shoot it from. Our viewpoint has a massive impact on the
composition of our photo, and as a result it can greatly affect the
message that the shot conveys. Rather than just shooting from eye
level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level,
from the side, from the back, from a long way away, from very close up,
and so on.

Background
Have you ever taken what you thought would be a great shot, only to
find that the final image lacks impact because the subject blends into a
busy background? The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between
different elements in a scene, whereas a camera has a tendency to
flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an
otherwise great photo. Thankfully this problem is usually easy to
overcome at the time of shooting - look around for a plain and
unobtrusive background and compose your shot so that it doesn't
distract or detract from the subject.

Depth:
Because photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose
our composition carefully to conveys the sense of depth that was
present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including
objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. Another
useful composition technique is overlapping, where you deliberately
partially obscure one object with another. The human eye naturally
recognizes these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an
image with more depth.

Framing:
The world is full of objects which make perfect natural frames, such as
trees, archways and holes. By placing these around the edge of the
composition you help to isolate the main subject from the outside
world. The result is a more focused image which draws your eye
naturally to the main point of interest.