Week Three
FILM
With film you're creating a negative. With slide film you're creating a positive.
Film Speed How sensitive the film is to light
ISO or ASA ratings given to film signify how sensitive the film is to light
100 = slow
200-400 = medium
800-1600 = fast
Fast film is extremely sensitive to light. You can use fast film in low light conditions which allows for hand holding the camera, faster shutter speeds & smaller apertures. The disadvantage to fast film is grainy prints.
Medium film (200-400 ISO) is most commonly used. Shutter speeds & aperture settings depend on the available light. Generally medium works well indoors and out.
Slow film (100 or less) is not as sensitive to light as medium & fast films are. The disadvantages of slow film are the the camera generally needs to be on a tripod & more light is needed to expose the image properly.
When choosing film
1. How much light will you be shooting in?
2. How far away you'll be form the subject?
3. Can you use a tripod?
4. Do I need to freeze the action?
Caring for film
- Use and develop before expiration date
- Store in a cool dry place
- When traveling remove film from box and container. Pack in sealed, clear plastic bags
- Avoider extreme heat and cold
* Let cool film warm up to room temperature
Color film has 3 layers of emulsions, BW has one.
Cameras: The technical part of photography
Accessories
What you need
-Camera bag that suits your needs
- Strap
- Tripod
- UV or Skylight filter for every lens
- Batteries
-Small notebook & pen
What you might want
- Cable release
- Polarizing filter (cuts glare)
- Other filters depending on film type
- Additional lenses
Colored filters darken blue skies with black and white film. Red is the most useful for that purpose.
General lens notes
- 100mm lens is the most common portrait lens
- Can lose image quality with 300mm lenses
- Wide angle lenses distort facial features
- Normal lens = 50mm
- Wide angle = 35mm
Light: The visible "white" light we see is made up of all colors created by the primary colors of red, yellow and blue.
When you see a blue object you are seeing all the blue light reflected from that object because it has absorbed all the other colors.
Black and White filters: Generally used to light or darken particular colors.
Rule of thumb if you to darken something use an opposite color filter
Cameras
- Light tight box
holder/carrier for light sensitive film (usually a transporter too)
- Lens to form an image on the film
- Diaphragm or aperture to control the light passing through the lens onto the film
- Shutter to control how long the light is allowed to come through aperture
- Viewfinder for composing the image
Various formats
Large format: heavy, use huge negatives and therefore you can make huge prints
Medium format: Use larger (2 x 2 1/4) negatives than 35 mm so therefore it makes larger prints. Normally shoot from the waist with a twin lens reflex camera
SLR: Single lens format camera. 1 x 1 1/2 negatives.