Introduction to photography

The first part of my Media Project I module is a three-week photography course. In today's class we have listened about an introduction to the photographic theory, seen the demonstration of photography equipment - looking at DSLR cameras and lenses, going through the use of camera batteries, memory cards and camera maintenance. Then we discussed what about EXIF details, contact sheets and our blogs. 

Photography plays vital role in Media. What is the most important for me as a Media student is fact that I will not only learn about technical skills but also have recognition of subject and how it is portrayed. The word 'photography' actually means 'drawing with light'. This definition was invited by Sir John Hershel, a British scientist, in 1839. It comes from the Greek words - 'photo', which means light, and 'graph', which means to draw.  As we can read: "In a letter to his wife on January 22, 1839, a friend briefly commented on Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre’s experiments with the action of light. With a renewed interest, amazingly, Herschel was able to make photographs within a few days of reading the letter. As quickly as February 1, William Henry Fox Talbot visited Herschel. Based on his research in 1819, Herschel solved the problem of fixing that plagued early photographic experimenters. That same year and the following years of 1840 and 1842, Herschel published papers on photography. One of his most important papers, “On the Art of Photography; or the Application of the Chemical Rays of Light to the Purpose of Pictorial Presentation”, was read to the Royal Society on March 14, 1839. In this paper Herschel put to use the word “photography”, “emulsion”, “positive” and “negative”. Although the word “photography” was used as early as 1932 by Professor Stenger, it was Herschel’s paper that finally gave photography a common nomenclature. “Photography” is derived from Greek words that mean “light” and “writing”(International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, 2022). The word photography literally translates to 'drawing with light,' and comes from the Greek words photo, which means light, and 'graph', which means to draw. The act of recording a picture, or photograph, o light-sensitive film, or in the case of digital photography, on a digital sensor is know as photography. 

        Sir John Hershel - International photography hall of fame and museum (2022)

Then we had a look into origins of photography, and from early times people make many technological developments most important during Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. It was also consequence of earlier developments such as the Camera obscura - during the Renaissance, an optical instrument was applied to improve drawing and perspective. 

'Camera obscura'

The simple definition of  a camera obscura is a dark room with an opening in the wall. When the sun shines brightly outside, light enters the hole and projects an upside-down image of the outside world onto the wall opposite the hole. Interesting fact is the name camera obscura came from Latin and translate to 'dark chamber'. As we read: "The earliest known written account of a camera obscura was provided by a Chinese philosopher called Mo-tzu in 400BC. He noted that light from an illuminated object that passed through a pinhole into a dark room created an inverted image of the original object". (Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, 2022). The human eye, according to Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), is similar to a camera obscura. In Codex Atlanticus, he published the first clear description of the camera obscura (1502). Today we can discover many places where we can find natural camera obscuras - for example Calton Hill in Edinburgh. 

                                                                   Calton Hill, Edinburgh (1870)

Now we have advanced equipment to make photos like DSLR camera - which means Digital Single Lens Reflect. A DSLR camera allows to see the exact image we are shooting directly through the viewfinder, allowing us to visualize and capture the scene better. In the next few weeks I will be using it to make my own pictures. DLSR camera consist of the body - it has controls, LCD, the image sensor, and associated circuitry. On the bottom we can find battery compartment, also memory card slot, on&off and shutter button, LCD monitor, DSLR dial where we can find many setting we can use, viewfinder and cable ports to connect camera with the computer. Also we can attach to the camera lenses, they include focus elements that allows to decide which portions of images are sharp and which can be blurred. Lenses also includes zoom function. We can highlight macro lenses, wide angle lenses, telephoto lenses and some specialty lenses. I think now I'm well prepared to go outside and take some professional shots!  

                                                                Canon 'DSLR' Camera

                                                                                'lens'

 

In the next few weeks I will be using Canon 700D DLSR camera to make my own pictures. In the next blog posts I will explain what are the Contact sheets and EXIF details. 

Sources:

International photography hall of fame and museum (2022) Available at: https://iphf.org/inductees/sir-john-frederick-william-herschel/ (Accessed: 14 January 2022)

What is a camera obscura? (2022) Available at: https://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/article/what-is-a-camera-obscura (Accessed: 14 January 2022).