A Short Course in Photography: 5&6

Chapter 5: Developing the Negative

• Consistency and cleanliness pay off, the more dirty your film, the worse your prints will be
• Just be careful me with every process
• Something we don't have in the lab that I might find helpful is a photo sponge, i think i tend to damage my film when I'm trying to get most of the water off and this would help reduce the amount of contact I have with the negatives
• didn't know photo flo was actually an optional part of this
• during the development process
• arrange everything first, make sure you know where all your tools are and that you have adequate space BEFORE turning off lights
• before putting developer into the tank test temp again if the chemicals have been sitting out
• *pour out developer about 10-15 seconds BEFORE the end of the developing period
• when fixing the film:
• check half way through to see if the film is clearing
• if at half way the film is still milky the fixer is exhausted
• after film has been exposed to light it is latent (not yet visible)
• the negative becomes denser and darker the longer it is exposed to developer and with warmer temperatures
• acidic stop bath helps extend life of the fix
• fix dissolves any undeveloped crystals
• development has a big impact on the exposure of the film
• development will control the density of a photos highlights
• exposure controls the shadows
• a normally exposed negative should have:
• good separation of highlights, midtones and shadows
• push processing
• changing the film speed on the camera in order to shoot in very dim settings
• can have effects on developing
• makes it easier to over develop your film

Chapter 6: Printing in a Darkroom

• set up your station so you have three chemicals in a row and the water bath in a separate space
• water bath can act as holding tank and you don't want it getting in the way of your processing
• make sure to put paper in developer EMULSION side down
• don't do the clearing bath until you're ready to put the print in the final wash
• judging exposure
• if pictures look too dark or too light do another test with the enlarger set at a different aperture
• judging contrast
• change paper or use a higher number filter
• density: lightness and darkness of a print
• contrast: difference in darkness between light and dark parts of the same print
• adjust density first, then contrast
• when the print looks good overall, go through and look for places that could be tweaked
• burning versus dodging:
• use cardboard and cover all areas except that which needs to be darker
• vice versa for dodge
• darkening a too light sky or highlighting a face are common ways of applying this method
• cropping works best when you first take the photo
• you can also use sliders on easel to change size of picture
• spotting:
• use liquid photographic dyes and a paint brush to remove unwanted light spots
• the darker the spots, the more diluted the dye
• scratching
• you can use a blade to fine tune and scrape off any areas that are too dark

inspiration

though there are many different things that inspire me in life, this is the first one I want to share because I feel the strongest connection to it. Much of my work and joys in life stem from the desire to feed the childlike spirit that lives inside me. I believe that people are at their best when they're young and lose so much talent, potential and passion when they grow up and forget their young selves.

I absolutely LOVE this quote, however the graphic design of this photo isn't terribly interesting to me

A Short Course in Photography: Chapters 3&4

Chapter 3: Film

• general black and white films are panchromatic: sensitive to the wavelengths of the visual spectrum so the image recorded is similar to the human eye
• orthochromatic: sensitive to blue and green, but not red
• infrared: sensitive to all visible ligt and infrared
• film care:
• load film in the shade to allow the least amount of light possible near the film
• use before expiration date
• store in the fridge
• film speed: how much a film reacts to light
• the faster the film speed, the less exposure the film needs 
• fast film: 
• good for dim places
• fast shutter speeds
• more grainy
• decrease of contrast
• graininess is all based on artistic preference
• chromogenic film: C-41 is bW film developed at walgreens, has less contrast and works based on a color film mode, better for scanning, worse for long term
• infrared BW:good for dark places or nature

Chapter 4: Exposure

• exposure, more than anything dictates how well your photo will come out, if at all
• negative: image produced when film is exposed to light and the developed
• reverse tones of original scene
• the more light that strikes an area, the more 
• exposure determines light/ darkness of a picture
• you can make a good print from less than perfect print due to exposure latitude
• exposure= intensity x time
• exposure changes are measured in stops
• one stop doubles or halves the amount of light being let into the camera
• all meters measure reflected light and averages it
• meters mess up
• if you take a photo with a light source behind your object your meter will be thrown off by the large amount of light coming from the background and overwhelm the low lit subjects features
• give one or two extra stops to highly light scenes and one or two less to dark scenes
• backlight:
• meter the part of your subject facing the camera without getting the light behind the subject in the reading
• high contrast:
• watch out for overexposing the shadows

A Short Course in Photography: Chapters 1&2

In these entries relating to chapters from the photography book, I will write down things I find interesting, important to remember or confusing from the reading.

Chapter 1: camera

• ISO= film speed, everytime you use a different kind of film you must set your camera to the correct film speed. Film canisters have DX codes which the camera reads to automatically know the film speed.
• overexposed: too light
• underexposed: too dark
• SLR: single lens reflex, popular among photojournalists and fashion photographers
• the faster the shutter speed, the sharper the moving object will appear
• the smaller the aperture, the more of the picture that will be sharp
• the longer the focal length, the larger objects will appear
• you can set the camera to shutter or aperture priority to have the camera automatically change only the one
• shutter speed: affects light and motion
• slower: more light enters; more motion blur
• faster: less light enters; less chance of motion blurring
• aperture: affects light and depth of field
• smaller: less light enters; more depth of field
• bigger: more light enters; less depth of field

Chapter 2: Lens

• a lens is not needed for a camera to work
• main function is to project a sharp, undistorted image onto the light sensitive surface
• lens focal length: dictates how much of a scene you can take in 
• smaller the focal length, the more you get in a picture
• longer allows you to zoom on things
• med-long is good for portraits
• short lenses can create interesting perspectives by making objects in the foreground larger
• macro lens: used for close up photography
• fisheye lens: distort image, lots of depth of field
• sharp focus attracts the eye
• lower aperture increases depth of field and more of the photograph will be in focus
• shorter focal length increases depth of field
• moving away from your subject increases depth of field
• photographs can do a lot to determine the perspective and impression of subjects 
• Close ups
• depth of field is shallow
• increase exposures
• use a tripod
• filters:
• in black and white photography, blue tends to be faded and less sharp
• filters lighten one color and darken all others
• polarization helps when photographing around glass, water or any reflective surfaces but tend to work better at specific angles

Bergamont Station

As I added the class on the later side, I didn't get the chance to accompany the class on the field trip to Bergamont Station. I did however look a lot at the Station's gallery website and was particularly drawn to one exhibition in particular.

Arthur Tess: San Francisco drew my eyes for two main reason. First, the year it's set is 1963 which happens to be the year my mother was born and the photos are taken in San Francisco, my hometown. Second, I was really drawn to the juxtaposition of the subjects and their surroundings. One photo in particular I found really interesting consists of a woman sitting on a stone ledge next to look out binoculars. The woman and the binoculars have a striking resemblance and stiff, cool feeling about them.
The way the people are portrayed and affected by their surroundings really stood out to me in these photos. As I am brand new to photography student I was really inspired and surprised by how much simple things can affect the general tone of your photos.

Here is the link to the cite:
http://bergamotstation.com/gallery.php?id=110735&bg=rosegallery#