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COM 343: HISTORY OF COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY Lesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES Metin Ersoy Faculty of Communication and Media Studies

COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

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COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY. Lesson 4 : LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES. Metin Ersoy F aculty of Communication and Media Studies. Lesson 4 : LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES. LIGHTING - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

COM 343: HISTORY OF COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHYLesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES

Metin ErsoyFaculty of Communication and Media Studies

Page 2: COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Lesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES

LIGHTINGIn the early days of photography the

only source of light was, of course, the sun, so most photography depended upon long days and good weather.

The nearer to the birth of photography, the greater the amount of lighting needed, as the first chemical emulsions were very insensitive.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESThe importance of light

◦Without light, photography would not exist. In fact, the word photography comes from the word photo, a Greek word meaning "light". Before you can understand photography, you must first understand light. Even if you have the most sophisticated of cameras, and the most expensive and sharpest of lenses, without light your photographs would be impossible, and your cameras and lenses would be useless.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESLight and the photograph

◦To understand why light is important to a photograph, you must understand how an image is captured onto your film.

◦The film you place in your camera is something called a photosensitive material, which means "a material that is sensitive to light".

◦Film is basically material that reacts in a way that when light rays hit it, an image forms (However, to actually see the image you must first process, or develop the film).

Page 5: COM 343: HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESLight comes in a variety of flavors,

here I explain a few of them.◦Sunlight- This is an example of natural light, or light that is not created by people. This light comes from no other than our own sun. While the sun gives surely enough light for film to be exposed at, you must still do some serious thinking before taking the picture. For one thing, the time of day will affect the quality of your photo.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESOvercast skylight- Though related

to sunlight, this type of light is different in many ways. For one thing, you will not get the harsh shadows that appear in direct sun. Because clouds are blocking the sun, light is diffused, or scattered, thus softening shadows. Also, clouds can give a dramatic touch to your photos.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESIndoor(artificial) light- This is

about the toughest type of light to get a good, bright picture, in my opinion. Unless you have incredibly bright searchlights as the main room lighting you will need a reasonably fast lens and perhaps a tripod to get a good exposure.

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Lesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES

The first artificial light photography dates back as far as 1839, when L. Ibbetson used oxy-hydrogen light (also known as limelight) when photographing microscopic objects; he made a daguerreotype in five minutes which, he claimed, would have taken twenty-five minutes in normal daylight.

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Lesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES

Other possibilities were explored. Nadar, for example, photographed the sewers in Paris, using battery-operated lighting. Later arc-lamps were introduced, but it was not until 1877 that the first studio lit by electric light was opened by Van der Weyde, who had a studio in Regent Street.

Powered by a gas-driven dynamo, the light was sufficient to permit exposures of some 2 to 3 seconds for a carte-de-visite.

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Lesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES

That same year (1859) Professor Robert Bunsen (of Bunsen burner fame) was also advocating the use of magnesium.

The first portrait using magnesium was taken by Alfred Brothers of Manchester (22 February 1864); some of the results of his experiments may be found in the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology.

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Lesson 4: LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINES

It was however very expensive at that time and did not come into general use until there was a dramatic fall in the cost of magnesium a decade later.

This, coupled with the introduction of dry plates in the 80s soon led to the introduction of magnesium flashlamps. They all used the same principle: a small amount of this powder would be blown, using a small rubber pump, through a spirit flame, producing a bright flash lasting about 1/15s. It also produced much smoke and ash!

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESThen in the late 1880s it was

discovered that magnesium powder, if mixed with an oxidising agent such as potassium chlorate, would ignite with very little persuasion. This led to the

introduction of flash powder.However the explosive flashpowder

could be quite dangerous if misused. This was not really superseded until the invention of the flashbulb in the late 1920s.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESEarly flash photography was not

synchronised. This meant that one had to put a camera on a tripod, open the shutter, trigger the flash, and close the shutter again - a technique known as open flash.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESIn fact, the "open flash" technique, with

flash powder, was still being used by some photographers until the 1950s.

This was particularly so when, for example, a large building was being photographed; with someone operating the shutter for multiple exposures, it was possible to use the flash at different places, to provide more even illumination.

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LessonLesson 44: : LIGHT AND PHOTO LIGHT AND PHOTO MACHINESMACHINESThere is a huge variety of

cameras to choose from.CAMERA HISTORY