P FS

1. Photography
The first photograph was taken by Joseph
Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. The French scientist
captured “A view from the window Le Gras” by
exposing a bitumen coated plate in a camera
obscura (Gernsheim, 1969). This earliest
surviving photograph took several hours to
capture and develop as areas that were
exposed to more light caused the bitumen to
become less soluble and therefore those areas
appeared darker. (Jeffery Easby, 2015).
Niépce dissolved the leftover, uncovered
bitumen with a solution of lavender oil and
petroleum to make the image permanent.
Despite this discovery being revolutionary,
it was difficult and very time consuming.
Due to constantly evolving technology,
taking a photograph has gone from taking
hours to taking less than a second.
Digital Single Lens Reflex (DLSR)
Camera
LENS - where light enters
the camera and photo
processing begins. Focusses
light to a fixed point &
controls how much light
enters, focal length and
aperture. Lenses can be
removable or permanently
fixed
VIEWFINDER – shows what the lens sees live,
via interconnected mirrors, which direct the
light from the lens to the viewfinder. It helps
the photographer adjust settings prior to
capturing the picture to take their optimal,
desired photograph
SHUTTER – adjustable and controls
the amount of time light is exposed
to the film
SENSOR - converts the optical image
into an electrical signal, which can then
be stored in a memory card (Ranjan,
2017)
ISO (International Standard
Organisation)
controls the amount of light through sensitivity. Tells
the camera how much light is needed to produce a
picture
3 factors
affecting light exposure
Shutter speed
control the amount of light the sensors is exposed
through, via length of time, often measured in fractions
of seconds
Aperture
(opening, like the pupil in a human eye)
controls exposure of light through intensity, thus the
smaller the hole, the less light that can enter the lens
and the less intense the light is
(Ryan, 2013)