Photography is the art of capturing light with a camera to create an image. The document provides a brief history of photography from the first photograph taken in 1826 to modern digital cameras. It discusses key aspects of photography including camera equipment, composition principles like the rule of thirds, exposure concepts like aperture and shutter speed, the importance of lighting, and an overview of different lens types and their functions.

1. PHOTOGRAPHY• Notes By : Ashish Richhariya
• Course : FTNMP / BMM
• Designation : Faculty at Thakur College Of Science & Commerce
• Query : arichhariya30@gmail.com

2. PHOTOGRAPHY

3. What is Photography?
•Photography is the art of capturing light with a camera, usually via a
digital sensor or film, to create an image.
•With the right camera equipment, you can even photograph
wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye, including UV,
infrared, and radio.
•The device that is used to take photos is called a camera.
Photographs are the visual records created by the impressions of
light on a variety of light-sensitive surfaces. Literally also, the word
photograph means “drawing with light”.
•The word photograph is made of two Greek words; photo means
light and graph means drawing (or record).

4. •Photography has been around for over 160 years.
•During that time period, it has become the most common
form of image making.
• As ‘the’ means of visual communication, it is indispensable.
• As an art form, it offers opportunities, which differ greatly
from painting and other picture-making techniques that rely on
manual and visual skills.
•The world first learned how to make photographs in 1839.
History of Photography:

5. The first photo:
The world’s first photograph—or at least the oldest surviving
photo—was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827.
Captured using a technique known as heliography, the shot was
taken from an upstairs window at Niépce’s estate in Burgundy.

6. Camera

7. •Cameras are important to people in many aspects. They are useful in
capturing memories and moments which can be preserved either in the soft or
hard copy.
•The development of camera from the age of a room-size box to what it is
currently has taken a lot effort, trial and error, and has involved several people
in the process.
•Camera, in photography, device for recording an image of an object on a
light-sensitive surface; it is essentially a light-tight box with an aperture to
admit light focused onto a sensitized film or plate.
•When a picture is taken, the camera's shutter opens and closes, exposing the
photosensitive film with light recording the image onto the film.
•Today, the traditional camera like that shown in the picture is being replaced
by digital camera’s, webcam’s, and smart phone's.

8. History of Camera:
•The first portable camera was designed by Johann Zahn in 1685. Not much
progress was made in the development for up to approximately 130 years later.
•Most of the attempts to make cameras in between were futile. It was not until
the year 1814 when Joseph Nicephore Niepce clicked the first photograph
•. The credit for the invention of the first camera is therefore co-shared between
Johann Zahn and Joseph Nicephore Niepce.
•Alexander Walcott invented the first camera that produced photos that did not
fade quickly. From this point onwards, several people were involved in
developing the methods and camera for superior quality images.
•The progress made involved invention of less blurred and colored
photography, negatives, and smaller cameras.

10. 1500
•Camera Obscura, the first pinhole camera was
invented by Ibn Al-Haytham. It is a box with a small
hole in it, through which light travels and strikes a
reflective surface to project an image in color,
upside down. The camera obscura was originally
used to observe solar events and in drawing
architecture.
1839
•The Daguerreotype Camera by Louis
Daguerre is one of the world’s most
expensive cameras.
•Daguerre and Niépce found that if a copper plate
coated with silver iodide was exposed to light in
a camera, then fumed with mercury vapor and
fixed (made permanent) by a solution of common
salt, a permanent image would be formed. A great
number of daguerreotypes, especially portraits,
were made in the mid-19th century

11. 1888
•George Eastman, a pioneer in
photographic films usage, patented Kodak
roll-film camera.
1900
•The Kodak Brownie Camera by Eastman.
George Eastman invented the Kodak
camera, helping make photography
accessible to the public. His company
remains one of the largest in the industry.
•The Kodak "Brownie" camera made its
debut at the turn of the twentieth century
and sold for one dollar. One hundred
thousand of them were purchased during
the first year alone. The Brownie helped to
put photography into the hands of
amateurs and allowed the middle class to
take their own "snapshots" as well.

12. 1948
•Edwin Land invented the Polaroid camera which could
take a picture and print it in about one minute was invented
by Edwin Land.
1978
•First autofocus camera Konica C35 AF by Konica.
•Polarization refers to a physical property of light
waves. As the waves move forward, they vibrate
vertically, horizontally, and at all angles in between.
•The system revolutionized traditional photography by
compressing darkroom processes into an integrated film
unit and producing a final photograph in the seconds
following the click of a camera shutter.
• The Konica C35 AF (nicknamed "Jasupin") is a
milestone camera in that it was the world's first
production autofocuscamera. This was a "passive" rather
than the subsequently more popular "active" system

13. 1991
•Kodak released the first professional digital camera
system (DCS) which was widely used by
photojournalists. It only took 50 milliseconds to capture
the image, but it took 23 seconds to record it to the tape
2000
•The world’s first camera phone. The
camera and the phone components were
essentially separate devices housed in the
same body.
2005
•The canon EOS 5D is launched.
•The shutter is rated to 100,000 shots,and is
capable of speeds up to 1/8000 sec, with a flash
sync speed of 1/200 sec.
•The EOS 5D is notable for being the first full-
frame DSLR camera with a standard body size

14. Basics of Photography:
C
E
L
L
COMPOSITION
EXPOSURE
LENS
LIGHTS

15. Composition in Photography
•Composition is the language of photography. How your subjects
appear relative to each other, any additional objects, and the
background communicates a lot to the viewer.
•Following are the 5 principles of Composition:
1. The Rule of Thirds
2. Leading Lines
3. Reduce Clutter
4. Contrasting Colors
5. Creative Framing

16. 1.Rule of Thirds:
•In photography, the rule of thirds is a type of composition in which an image
is divided evenly into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and the subject of
the image is placed at the intersection of those dividing lines, or along one of
the lines itself.
• To understand and use the rule of thirds, simply break up an image into thirds
both horizontally and vertically, as seen here. The four intersection points of
these lines, and the four lines themselves, are where subjects, or strong
compositional lines of a photograph, can be placed to create a strong, balanced
image.

18. 2. Leading Lines
•Leading lines are diagonal lines that naturally exist in a scene which help the
viewer’s eyes move from one direction to another.
•The lines are created from converging perspectives as seen through the
camera. They should be framed in a way that draws the viewers eyes towards
the primary subject as they can draw your eyes away from the subject when
used improperly.
• Leading lines is an image composition technique that features line shapes—
like, say, a road or river—to draw the viewer’s eye to the intended subject of
the photograph.

19. 3. Reduce Clutter
•Clutter is pretty much anything in the photograph that takes your attention
away from your primary subject. This can be anything from a Styrofoam cup, a
busy tree branch, or any busy details on a focused background that doesn’t
help enhance the scene.
•This of course doesn’t mean that you can nor should you only shoot against a
plain background. Shallow depth of field is another great way to reduce clutter
and give visual weight to your subject.

20. 4. Contrasting Colors
•Another way to make your subject stand out is by using contrasting colors.
Examples of this include vibrant vs. muted colors, warm vs. cool colors, and
dark vs. light colors. The last one, light and dark, is especially important
because our eyes tend to move from darker colors towards lighter colors.
•Color contrast is used to achieve great compositions. When two
opposing colors are placed together they complement and accentuate
the qualities of the other color. Cold colors and warm colors almost
always contrast, light colors contrast against dark ones and bold colors
offset weak colors.

21. 5. Creative Framing
•Framing is a photography compositional technique that isolates a subject
using elements within a scene as a frame. For example, you might place
your subject so that they’re surrounded by a tunnel, a window, or leafy
branches. In other words, it’s including a frame within your frame to direct
the viewer’s eye to your subject.
•Framing your subjects is a great way to isolate your subject is to use
framing. This can be done with either defocused foreground objects or solid
color shape elements.

22. EXPOSURE
•When we talk about “exposure,” we simply mean the
brightness or darkness of a photo. It seems simple
enough to take a photo that is correctly exposed (has
the proper brightness or darkness), but in reality, it can
be quite tricky. Exposure uses Aperture, Shutter speed,
and ISO in conjunction to create a properly exposed
image.

23. ISO: International Standards Organization
•ISO controls the camera’s sensitivity to light. A low ISO setting means
the camera will be less sensitive to light, while a higher ISO means it will
be more sensitive to light. However, the quality of the image will decrease
as the ISO increases and you may see 'noise' on the image with a higher
ISO. An ISO setting of 100 to 200 is usually ideal when shooting outdoors
during the day, but when shooting in low light situations, such as indoors
or at night, a higher ISO of 400 to 800 or higher might be necessary.

24. Understanding ISO:

25. Aperture
•Aperture is the opening in your lens and controls how much light
gets through to the camera’s sensor as well as the depth of field.
Depth of field refers to the area surrounding the focal point of the
image which remains sharp. A wider aperture (indicated by a lower f-
number) lets more light through, but has a narrow depth of field.
While a narrow aperture (indicated by a higher f-number) lets less
light through, but has a wider depth of field. A wide aperture is great
when you want to isolate your subject, but when you want the whole
scene to be in focus, such as with group shots, you’ll need to use a
narrow aperture.

26. Understanding Aperture:

27. Shutter speed
•Shutter speed controls how long the shutter stays open when you
take a picture. The longer the shutter stays open, the more light
gets through to the camera’s sensor. A fast shutter speed is good
for freezing action, while a longer shutter speed will blur motion.
Long shutter speeds can give interesting effects, but usually
require a tripod.

28. Histogram
•A histogram is a graphical representation of the tonal values of your image.
In other words, it shows the amount of tones of particular brightness found in
your photograph ranging from black (0% brightness) to white (100%
brightness). Histogram is exposure-dependent, but is also affected by tone
curve and other settings.
•If a certain portion of the histogram is “touching” either edge, it will indicate
loss of detail, also called clipping. Highlight clipping (areas that are
completely white and absent detail) occurs if the graph is touching the right
side of histogram. Shadow clipping (areas that are completely black and
absent detail) occurs if the graph is touching the left side of histogram.

29. Understanding Histogram:

30. Importance of Lighting:
•Lighting is a key factor in creating a successful image.
Lighting determines not only brightness and darkness,
but also tone, mood and the atmosphere.
• Therefore it is necessary to control and manipulate light
correctly in order to get the best texture, vibrancy of color
and luminosity on your subjects.

31. 1. Flat light
•When you have your light source facing directly at
the front of your subject, this is flat lighting. Flat
lighting on a face will mean that your subject is
well lit and you are unable to see any shadows
along their face.
•Since shadows can draw out imperfections and
textures, flat lighting is beneficial when
photographing babies in their acne skin weeks,
teens with heavy blemishes, and elderly people
feeling insecure about their wrinkles.
2. Broad light
•With broad light (a type of side lighting),
the face of your subject is at an angle and
the most well-lit side of the face is closest
to the camera and the shadow falls on the
back side of the face. This type of light can
make a face look fuller so it’s ideal for
those with very narrow faces.

32. 3. Short light
•Another type of side lighting, short light is the
opposite of broad light in that the face is at an
angle and the shadow falls on the side of the
face closest to the camera. This type of light
works well to thin a face and is flattering on most
people.
4. Split light
•Split lighting is another type of side lighting but
it is defined as light that hits your subject from
the side at a 90 degree angle.
•You can easily recognize split lighting in an
image by half of the subject being lit and the
other half in the shadows. With a face
specifically, you’ll see the shadow line straight
down the middle of the forehead, nose, and
chin.

33. 5. Backlight
•Backlight is just that, light that comes from
behind your subject. This is commonly seen in
photos from the beloved golden hour, when
the sun is low in the horizon and starting to
set, but can be done at all hours of the day.
•Sources of backlight can include a window
behind your subject in the middle of the day to
a flash placed behind with a colorful gel for
something fun. Also known as Semi-
Silhouette
6. Rim light
•Rim light falls under the backlight category
but deserves a spot of its own. With
backlight you often see the hazy or airiness
from the light in the background resulting in
highlights but you don’t have that with rim
light.
•With rim light, you’ll see the light from
behind only highlight the edges of your
subject

34. 7. Butterfly light
•With butterfly light, the light is placed above and in
front of your subject to create a small shadow under
the nose resembling a butterfly (hence the name).
This type of light beautifully highlights prominent
cheekbones which is why you most often see it used
on women.
•However, it emphasizes the shadows from deep set
eyes.
8. Silhouette
•Silhouette is defined as an outline that appears
dark against a light background. More specifically,
it is where your subject is seen as a black shape
without detail against a brighter background. This
is an artistic outcome that many photographers
like to perfect. This effect can be achieved with
any kind of bright light source, but of course the
most commonly used is the sun around sunrise or
sunset. The backlighting from the sun shadows
everything towards you and produces this effect.

35. Lens

36. •A camera without a lens is useless to a photographer. The lens is what focuses
light from what you see through the viewfinder into a tiny, (typically) 35mm spot
on the back of your film, DSLR, or mirror less camera. If you remove the lens
from your camera, the only kind of image you can produce is white light.
Consequently, a high-quality lens can help you capture great photos even with a
cheap camera, while a low-quality lens can make the best camera mediocre and
the resulting image quality, poor.
•The creative use of the lens gives photography its expressive qualities -
they shape the way you “see” the world through the viewfinder.

37. The Focal Length
•A primary characteristic of a lens is the focal length. A lens’ focal length
is defined as the distance between the lens’ optical center and the
camera’s image sensor (or film plane) when focused at infinity.
•Shorter focal length lenses provide a wider field of view but offer less
magnification. Conversely, longer focal lengths provide a shorter field
of view but provide greater magnification.

38. The Lens Ratio
•When you look upon the front end of your lens barrel, you’ll see a ratio
number (1:2.8, 1:2.8-4, 1:3.5-5.6, etc), which is the maximum aperture of
the lens. The aperture determines how much light the lens transmits to
the image sensor.
•A lens with a low f-number (wide maximum aperture), is a better quality
lens and allows you to do more with it. For example, such a lens is
“brighter,” allowing you to take photos in low ambient light conditions, yet
still register a quality exposure. In addition, these bright lenses will enable
you to achieve a very shallow depth of field.

39. Types of Lenses:
Standard/Normal Lens Wide Angle Lens Telephoto Lens Zoom Lens
Fisheye Lens Macro Lens Tilt-Shift Lens

40. Standard/Normal Lens
•The standard lens has a fixed focal length (50mm, 85mm, 100mm), and
reproduces fairly accurately what the human eye sees – in terms of
perspective and angle of view.
For a 35mm film camera or a full-frame DSLR, the 50mm lens is considered
standard.
•At higher focal lengths (85mm or 100mm) you have an ideal lens for
portraiture because when coupled with a wide aperture they thoroughly
soften any background detail, thus making it less likely to distract from the
main subject

41. Wide Angle Lens
•A wide-angle has a shorter focal length (10 thru 42mm) when
compared to a standard lens.
•This enables you to capture a comparatively wider angle of view. A
wide-angle lens is a natural choice for capturing outdoor landscapes
and group portraits.
•In fact, wide angle can be the only way to capture the complete
setting without omitting any important elements in the image.

42. Telephoto Lens
•Telephoto lenses (100mm – 800mm) can provide you with a narrow field of
view. These long lenses enable you to compress a distance (and compress
the sense of depth, as well) and pick out specific objects from far off.
•They have a strong resolving power and an inherent shallow DOF, where
the slightest lateral moment can take a subject out of view.
•Telephoto lenses are great for wildlife, portrait, sports, and documentary
types of photography .They enable you to capture subjects from hundreds
of feet away.

43. Zoom Lens
•Zoom lenses have variable focal lengths, and are extremely useful.
Some can range between a wide-angle and a telephoto (i.e. 24 to
300mm) so you have extensive versatility for composition.
•The trade-off with zoom lenses is the aperture. Because of the number
of elements required in constructing these lenses, they have a limited
ability to open up and allow in light.

44. Fisheye Lens
•A fisheye lens is a specialized, wide-angle lens that provides
extremely wide images by changing straight lines into curves.
•It can sometimes produce circular, convex, or oval images by
distorting the perspective and creating a 180° image. The range of
focal length varies between 7~16mm in a fish-eye lens.

45. Macro Lens
•Macro lenses are used for close-up or “macro” photography.
They range in focal lengths of between 50-200mm. These lenses
obtain razor-sharp focus for subjects within the macro focus distance,
but lose their ability for sharp focus at other distances.
•These lenses enable the photographer to obtain life-size or larger
images of subjects like wasps, butterflies, and flowers.

46. Tilt-Shift Lens
•The Tilt-Shift lens enables you to manipulate the vanishing points, so
when you’re shooting buildings you can alter the perspective of an
image so the parallel lines don’t converge, thus eliminating the
distorting quality of the lens.
•The tilt-shift lens also enables you to selectively focus an image;
where only specific portions of the image are in focus and out of focus
within the same plane.

47. Designing

48. •Photography in design can be more impactful than graphics or
illustration as it communicates the message with a sense of realism,
and often packs more of a visual punch, too. However, when your
design features photography, some key aspects can get lost in the
creation. In this post, eleven top designers share their wisdom of
how to maximize the power of photography in design.
•Successful photos rely on order, and the main elements that bring
and emphasize order in a composition are: line, shape, form,
texture, pattern, and color. Every photograph, intentionally or not,
contains one or more of these element, which are known as the
elements of design.

49. •Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved. Lines can be
short or tall, can be thick or thin. Lines can lead you away, or move
you forward in an image. A line's emotional effect on an image cannot
be overlooked. They sometimes feel restful, soothing, rigid, active,
guiding, or threatening.
•Thick lines can be experienced as rigid and dependant, or can be
experienced as dominating or stern. Curved lines are often perceived
as soft, soothing, settling, and relaxing.
Line
ELEMNTS OF DESIGN

50. Shape
•The second most fundamental element of design is shape,
because shape is the principal element of identification. The most
important thing to keep in mind when shape is the essential element
in an image is that it is best defined when the subject is front lit or
backlit. For that shape to be successfully identifiable, it needs to be
in strong contrast with its surroundings so that it is detached from
the clutter around it.
•Shapes in images can also be seen as silhouettes - these are
best shot several minutes before sunset up to several minutes
following it, as well as several minutes before sunrise up to
several minutes following it.

51. Texture
•No design element is more capable of moving your deep emotions than
texture. The challenge of seeing and capturing texture is mostly based
on one element - light. Texture can be accentuated by the side light of
early sunny mornings or early evenings, or by overhead light when the
sun is vertical and high in the sky.
•Furthermore, it is worth noting that texture as a background can
create an exciting and emotion-filled composition. And with the
correct use of texture, pictures can become more alive and almost
three dimensional.

52. Pattern
•Life is full of patterns. It is all part of our cosmic existence, for without
patterns our lives would be utter chaos. Most patterns we don't
recognize or we overlook because of our busy, routine-driven, daily
lives. Two techniques come into practice while working with patterns;
you can emphasize the pattern, or you can break it:
•Emphasizing a pattern can accentuate a sense of size and
expansion. The idea is to zoom in onto the pattern and fill the frame
with it. Emphasized pattern can include faces amongst a crowd, a
line of homogenous plants, bricks of a wall, etc

53. Color
•Color is characterized by attributes such as value, hue, and saturation.
Colors, and how they're arranged, can either make or break a shot.
Different colors can send out different messages, and they indeed have
an important visual weight and impact on a photo.
Vibrant colors are energetic, interesting, and active. So are reds and
yellows. Blues and greens are comforting and soothing. The path
towards creating creative photos benefits from a high understanding of
colors and their impact on an image, as well as a high awareness of
colors surrounding you.

54. Types of Photography:
•With great cameras now built in to smart phones, making an image
has become less about artistry and more about utility. We take
pictures of things we want to remember—this could be anything from
a wedding or vacation to what we ate for breakfast.
•Technology has expanded its visual possibilities, with different
apparatuses and lenses making it possible for us to capture
different types of photography in ways we wouldn’t have
dreamed before.

55. Aerial Photography
•Aerial photography has a long and rich history, which started in
1858 when photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon tethered a
camera to a balloon. Since then, it’s only gotten better thanks to
the advent of drones. Photographer Andy Yeung tells us, “What
I like most about working with drones is that we can see things
we normally don’t have access to. Plus, drones add a layer
between traditional aerial pictures and ground pictures, making
the creative process more interesting.”

56. Black and White Photography
•Modern black and white pictures keep photography’s oldest
tradition alive. Now, shooting with this limited palette is a stylistic
choice rather than a necessity, and image makers use it as a way to
add timeless drama to their compositions. When shooting a
photograph in black and white, it’s most important to remember
contrast; the shadows will look more defined, and your extreme
tones will appear crisp and clean.

57. Dance Photography
•Photography offers an ideal way to
capture the beauty of dance. The best
images are moments frozen in time that
showcase the artistry and strength of its
subjects. But, photographing these
images aren’t as effortless as they look.
To capture a dancer especially one in
mid air split-seconds count, so you need
to have a fast shutter speed on your
camera. Also, you must consider the
best angle at which to point your device;
dance is more than just body movement,
so be sure to photograph a dancer’s face
to really get the essence of their
performance.

58. Food Photography
•One of the biggest trends in social media still is taking pictures
of your food. Professional chefs and amateurs alike can make
our mouths water with one appetizing image. To ensure that the
dish will look delicious, there are a few tips to remember: make
sure your food is well lit (try photographing in natural light); pay
attention to your props; and shoot quickly food doesn’t last
forever before it melts or collapses!

59. Macro Photography
•Macro photography makes things that are small appear larger than life.
It’s got a broad range of applications, but one of our favorites is in
photographing tiny bugs and plants. Exotic insects have their amazing
colors and characteristics magnified, and as a result, we see all of the
details that we would normally miss.

60. Interior Photography
Anyone can snap a photo of their
home, but great interior photographers
create awe-inspiring views of
a confined space. Some of the most
impressive images are of grandiose
settings like opera houses.
•These particular places are
designed to be spectacular, but with
the right angles and composition, even
something as ordinary as stairs can be
exciting.

61. Natural Landscape Photography
•When photography was first invented, some of the earliest images
were of the outdoors. So, it’s no surprise that natural landscapes
remain a popular type of photography—there’s so much beauty out
there! One subject that image makers are continually drawn to are
mountains.

62. Documentary Photography
•Arguably, one of photography’s greatest strengths is revealing what’s
normally unseen or goes unnoticed; documentary images provide a
better understanding of the world at large. Sometimes, these people or
places are hiding in plain sight.

63. Wedding Photography
•Every year, countless couples have their nuptials photographed.
Many of these images are straightforward portraits. Some
photographers, however, go to the extreme to capture these
celebrations in unconventional ways. From shooting underwater to
hiking to the top of a mountain, a band of galloping horses can’t
stop some wedding photographers from getting the perfect shot.