Introduction to Photography - The Negative
Most people have the same reaction when I tell them I'm a Photography Major. They think, "Point, shoot". Then, the next logical question inherently becomes "Why do you need to go to school to know how to do that?” This little Blog Spot is going to focus on Photography, and giving a very basic explanation of what is involved in the various stages of taking, developing, printing, and presenting a traditional photograph - from start to finish.
The Negative
Due to the nature of this assignment, I am not going into the requirements of taking a picture. Art is subjective, and what I find visually stimulating may be completely different from something you might enjoy. Because of this, I will focus primarily on the technical aspect of the medium.
Photography is the study of capturing various degrees of light onto a transparent receiver called film using a device called a camera. A traditional camera uses a series of mirrors to reflect a shrunk image onto a light sensitive strip called film. The backing of film is coated with a chemical formation called emulsion. Emulsion is a light sensitive chemical compound capable of recording a reversed images that when combined with a complex chemical formation in complete darkness (known as the development process) will render a reversed image on the back of the film. The film is loaded in a completely dark room into a canister, which allows no light to damage the film. A series of chemicals are then used to develop the images onto the film, and allow light to touch the film without damaging the information. Once the film has been developed, it is dried and cut into 5 or 6 panel strips called negatives (named for the reversed quality of the images) which when magnified and focused through a device called an enlarger, can be projected onto light sensitive photographic paper in various sizes. Due to the sensitivity of the supplies in use, it is required that complete darkness covers the work area. There are special places for this called Dark Rooms. When you magnify, or enlarge the projected image onto photo paper (available in resin coated or fiber based properties) in a dark room, and expose the paper to preselected timed amounts of light, it reverses the image back to true form. Once exposed, the paper (now called a print) is put through a series of chemicals and agitated for pre-designated times until the paper is no longer light sensitive. Once the sensitivity is removed, you can bring the print into daylight to see what time changes need to be made to correct the quality of the image. The whole development process, from developing the initial film, to printing your first test image takes about an hour and a half to complete, and that is just the beginning of the artistic process.
The Negative
Due to the nature of this assignment, I am not going into the requirements of taking a picture. Art is subjective, and what I find visually stimulating may be completely different from something you might enjoy. Because of this, I will focus primarily on the technical aspect of the medium.
Photography is the study of capturing various degrees of light onto a transparent receiver called film using a device called a camera. A traditional camera uses a series of mirrors to reflect a shrunk image onto a light sensitive strip called film. The backing of film is coated with a chemical formation called emulsion. Emulsion is a light sensitive chemical compound capable of recording a reversed images that when combined with a complex chemical formation in complete darkness (known as the development process) will render a reversed image on the back of the film. The film is loaded in a completely dark room into a canister, which allows no light to damage the film. A series of chemicals are then used to develop the images onto the film, and allow light to touch the film without damaging the information. Once the film has been developed, it is dried and cut into 5 or 6 panel strips called negatives (named for the reversed quality of the images) which when magnified and focused through a device called an enlarger, can be projected onto light sensitive photographic paper in various sizes. Due to the sensitivity of the supplies in use, it is required that complete darkness covers the work area. There are special places for this called Dark Rooms. When you magnify, or enlarge the projected image onto photo paper (available in resin coated or fiber based properties) in a dark room, and expose the paper to preselected timed amounts of light, it reverses the image back to true form. Once exposed, the paper (now called a print) is put through a series of chemicals and agitated for pre-designated times until the paper is no longer light sensitive. Once the sensitivity is removed, you can bring the print into daylight to see what time changes need to be made to correct the quality of the image. The whole development process, from developing the initial film, to printing your first test image takes about an hour and a half to complete, and that is just the beginning of the artistic process.
posted by Christina at 1:51 PM
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