Thursday, February 5, 2009

Black and White Photography

1. An optical element (the lens), a chemical element (the film) and a mechanical element (the camera body).
2. This type of camera allows the photographer to see the same image that is exposed to the film and can adjust everything by turning dials and clicking buttons.  Since it does not need any electricity to take a picture , a manual SLR camera provides an excellent illustration of the fundamental process of photography.
3. The aperture controls the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor.
4. Shutter speed controls the interval at which the shutter opens to allow a specific amount of light to pass through and expose the film inside. Generally a faster speed can freeze an action while slow speed can blur your image.
5.  The shutter speed, f-step, and aperture need to be balanced in order to get the correct exposure.
6. The speed should be high, because it is already light outside, so the film doesn't need a lot of exposure to light.
7. First: The film is placed in a developing agent that is actually a reducing agent.  The reducing agent will convert all of the silver ions into silver metal.  Those grains that have latent-image sites will develop more rapidly.  With the proper control of temperature, time and agitation, grains with latent images will become pure silver.  The unexposed grains will remain as silver-halide crystals.
Next: We need to complete the developing process by rinsing the film with water, or by using a "stop" bath that arrests the development process.
Then: The unexposed silver-halide crystals are removed in what is called the fixing bath.  The fixer dissolves only silver-halide crystals, leaving the silver metal behind.
Finally: The film is washed with water to remove all of the processing chemicals.  The film strip is dried, and the individual exposures are cut into negatives.  
8. A roll of black and white film, and ink.
9. Developed silver 

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