Photography

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving.

What you have caught on film is captured forever…it
remembers little things, long after you have forgotten
everything.”

Aaron Siskind

At the end of the Chapter, the students should be able to:

1. recognize the history and importance of photography;

2. appreciate the “role of third” in photography;
3. discuss the types of photography;
4. demonstrate understanding of the essential components and features of a Camera; and
5. display an ability to do photography

Springboard
As a preliminary activity for the topic, the teacher will ask the students the following
questions:

1. Why do people take photos?

2. Do you think Nude Photography as an art expression or a sensual expression? Why or why
not?
3. Do you think that a person must possess talent to capture emotion and expression in a
picture? Why or why not?
4. Do you believe in the expression “A photo is worth a thousand words? Why or why not?

Input

The Origin of Photography

he word photography is from two Greek words photos or phos, for “light” and graphe,

T for “lines” or “drawing.” Therefore, Photography is described as the art in creating or

drawing durable images by recording light using either photographic film or image
sensor (Spencer, 1973). It was first coined by Sir John Herschel in a lecture before the
Royal Society of London, on March 14, 1839. It has become a powerful means of communication
and a mode of visual expression that touches human life in many ways (Eder, 1945).

Importance of Photography

We have always wanted to reproduce the world around us, beginning with cave drawings to
painting on canvas and eventually leading to the invention of photography. Our photographs share
so much about who we are as individuals. It tells what we find beautiful, fascinating, funny,
delicious, meaningful, inspiring. It allows us to showcase our style, interests, relationships, and
adventures, to mark the passage of time. Photography has been used in advertising, books,
magazines, newspapers, television, and in research to convey information and advertise products
and services.

The Digital Era of Photography

Until the present times, photography was quite a problematic type of art to maintain. One may
have cameras with different lenses, manual focus, and complicated settings. However, with the
advent of digital cameras, all this complexity vanished. Digital cameras have a different way of
saving images. Instead of using film, it uses a sensor in to save images onto a digital memory card
or internal storage ((Tolmachev, 2010; Ma, 2017).
 Digital photography is the art of manipulating and producing digital pictures. It uses
electronic photodetectors to capture the image focused by the lens. The captured image is stored
as a computer file ready for digital processing, viewing, and publishing.

The technique in photography originated during early-to-mid 1600s. It started from the
camera’s predecessor known as the camera obscura (a Latin word which means “dark room”). It
was a box wherein when the light went through the pinhole it formed an image on the glass. The
famous artists of the Renaissance who use the obscura were Leonardo da Vinci and Michael
Angelo.

In the 1820s, Joseph Niepce, a French scientist improve the lithography, a method of printing
technique which is based initially on the immiscibility of oil and water. Joseph discovered a way
to copy engravings onto glass using a variety of materials (mainly bitumen, a light-reacting
asphalt). When light shined through the paper, it burned an image into dark bitumen, which created
an almost identical image from the original.

In the year 1900, photography became available to everybody. Its fame started with George
Eastman, who was the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company.The first camera open to the public
was the Kodak no 1.

On October 17, 1969, Willard Boyle and George Smith of Bell Laboratories invented the
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD), a type of sensor that is used to capture an image by taking the
light and translating it into digital data.

In December 1975, the first recorded attempt in the building of a prototype digital camera was
made by Steven Sasson, an engineer at Eastman Kodak. This camera weighed 9 pounds and can
record black and white images to a cassette tape. To view the photos, the Kodak engineers had to
develop a unique screen. It was able to capture a .01 megapixel image (10,000 pixels) and took 23
seconds to record a copy to the tape.

In 1988, the first real digital camera that recorded images as a computerized file was produced
by the Fuji DS-1P. During this year, the first JPEG and MPEG standards were fixed. These
standards set in place a universal format which allowed images (JPEG) and video (MPEG) to
stored in a compressed form which can be recorded to a 16 MB internal memory card.

In 1990, Dycam Model became the first commercially available digital camera. It also sold
the Logitech Fotoman. It used a CCD (Charge Couple Device) image sensor, stored pictures
digitally, and connected directly to a computer for download (Said, 1990).

Rule of Thirds Composition

One of the main factors that differentiate a great photograph from an ordinary one is
composition, or how are objects/ subjects placed in the shot. The Rule of Thirds is a great
compositional technique for making photos more dynamic and exciting. It is also a compositional
rule for painting and photography.

The Rule of Thirds is also known as the guideline which applies to the process of composing
visual images like in painting, designs, and photographs (Meech, 1991). The instruction proposes
that the picture is visualized as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines
and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and those essential compositional elements should place
along these lines. Proponents of the method claim that aligning a subject with these points create
more composition, energy, and tension (Peterson, 2003).

The Rule of Thirds asserts that an image is most pleasing when its subjects poised along
imaginary lines which divide vertically and horizontally the image into thirds. It is applied by
aligning a subject with the guidelines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top
or bottom line (Krages, 2005).
 Likewise, using the Rule of Thirds helps produce nicely balanced easy on the eye pictures.
Also, as you have to arrange things relative to the edges of the frame, it helps get rid of small
subject surrounded by vast space’ syndrome.

Types of Photography

Photography is one of the best favorite pastimes that many of us craved. A photograph is
definitely worth a thousand words and has the power to convey a whole new meaning of a
particular condition. Different pictures are made to share its unique characteristics of selectivity,
instantaneity, and Credibility (Barrett, 2007). There are several types of photography and thus,
several kinds of photographers. The different types of photography require various techniques, and
types of photographer use their talent in their meticulous field of expertise. The following are some
standard photography styles that enjoy a prominent position in the creative world.

Aerial Photography- It refers to the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated
position. It is acquired through the use of a specialized camera mounted such as fixed-wing
aircraft, helicopters, drones, balloons, kites, parachutes, etc.

Astrophotography- It focuses entirely on taking images from space. This type could vary
from the planets to the stars or any other exciting configurations.

Commercial Photography- It is a photographic work done for commercial purposes, such as

corporate brochures and leaflets, menus in cafes and restaurants, magazine advertising,
merchandising, and product placement. It has various types such as:

a. Advertising photography- This type of photography is used to highlight a product, service,

brand or an individual, in print advertising (such as magazines, newspapers, leaflet, etc).

b. Architecture and interior photography- This photography is used in capturing images of

structures and beauty of an interior space in which photographers use lightning techniques
to attract clients.
c. Automotive photography- This photography is utilized by car or automobile companies and
dealerships to promote brand new or existing cars, driving awareness about a car’s features
and benefits to potential clientele.
d. Food photography- This photography is a specialized category of commercial photography
which is used to capture the pictures of various cuisines and menus in an attractive style.
e. Jewellery photographs- This photography is used in highlighting beautiful images of
bracelets, necklace, ring, and other jewellery items.
f. Journalism photography- This photography is the art of taking photographs which are
considered as attractive and goes along with news topics, to substantiate the news story or
report.
g. Product photography- This photography is used in capturing excellent images to
attractively represents a product in advertising. It sometimes includes people as part of the
product. It attracts people to see someone they know or a face that is likable to a product.
h. Sports photography- It is a type of photography which is utilized to write sports news,
using excellent cameras that take sharp pictures of players in action.

Fine Art Photography- It refers to highly creative images that have an abstract influence.
These photographs can be equal to an artist’s expression on painting.
 Forensic Photography- It is also known as crime scene photography wherein the work of the
photographer is mainly to capture images for an accurate representation of the scene of the crime.

Headshot Photography- This type of photography focuses mainly on the person’s face. This
is also known as mug shots.

Macro Photography- This type of photography is about close-up images of a specific topic.
It is commonly applied mainly to capture details of organisms or nature that may not be visible to
the naked eye.

Nature Photography- It encompasses all forms of photography where the main subject has
something to do with nature. It focuses on landscapes, wildlife, underwater, and plants life as they
are in their natural environment.

Nude Photography- It is about the portrayal of the human body in the naked form.

Portrait Photography- It is all about capturing the mood of a person, with an emphasis on
the face and expression of a person.

Still Life Photography- It is all about capturing objects on camera that are deliberately
grouped to create a particular composition. This requires the photographer to have an excellent
lighting technique.

Street Photography- It is all about capturing candid images of public places or even people
in their natural element. It requires the photographer the skill to mingle with people and achieve
the best frames.

Travel Photography- It involves capturing images of a particular landscape, traditions, and

customs or even people from different places.

Essential Components and Features of a Camera

Cameras are beneficial devices and used for the sole purpose of capturing still images, may it
be for leisure or security. Any and every camera has some fundamental parts which are very crucial
for its functioning (Dachis, 2001). Some essential components and features of a camera are as
follow:

1. Aperture- It is an opening in which light travels through and can be adjusted to control the
amount of light that reached the image sensor.
2. Built-in Flash- It is used to capture a shot of dimly-lit views. It may automatically fired
in some modes.
3. Body. It is the housing for the camera.
4. Focus Point Selection Button- It is used to select the position to set the focus (the AF point)
during AF shooting.
5. Hot Shoe- It is the section of the top of the camera and used to attach a flash unit.
6. Lens- It is the eye of the camera.
7. Lens Mount- It is the section for connecting the exchangeable lens to the camera body.
8. Lens Mount Index- It is an align mark on the lens and serves as a basis when you are
attaching or detaching a lens.
9. Lens Release Button- It is a button used when you want to disconnect the lens.
10. Live View Shooting (Movie Shooting Switch) - It is used to turn on or turn off the Live
View function.
11. MENU Button- It is used to display the menu for adjusting the different camera operations.
12. Multi-Controller Key- It is used to move between the menu items or to move the magnified
display to a different point during image playback.
13. Self-Timer- It is used to delay the time between pressing the shutter button and the camera
taking the subject.
14. Shutter Release Button-It is the button found on many cameras used to take photos.
15. Shutter Speed- It indicates the time interval during which the shutter is open.
16. Viewfinder Eyepiece- It is used to view the image of the subject you want to capture.