Photography

After many different jobs, our primary recommendation is Canonbury Arts:

Canonbury arts
65 Halliford Street
Islington
London
N1 3HF

tel. 020 7226 4652
email sc@canonburyarts.co.uk
Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/uvsau

 

other framers dealing with artists include:

 

Lock & Davies
89 Goldsmiths Row
London E2 8QR
Speak to Martin (at Lock & Davis). This place is good for smaller work. Good prices
020 7684 7390
info@lockanddavies.co.uk

Simon Beaugié Picture Framers ltd
Manor Farm Workshops, Hamstreet Road,
Shadoxhurst
Ashford Kent TN26 1NW
Affordable quality framers as they are based outside of London. Pick up the work from your studio and deliver it back once framed.
01233 733353
framing@simonbeaugie.com

 

Kay Mounting Service
4c Athelstane Mews,
LONDON N4 3EH
Mounting onto aluminium and diasec (face mounting to Perspex). Only Kay Mounting and Spectrum can do this in the UK as far as I know.
020 7272 7799

 

G N Hughes Picture Framing
Rear of Vandguard Court
36-38 Peckham Road
London SE5 8QT
020 7703 3182

Pendragon Fine Art Framers
1-3 Yorkton Street
Shoreditch, London E2 8NH
020 7729 0608

Darbyshire
19-23 White Lion Street
LONDON N1 9PD
High quality framers used by the bigger galleries
020 7812 1200

John Jones
4 Morris Place
off Stroud Green Road
Finsbury Park
London N4 3JG
Costly but excellent framing and lightboxes.
020 7281 5439

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Lens focal length is the most important characteristic of a lens. One of the prime advantages of a single·lens reflex camera or a view camera is the interchangeability of its lenses; the reason photographers own more than one lens is so that they can change lens focal length. …

PDF: Lens Focal Length, The Basic Difference Between Lenses

 

Normal Focal Length The Most Like Human Vision

A lens of normal focal length, as you might expect from the name,  produces an image on film that seems normal when compared with human vision. The image includes about the same angle of view as the human eye sees clearly when looking straight ahead, and the relative size and spacing of near and far ob­jects appear normal. …

PDF: Normal Focal Length The Most Like Human Vision

 

Short Focal Length, Wide-Angle Lenses

Lenses of short focal length are also called wide-angle or sometimes wide-field lenses, which describes their most important feature they view a wider angle of a scene than normal. A lens of normal focal length records what you see when you look at a scene with eyes fixed in one position. …

PDF: Short Focal Length, Wide-Angle Lenses

 

Long Focal Lenght, Telephoto Lenses

A lens of long focal length seems to bring things closer, just as a telescope does. As the focal length gets longer, less of the scene is shown (the angle of view narrows), but what is shown is enlarged (the magnification increases). …

PDF: Long Focal Lenght, Telephoto Lenses

PDF: Minimum focusing distances for medium telephoto lenses

 

Zoom, Macro, and Fisheye Lenses

In addition to the usual range of short-,  long-, and normal-focal-length lenses, other lenses, such as those shown here, can view a scene in a new way or solve certain problems with ease. …

PDF: Zoom, Macro, and Fisheye Lenses

 

Variable Focal Length Lens, The Zoom

The zoom, or variable focal length lens offers several technical and visual advantages. To begin with you can just take out one lens instead of two or three of varying focal lengths. And within the limits of its zoom range you can continu­ously vary the size of the image-enlarging or reducing it until the right parts of the subject exactly fill the frame. …

PDF: Variable Focal Length Lens, The Zoom

 

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A & M Hire Ltd Stage Prop Suppliers offering a range of Furniture Hire and Prop Hire for Film and Television Industry

Stage Prop suppliers based in London, supplying furniture and small props to the entertainment industry, incorporating Film, Television, Theatre, Events, Themed Parties, Photographic Shoots and Show houses. We have our own Photographic Studios which can be hired at competitive rates, with a discount when you hire your props from our prop house.

Prop Hire From The Leading Stage Prop Suppliers

With over a million items to choose from we’re one of the largest prop houses in Europe. Anyone who walks through the door can only be impressed by the quality and quantity of our stock whether from the film / television companies or the amateur theatres. As one of the leading stage prop suppliers we have 4 floors of furniture and small props from which to choose, so if it’s a themed party you wish to create, try us first.

Website: A & M Hire Ltd
Website: full stock listing

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Artec 3D scanner InstructionsStep by step instructions on how to use the Artec scanner booked out at DMC Bartlett.
How to scan
How to process data
General info
file types

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This section contains ‘How to’ guides for every part of an artist’s career. From exhibiting, to earning money and more. Everything you need to know about sustaining a career as a practitioner is here.

Each section focuses on a particular aspect of an artists career and covers approaches a practitioner can take to succeed.
Make a living
Show your work
Work with others
Your rights
Promote yourself
Promotion and application…
Degree shows
Prepare for the future

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Slade alumni and artist Sam Belinfante has shared this great guide on how best to back up your computer data and files, giving many different options. The guide has been written by an artist specifically for artists. This is a must read for anyone using a computer.

PDF: Backing up you data and files: A guide for artists

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Slade has a UCL recycling point for batteries. Located inside the main entrance, the box is orange and black in the shape of a very oversized battery.

Please take advantage of this recycling point for any used batteries.

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The Chemicals: There are three basic chemicals in the printing process. These are Developer, Stop and  Fix. Developer brings out the latent image, the magic part of the process. Stop does what it says, stops the image from coming out any further. Fix prevents any white light from darkening, fogging, fading or otherwise affecting the finished print i.e. fixing it.

Printing Equipment and materials you’ll need

Making a Contact Print Step by Step

Processing a Print Step by Step Development

…see full text

PDF: Black  & White Photographic Printing

 

Photographic Paper

Most black and white paper is coated on a base consisting of paper fibre sealed front and back in clear plastic. Chemicals cannot sink into the base,  so that processing, washing and drying times are shortened. The plastic coated paper has a layer of silver halide emulsion and a gelatine supercoat at the top to protect the emulsion surface from normal handling damage. Plastic paper may also have an antistatic backing.  …see full text

PDF: Photographic Paper

 

Making a Black and White Print

1. Your darkroom (kitchen or bathroom) needs to be well blacked out to stop light from entering. For windows use thick card cut to shape and held in place with black canvas tape. …see full text

PDF: Making  a  Black and White  Print

 

Solving Printing Problems

Uneven, mottled, or mealy appearance, Fingerprints, Prints fade, Yellowish or brownish stains, Fogging, Entire print out of focus, negative is sharp, White specks  …see full text

PDF: Solving Printing Problems

 

Burning in and dodging

Once the overall density (the  lightness  or darkness) of a print is right, you will often find smaller areas that could be a little lighter or darker. For example, a face might be too dark or the sky too light, even though most of the scene looks good. Burning in (shown below and opposite) adds light after the basic expo­sure is made in order to darken an area. Dodging (shown on page 114) holds back light during the basic exposure to lighten an area. …see full text

PDF: Burning in and dodging

Archival Processing

Archival processing of  fibre-base paper is simply a matter of  fixing, washing and toning, to certain standards, to ensure the longevity of  the photographic material. …see full text

PDF: Archival Processing

 

Printing  Record  Sheet

PDF: Printing  Record  Sheet

 

Health and Safety in the Darkroom and Processing Room

PDF: Health and Safety in the Darkroom and Processing Room

 

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A bleed-mounted print is even with the edges of the mount. …

An overmatted  print has a raised border around the print. It consists of an overmat (a piece of mount board with a hole cut in it) placed over a print that is attached to another piece of mount board (the backing board). The overmat helps  protect the print and can be easily replaced if it becomes soiled or damaged. After overmatting, the print can be framed or displayed as is. …

PDF: Bleed Mounting/Overmatting

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Negative

1  Under red lighting best quality writing paper is dipped in weak silver nitrate solution, followed by potassium iodide solution, and wiped dry.

2  One side is coated with an ‘exciting’ solution of gallic acid and silver nitrate, applied with a brush. The sensitised paper is then dried  in  front of  the fire, and  placed  in a light-proof  holder to take to the camera.

3  Exposure  in the  camera  for  about  1-3  min.

4  Development,  in the same exciting solution as 2 but diluted  to  half strength.

5  Fixing in hyposulphite of soda, washing and drying.

 

Positive print

6  Another sheet of paper is soaked in salt solution and wiped dry.

7  Under red light it is brushed over with silver chloride solution, and dried.

8  Pressed in tight face contact with the negative in  printing frame, the paper is exposed to bright sunlight until it forms a strong brownish image (about 20 min).

9  The print is fixed, washed and dried.

PDF: Calotype process

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An adjustable camera controls the amount of light reaching the film in two ways. It can make the Image darker or lighter by a variable aperture. positioned behind the lens. and it can control the length of time that the light reaches the film. by a timed shutter. The lens aperture consists of overlapping movable leaves which form a diaphragm.

This can be set to a range of diameters. so that the quantity of light admitted is controlled In the same way that the width of a funnel controls the quantity of water flowing Into a container. When photographing a dimly lit subject you use a wide lens aperture to admit as much light as possible; for a bright subject you can c;hange to a small aperture to reduce the amount of light. In this way the film still receives the same amount of llght.

PDF: Camera aperture

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What are camera movements? Essentially, they are controlled independent movements of lens or film plane which enable us to form a more usefull image under a particular set of conditions. They enable us, for instance, to increase depth of field over important parts of the subject, change image shape, and use images of subjects well above, below or to the side of the lens. Camera movements offer us all sorts of image controls, from simple square-on views of mirrors without the camera showing, to a complete change in the appar­ent perspective of a building. Here, indeed, is valuable ‘professional magic.’

PDF: Camera Movements

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With wide angle lenses covering be­tween 63° and 115°, there is some distortion on the wider angles. For a 35mm SLR, a 35mm focal length covering 63° may not be wide enough if your standard lens is 50mm; 28mm covering 75° would be a better choice. A 24mm covering 84° is going to extremes and, unless you particularly need this coverage with its risk of image distortion, the 28mm is the most sensible all-round choice. …

PDF: Choosing a Lens for Analogue 35 mm Camera

 

Why Change Lenses?

Altering distance and focal length. Each picture was taken with a lens of different focal length 135 mm format, but  the camera distance was altered each time so that the near end of the monument remained about the same height. …

PDF: Choosing a Lens for Analogue 35 mm Camera

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Chronology of historical development of photography.

PDF: Chronology

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Color theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications. All the information would fill several encyclopaedias. As an introduction, here are a few basic concepts.

PDF: Color Theory

 

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Light consists of wave and particles as part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.

Light + Wavelength = Colour.

The human eyes are sensitive to 400-700nm. Film is sensitive to infra red (250nm). …

PDF: Colour and Light

 

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The colour processing that we shall be using is the subtractive method. Using the subtractive filters of yellow magenta and cyan. In practise you will only use two filters at any one time, as a third filter will simply reduce the effect of the other two.  In practise you will only use the filters magenta and yellow. …see full text

PDF: Colour Printing

 

Min Test Strip  Print Size

Exposure: Aperture – start at f8, First Test Strip: 5,10,20,40  sec, Adjust aperture to target 20  sec exposure… see full text

A ring-around chart for neg/pos colour printing

Filtration data shows what  to subtract from present filter settings  if a  print showing  this cast is  to revert to correct colour. centre of chart.  Extreme colour shifts of  SO a r e  included here t o  clarify differences between the six  colours …see full text

PDF: Control colour balance

 

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Fill-in flash uses a combination of flash and daylight to make an exposure.  It is useful in strong daylight to fill in shadows formed by existing light. The effect is natural rather than harsh.

PDF: Combining Flash and Continuous Light

 

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supplier for all types of light bulb and lamp, normal though slide projector

website: http://www.cp-lighting.co.uk

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You can test out the interface and tools before committing

website

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Cyanotype Process

The cyanotype process or blue printing was discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1842. Ifs first extensive use was in a book of botanical photograms of British algae by Anna Atkins. Around the turn of the century prepared blueprint paper was available to photographers for making proofs. The process was also used to produce postcards and stereographs of the period. The process never gained any real popularity and so was primarily used as a copying process (as engineers and architects do now). …

PDF: Cyanotype Process

 

Cyanotype Printing Process

The cyanotype printing process , commonly known as ‘Blue Print’, was invented in 1842 by the English astronomer Sir John Herschel, who wanted to create a method by which he could copy or reproduce his calculations and notes. It is one of the oldest and most permanent printing processes. Because this process is simple, inexpensive, and has clear line-production, it plays an important role in the industrial field today as a method of reproducing documents and line drawings. In addition it was also popular among photographers…

PDF: Cyanotype Printing Process

 

Out of the Blue

Barbara Curtin explains her method for creating cyanotype prints…

PDF: Out of the Blue

 

 

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Four Corners Darkroom
121 Roman Road
Tower Hamlets
Greater London E2 0QN
020 8981 6111

Rapid Eye
79 Leonard Street
London EC2A 4QS
Phone 0871 873 1257

Photofusion
17a Electric Lane
London SW9 8LA
digital Scanning, studio hire, gallery, darkroom hire
020 77385774

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Documentation is not the work. You need to plan your photo shot in away that it records a sense of your artwork. This may mean you need to do a number of different things. A general installation shot to give an idea of scale and contextualising the work within the space. A cropped shot of a piece to display it clearly. A close shot to show materials and texture. A clear and straightforward recording of  the work is what you should be after. Decide which material you wish to record your work in,  i.e. colour  slide  film (transparencies), colour prints, black & white or digital. …

PDF: Documentation of Art Work

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Richard Taylor looks at how to create a documented library of your work for online and print publishing: producing better professional practice and forwarding your work by establishing a self-archive.

Website: A-N Magazine article

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Unusual tonal rendition giving creative and dramatic images…

PDF: Dramatic

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Dry mounting provides a good-looking, stable  support for a print. Shown here is a mount with a wide border around the print. The mounting materials, the print, and the inner surfaces of the press should be clean; even a small particle of dirt can create a bump or dent when the print is put under pressure in the press. …

PDF: Dry Mounting a Print Step by Step

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Effects of exposure and development on normal contrast, silver-image monochrome film. …

PDF:  Effects of Exposure

 

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We’re drowning in email. And the many hours we spend on it are generating ever more work for our friends and colleagues. (Here’s why.) We can reverse this spiral only by mutual agreement. Hence this Charter…

10 Rules to Reverse the Email Spiral

1. Respect Recipients’ Time
This is the fundamental rule. As the message sender, the onus is on YOU to minimize the time your email will take to process. Even if it means taking more time at your end before sending.

2. Short or Slow is not Rude
Let’s mutually agree to cut each other some slack. Given the email load we’re all facing, it’s OK if replies take a while coming and if they don’t give detailed responses to all your questions. No one wants to come over as brusque, so please don’t take it personally. We just want our lives back!

3. Celebrate Clarity
Start with a subject line that clearly labels the topic, and maybe includes a status category [Info], [Action], [Time Sens] [Low Priority]. Use crisp, muddle-free sentences. If the email has to be longer than five sentences, make sure the first provides the basic reason for writing. Avoid strange fonts and colors.

4. Quash Open-Ended Questions
It is asking a lot to send someone an email with four long paragraphs of turgid text followed by “Thoughts?”. Even well-intended-but-open questions like “How can I help?” may not be that helpful. Email generosity requires simplifying, easy-to-answer questions. “Can I help best by a) calling b) visiting or c) staying right out of it?!”

5. Slash Surplus cc’s
cc’s are like mating bunnies. For every recipient you add, you are dramatically multiplying total response time. Not to be done lightly! When there are multiple recipients, please don’t default to ‘Reply All’. Maybe you only need to cc a couple of people on the original thread. Or none.
6. Tighten the Thread
Some emails depend for their meaning on context. Which means it’s usually right to include the thread being responded to. But it’s rare that a thread should extend to more than 3 emails. Before sending, cut what’s not relevant. Or consider making a phone call instead.

7. Attack Attachments
Don’t use graphics files as logos or signatures that appear as attachments. Time is wasted trying to see if there’s something to open. Even worse is sending text as an attachment when it could have been included in the body of the email.

8. Give these Gifts: EOM NNTR
If your email message can be expressed in half a dozen words, just put it in the subject line, followed by EOM (= End of Message). This saves the recipient having to actually open the message. Ending a note with “No need to respond” or NNTR, is a wonderful act of generosity. Many acronyms confuse as much as help, but these two are golden and deserve wide adoption.