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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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PDF: Arriflex 16BL

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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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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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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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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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Once upon a time to work with 3d software you’d need a small fortune to get you started – a few thousand Euros for the software, and a few more to partake in a premium rate course or two to learnthe basics. Or you could save your pennies and buy a mute tutorial book, which would invariably goout of date as newer versions of your program would surface, and keyboard short cuts, terminologyand layout would change.   Now the world of 3D computer graphics has opened up and its anyone’s game. Blender potentially replaces the industry standards of Maya, Cinema4D and 3DS Max, happily quelling the age olddilemma of ‘which 3D program is best / should I fork out on?’ (‘try Blender, its free and its great’).Your premium rate teacher is replaced by the hoards of helpful souls wandering Blender forums,waiting and eager to help, and to get you started you can search for the array of video tutorials onYouTube and beyond, lovingly created to make learning easy.In the year and a half I have been learning and working with Blender

PDF: Blender: Working with 3D

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Like all digital media, video-games can be designed, produced, deconstructed and re-appropriated within the context of art. Even though the history of video-games is relatively short, it is already rich with examples of artistic experimentation and innovation. Unlike film or video, games still represent a fairly immature medium, slowly evolving to locate itself in mainstream culture. The majority of games often present simplistic or crude visions of interactivity, narrative and aesthetics, but the mediumoffers unique potential for the creation of exciting new forms of art. Like any digital medium the evolution of art/games is  closely tied to the development of software, hardware and thesocio-cultural forms that grow around this technology.

PDF: Game art: theory, communities, resources

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In this article, we will cover a few questions and principles of open content licensing. We will discuss why to use a license and how it helps to give a stable legal background to start a collaboration. As choosing a license means accepting a certain amount of legal formalism, we will see the conditions required to be entitled to use an open license. Using the comparison of the Free Art License and the Creative Commons, we will try to give an accurate picture of the differences that co-exist in the world of open licensing, and approach what distinguishes free from open licenses. We will end by envisioning briefly the case of domain specific licenses and with a more practical note on how to apply a license to a work.

PDF: Digital Artists Handbook: Licensing: copyright, legal issues, authorship, media work licensing, Creative Commons

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This article introduces the possibilities of the software Pure Data (Pd), explains a bit why it’s so popular among artists and shows what Pd can be used for. The goal is to help artists decide if Pd is a tool for their own work.

Pure Data, or PD for short, is a software written by mathematician and musician Miller S. Puckette. It  has become one of the most popular tools for artists working with digital media. Originally conceived in the late 90s as an environment to create sounds and to compose music, it was soon extended by modules to work with video and graphics. Pd is freely available for no cost, and it is Free Software in that the source code can be obtained, modified and distributed without restrictions as well. Pd runs on many operating systems including the big three: Linux, OS-X and MS-Windows.

PDF: Digital Artists Handbook: Pure Dataflow – Diving into Pd

 

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It is of course a truism, often repeated, that the Internet has been the basis for a revolution in (remote) interpersonal communications, collaboration and data sharing. It is probably safe to say that there would be very few of the Free/Libre and Open Source (FLOSS) projects that exist today without the collaboration technologies the Internet supports. One of the many effects of the powerful tools FLOSS has put in to the hands of creative people is that it has potentially made them more independent. No longer are they reliant on specialists with access to expensive software and hardware to carry out aspects of their projects for them. Their limitations are now time and knowledge, not the lack of access. It is in fact precisely this issue that the Digital Artists’ Handbook seeks to address, by providing authoritative information to guide practitioners in to new fields of endeavour.

The downside of this independence is that many artists find themselves more isolated, working alone at home rather than interacting with others at shared studios or where shared resources were previously found.

The Internet, being fundamentally a communications medium, offers potential solutions to this isolation, but the solutions themselves have, to date, largely dictated that collaboration happens in new ways, shaped by the technology. For some, the thousands of FLOSS coders for example, the tools have made possible projects that would otherwise be virtually inconceivable, but for other artists looking to enhance their existing practice with new digital methods the situation is perhaps more double-edged.

It maybe be useful to step back for a moment and consider what we mean when we talk about working, or collaborating with others. For a start it could be divided in to five broad types of collaboration:

PDF: Digital Artists Handbook: working with others

 

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Unusual tonal rendition giving creative and dramatic images…

PDF: Dramatic

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

PDF:  Effects of Exposure

 

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Information prepared by The Museum of Modern Art

 

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A continuous  light such as a torch or candle can be mixed with flash light to create a composite negative with two exposures.

How to get this effect:

1.  Set the camera to multiple exposure.

2.  Use the camera on a tripod with a cable release.

3.  Meter for the flash light (or overhead/daylight in the case of the Picasso or Dance Hall images) and make the 1st exposure.

4.  Then in a darkened space where the torch is the only light source use a long exposure to record the movement of the torch (this could be about 20 seconds for example).

5.  The torch light will register much better on a dark background than a white one.

PDF: Experimental Lighting

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Scenes that are light overall, such as a snow scene, can look too dark  in the final photograph if you make just an overall read­ing or let an automatic camera make one for you. The reason is that the meter will make its usual assumption that it is pointed at a scene consisting of light, medium, and dark tones, and it will expose the film accordingly. But this will underexpose a scene that consists mostly of light tones,  resulting in a too-dark  final photograph. Try giving one or two stops extra exposure to such scenes.

PDF: Exposing Scenes that are Lighter or Darker than Average

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The  Zone  System is the simplest and best method yet devised for planning an exposure. Created by Ansel Adams and expounded by Minor White and others, it is more than just a shirt-sleeve approach to sensitometry; it is an elegant method of integrating all the decisions and techniques of exposure control. …

PDF: Exposure, The Zone System

 

What is the Zone System?

The zone system was invented by Ansel Adams, one of the most famous photographers ever. He was a master of technique, and had an eye for light that few are blessed with. His photographs were the result of a happy combination of comprehensive technique and the knack of taking a picture when the light was at its best. A distinguishing feature of  his black and white photographs is how light and dark areas play off each other in an instantly appealing manner.

PDF: What is the Zone System? part 1

PDF: What is the Zone System? part2

 

 

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Chart showing all common types of screws, bolts, nuts, hooks etc.

PDF: Fastener Type Chart

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Fill light makes shadows less dark by adding light to them. Photographic materials can record detail and texture in either brightly lit areas or deeply shadowed ones but generally not in both at the same time.

PDF: Fill Light to Lighten Shadows

 

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Filter is optical device to remove or absorb selected wavelengths or proportion of all wavelengths. Types and description of special effects filters, close-up filters, trick filters, filters for b&w and colour. …

PDF: Filters Description

PDF: Filters Types

 

Other filters commonly used with colour film. …

PDF: Colour Filters

 

 

PDF: Filters

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Glazes can be classified into two simple groups, which are earthenware and stoneware. These groups can also be classified by firing ranges for individual glazes. Earthenware glazes mature in the range 950°C to 1190°C, where as stoneware glazes fire in the range 1200-1300°C. Some crossover can occur between the high earthenware and low stoneware temperatures. For ease of selection sub-groups are arranged within these groups based on temperatures ranges. Other methods of grouping are based on colour or finish (e.g gloss, opaque, matt etc) or even speciality (e.g. raku). At Clayman we also include a third large group called Brush-on. These are glazes that were initially developed for the hobby market. but are now used by many studio potters and education, for the many additional qualities they offer. All glazes under brush-on start out life as a earthenware or stoneware glaze, but are then added to a media or gel that places them into permanent suspension to make application by brush easy. All brush-on glaze manufactured by Clayman are available in powder form as well.

PDF: Glazes

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The term high and low key refer to the dominant prevailing tones – light or dark – used in a picture. A high key photograph consist mostly of white and light tones and some middle tones, whereas a low key photograph is composed predominately of black and dark tones. …

PDF: High and Low Key

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This chapter discusses how our light-sensitive camera materials work, especially colour films. It traces the way that ingenious principles have been put into practice and compares how films record relative to the way our eyes see subjects directly. So the chapter begins by describing how eyes and brain receive and interpret the sensation of colours and comparing this with the far more fixed chemical response of colour films. Differences between seeing and photographing are important to grasp in order to control results. …

PDF: How Camera Materials Work

 

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Colour Film consists of three light sensitive layers.  Each of which responds to about one-third of the colours in the light spectrum. Each layer is matched to a primary colour dye that is built into the emulsion or added during processing, and every colour in the spectrum can be produced by mixing varying proportions of the colour primaries. …

PDF: How Colour Films Produce Colours

 

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The Inverse square Jaw

The Inverse square Jaw is the basis for flash exposure calculations.  The farther the light travels, the more the light rays spread out and the dimmer the  resulting illumination. …see full text

To Calculate your own Flash Exposure

To calculate your own flash exposure you need to know two things: the distance that the light travels to the subject and the guide number (a rating given by the manufacturer for the flash when used with a  specific film speed) …see full text

Bounce Flash Travels an Extra Distance

If you are calculating a bounce flash exposure, measure the distance not from flash to subject but from flash to reflecting surface to subject. …see full text

PDF: How to Calculate your own Flash Exposure

 

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Infrared, photographing the unseen (or simply create very interesting) images.

Discover where a circuit board may be overheating  - where hot water pipes are buried in masonry – and where heat loss is occurring through a building’s' roof.  This would be an ideal use for infrared film. However: let me quash this myth right  now! You cannot, under any circumstances, photograph heat loss with an infrared film. Infrared film can see the visible spectrum and also the near infrared up to just under 1000 nanometres.

PDF: Infrared, photographing the unseen images

 

Infrared Alert

Creative photographer are always challenging conventions and looking for new ways of coming up with eye-catching images. To kick off the brand new series on Pro Techniques, Lee Frost takes a look at how to get the best out of using infrared film.

PDF: Infrared Alert

 

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Camera motion causes blur. Though some photographers claim to be able to hand hold a camera steady at slow shutter speeds-V” sec. or even slower-it takes only a slight amount of camera motion during exposure to cause a noticeable blur in an image. If a sharp picture is your aim, using a fast shutter speed or supporting the camera on a tripod is a much surer way to produce an image that will be sharp when enlarged. …

PDF: Lens Performance Getting the Most from a Lens

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Visible light is a stream of energy radiating from a light source (the sun or a lamp). There are four main characteristics of light: …

PDF: Light

 

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Many  photographers feel somewhat restricted by conventional, commercial papers.  Surface textures are limited and do not always suit the artistic vision of the individual. One way around this  limitation is by using liquid emulsions, which can be coated onto many surfaces: paper, fabric, stones, tiles, wood, metal, and more. …

PDF: Liquid Emulsion Technique

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Magnification of subject height will  increase exposure by …

PDF: Magnification of Subject and Exposure Increase

 

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The photojournalist generally responds to a situation, whereas the studio photographer creates a situation to fit a pre-conceived image. The ultimate control that the photographer has is the manipulation of the image itself. At its most sophisticated, the photographer can take on the role of an director. By combining studio techniques with photo-composites and re-touching, for example, you can achieve the graphic freedom of an illustration yet retain the basic realism of photographic images. Sophisticated image manipulation such as this is found mainly in advertising, where the commercial results justify the often high cost and lengthy  technical work.

Combining images: by Sandwiching, Projection, and Multiple exposure

PDF: Manipulating the image

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How do you utilise mixed lighting indoors? What problem arise and how can you solve them? This article by David Askham will give some of the answers, based on the author’s experience in a wide range of commercial assigments in work places, stately homes and domestic interiors. …

PDF: Mixed Lighting Indoors

 

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A introduction and step by step guide to making an exposure on the 5×4 camera

PDF: Monorail camera

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Light from any source – a window, a continuously burning lamp, a flash – foltows the same general rule: The light falls off (gets dimmer) the farther the light source is from an object. But light from a flash comes and goes so fast that you can’t see the effect of the flash on a scene at the time you are taking the picture. Special exposure meters are designed for use with flash; you can’t use an ordinary exposure meter to meas.

PDF: More About Flash, How to Position It

 

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key book: Structural Packaging Designs

Forms, Folds and Sizes: All the Details Graphic Designers Can Never Find but Need to Know Chapter 9: Packaging Styles (PDF)