Www.nyip.Com - Rules of Photography

7/27/2019 Www.nyip.Com - Rules of Photography

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. FULL FRAMING (taking a walk around your view-finder)- Scan the top, sides and bottom of your view-finder. Yourmain subject should nearlytouch these boundaries. If it doesn't, move closer to the subject.2. SUNNY 16- On a bright sunny day, set your aperture on 16 and your shutter speed as close as possible to your films ISOrating. This willproduce properly exposed pictures with all films and all film speed ratings.3. FULL MOONEY 11- For proper exposure of a full moon, set your aperture on 11 and your shutter speed as close to yourfilms ISO rating as possible.

HALF MOONEY 8- Use the above rule for shutter speed and use an aperture of 8 for pictures of a half moon.QUARTER MOONEY 5.6- Use the above rule for shutter speed and use an aperture of5.6 for pictures of a quarter moon.4. SUNSETS - Meter the area of sky directly above sun and use this setting as the basis for exposure. Using one f-stop lesslight willproduce the effect of a picture taken one half hour later.5. PHOTOGRAPHIC GRAY CARD- When the camera meters a mid-tone the scene will be properly exposed.6. FILM SPEED- Use the lowest film speed (ISO) you can to preserve sharpness, color saturation and reduce grain.7. FLASH FILL - For flash use outdoors, place the ISO setting for the film you are using on your camera meter. Doublethis number and place iton the flash ISO dial. Meter the scene with the camera and select an f-stop. Match this f-stop requirement with theautomatic flash color mode controls. Shadows will be filled with flash lighting and appear one stop darker than the fullyilluminated subject.8. BRACKETING - Expose for a mid-tone then adjust exposure to +1 and -1. For extreme lighting go one exposure stepmore each way.

9. "RULE" OF THIRDS - Place your center of interest, vertically or horizontally, at the 1/3 and 2/3 points in yourviewfinder for a strongercompositon.10. COMPOSITION - When the word rule is used, substitute un-rule, for there are no rules, only considerations.11. CLEANING FILTERS AND LENSES- A well washed 100% cotton T-shirt is softer and more scratch resistant thanphotographic lens tissue. To clean filters and lenses simply "HUFF" (breathe on the lens until it fogs) and wipe clean.12. PROTECTIVE FILTER- Always leave this filter on for lens protection.13. SHUTTER SPEED WITH FLASH- Always use 1/60 second.14. LOW SHUTTER SPEED- To prevent camera movement blur when hand holding the camera use a shutter speed whichmost closely matches the millimeters of the lens you are using.15. DEPTH OF FIELD- Use f/16 for maximum depth-of-field and f/2 for minimum depth-of-field.16. FILM- Establish the amount of film that you think you will use, then multiply by a factor of two. When working for aclient multiply by afactor of three.

17. PALM READING- To select an average tone exposure reading, "read" the palm of your hand with your thumbextended. Then, using your thumb up reminder, open up your aperture (smaller number) one stop.18 FOCUS- Focus 1/3 of the way into the picture and use f-16 for the greatest depth of field.19. FILTERS- When using an 80A blue (outdoor to indoor) filter, open 2 stops when using a hand-held exposure meter.20. PHOTOGRAPHING A CAR - A three-quarter front view makes the most effective photograph for selling a car (PaulDouglas, photographer).21. PHOTOGRAPHING LANDSCAPES - Assume that a dramatic "photogenic" effect will rarely last more than one hour.22. BUY A DURABLE CAMERA - If you want a durable camera, you should buy the simplest camera in the highest pricerange you can justify (Robert B. Yepson, Jr., editor The Durability Factor).23. FREE-LANCE RULE OF TWO - If you want a merely adequate return on an untried free-lance photography project,decide what you think you can get away with charging, and then double it. The final expense and aggravation will exceedyour original estimate by a factor of two.24. FREE-LANCING - Free-lance photographers should expect to put in one un-billable hour for every billable hour.25. SHOOTING FILM - One good shot per roll of film is a good take.26. TAKING PICTURES UNDER WATER - Most leaks in an underwater camera housing show up at very shallowdepths. If no leaks appear within 15 feet of the surface, there is a 95 % chance that none will appear at greater depths (FlipSchulke, underwater photographer).27. EXPERIMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHY - It takes three tries to get a new process or effect right. The first try reveals anyobvious shortcomings, and the second try cleans these up so you can see what you really need to do.28. TAKING PICTURES INTO THE SUN - When back-lighting is apparent, open the aperture an extra one and a halfstops.29. SETTING YOUR RATES - Free-lance artists should determine their hourly rate by dividing their annual incomerequirements by one thousand (Mike Rider, art director).30. BETTER EXPOSURES - If you are using negative film and can't take several exposures, overexpose the metered valueby one stop. You will


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have a better chance of recording your information.31. THRESHOLD BLACK - You should expose your prints in the darkroom just long enough to get a black through theclear edge of the film. When exposure is very near solid black or at the threshold of black, your good negatives will lookgood and the bad ones will look bad.32. SUPER BLACK - The observable difference between the apparent solid black look of threshold black and super blackis the addition of onef-stop of light.33. DARKROOM GREMLINS - In every first quarter photography class, 25% of the students will have unexplainable

results occur 50% of the time. During these times increases in light will produce lighter pictures and decreases in lightwill produce darker pictures.34. DOUBT - When in doubt open your aperture one stop. When in serious doubt open two stops.35. GOOD COMPOSITION - Mentally divide your view-finder into four areas. Look into each area and eliminateanything that isn't necessary.36. HEADS - Look at the top of your view-finder and ask yourself if heads are included. If you don't ask yourself this, then50% of the time headswill be partially or totally missing.37. FEET - Look at the bottom of your view-finder and ask yourself if feet are included. If you don't ask yourself this, then50% of the timefeet will be missing.38. HORIZON LINE - A picture taken at a slight angle to the horizon will look out of balance somewhat like a paintingwhich isn't hung straight ona wall. Look in your view-finder and ask yourself if the horizon line is parallel to the top and bottom of your view-finder.

If you don't do this, the horizon line in your pictures will be tilted 90% of the time.39. WILDLIFE - Final image size and sharpness will decrease proportionately as the desirability for the picture increases.To reverse this effect, look through the view-finder and ask yourself how many times you could stack your subject on topof itself, moving from the the bottom of the frame to the top. If the number is greater than four your picture will lackimpact. Move closer to your subject or use a stronger lens.40. CENTER - There is a natural tendency to place all subjects in the center of the picture, known as the "bulls-eyesyndrome." Place the mainsubject or center of interest anywhere but the center of the picture. The center is a very important place in a picture;however, when the subject is placed in the center it becomes so powerful that nothing else can compete with it (RogerBaker, art teacher, Clark College).41. GOOD COMPOSITION - When cropping a print, use four sheets of typing paper, one for each side of the print. Movethe paper to eliminateunwanted parts of the picture. The result will be good composition.42. CLEANING LENSES - A well washed cotton T-shirt is softer and more scratch resistant than photographic lens

tissue.43. BLUE SKY - A clear north blue sky is a middle tone. An exposure reading using the blue sky as a source will producea proper daylightexposure.44. WATERFALLS - Use an average exposure reading as a base then reduce the exposure by one f-stop for detail in brightsunlit water.45. FOCUS - If your subject has eyes, focus on them.46. GOOD PICTURES - Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop (Ansel Adams, photographer).47. PHOTOGRAPHIC SEEING- Seeing simply is seeing significantly ( Jack Wilkinson, artist).48. PORTRAITS- When taking portraits, squint, look at your subject and ask yourself if you still see detail in the shadowsaround the eyes. Ifyou do, shoot. If not change the lighting or have the subject change position.49. CHROMOGENIC FILMS- Chromogenic films contradict most rules of black and white photography. This film is adye based film which is processed as a color negative film (C-41 process) and produces black and white images. ISOsettings may be varied between 50 and 800 for different lighting conditions. Exposure at high ISO ratings produce veryfine grain results.50. SOLAR/LUNAR- The size of the sun/moon will cover one half of your little finger nail when your hand is held atarms length.51. IMAGE SIZE - When using a 50 mm lens, the image height of a subject, as seen in your view-finder, will increase oneheight of the originalimage for each additional 50 mm that is added to the lens. Thus a 100 mm lens will double the image height.52. MORE LIGHT - When you want to add light to make your final print or slide look lighter, use the following rule:WHEN YOU WANT MORE SUN MOVE TOWARDS ONE. This rule applies to the camera numbers that affect theaperture, shutter speed, and film speed.53. REDUCTIVE VIEWING - A more appropriate term for photographic squinting, used to increase the contrast in a


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scene. (Ken O'Connell,Chairman, University ofThen, There Was Low Light Here's the kind of moody scene you can record if you're ready to experiment with lowlight photography. Later on in this series, we'll show you how to make photos like this. You, the photographer, positionthe softened spotlight at the right angle to illuminate your subject's face-creating a picture worth framing. Of course, in astudio, where everything is controlled, lighting is just a matter of positioning. But, out in the stubborn, unpredictablenocturnal world, distant lamp lights streak yellows and golds sloppily onto the streets; your favorite sports team appears asa mirage on an island of darkness; cars on a highway are reduced to ribbons of color. When taking pictures with little

light, the importance of being able to manipulate your available light to your lens' advantage becomes evident. Here'sa low light photo where timing is everything. We see a dramatic cityscape that hinges partly on good luck (you need agreat sunset), good timing, and good exposure. All three are part of low light photography. Now, imagine a sky burstingwith stars making the foliage below glimmer, or a dazzling cityscape with a rainbow of intensely sharp neon colors, oreven a close-up of your daughter kicking the soccer ball into the goal-so clear that your lens captures her ecstatic smile.Taking low light (or available light, as it is often called) photographs is not always easy. In fact, it can be quite difficult.Over the next few months, we will explore the possibilities and procedures for taking low light photography. With someguidance and practice, you will be prepared to venture into the nocturnal world and make it come to life. First, A LookBackWith the technological advancements of the last 100 years, it's easy to forget that in the beginning there was only lowlight. Electricity was not invented until the 1890's, and it wasn't in mass use until the early 1900's. Photography cameyears before and so was created to work with the little light available. It is a field, which was built upon by many artistsand inventors, all adding to the advancements of their predecessors. Though there was one whose name stuck-beforeDarwin, Newton, Ford, and Lindbergh, there was the French artist Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. Daguerre was bornnear Paris in 1787. A successful commercial artist by 1825, he also promoted the giant theater, the Diorama, which

encased huge 22 x 14m. paintings of historical, allegorical, and picturesque scenes lit to simulate movement. With theassistance of Joseph-Nicephore Niepce, Daguerre developed a method of making photographs, which excited commercialsuccess. He called his invention "The Daguerreotype." By beginning with a plate of silver upon copper, polishing the platewith steatic calcareous stone, and iodizing the surface to create a pale yellow tint, the novice photographers had their firstmaterials to create replications of their physical world. The plate then goes into the camera obscura (a small box with ahole in it), the lens is directed onto the object, and the rest depends entirely on the lighting. By 1839, the Frenchgovernment had made the Daguerreotype public by publishing Daguerre's process of photography for the entire world tolearn. In a matter of days, everything that related to the making of a Daguerreotype-iodine, lens, copper-was emptied fromthe opticians' and chemists' stores in Paris. To the cartoonists and satirists, it was nothing short of "Daguerreotypomania."In Daguerre's era, photos of buildings often took half an hour or more to record. People walking past, along with dogs,carriages and other moving objects, didn't appear unless they stood still for a long period of time. Today, one way to recordmodern architecture is by taking photographs at night, such as was one with this photograph. We'll analyze how it wasdone in a later part of this series. The Fever is ContagiousThis fever to create photographs spread rapidly overseas andtook hold in America. The daguerreotype excited the appetite for adventure of the Western pioneers, the artistic

sensibilities of the eastern painters; and in everyone, it touched deeply a desire to place the temporal world into small,silver-plated portraits, which could literally be held outside of time. One of the most novel aspects of the first camera wasthat it had not been patented or licensed. So, anyone from the wealthy to the farm hands could get their portrait taken oreven construct their own daguerreotype. It truly was a new communication medium, and it created a similar frenziedproductivity and excitement that today surrounds the World Wide Web. By 1843, an explosive portrait industry hademerged. Low light mixed with bright lights makes for streaks, something that can add or detract from a low lightphoto. For rides in an amusement part, these combination can show us things we can't see with our eyes. To the men andwomen of the 1830's and 1840's, life's possibilities at once seemed boundless. Though, in truth, for daguerrotypists andtheir subjects, the restrictions placed on their cameras were grossly apparent. The difficulties surrounding the portraitureprocess depended entirely on the lighting. This was a world that relied solely on the natural embers of light from a fire orthe blast of rays from the sun. To capture light, and do so in a way that accented the photograph, was an arduous, if notpain-staking, process. Many daguerreotypists put their studios on rooftops in an attempt to manipulate the light to pleasethe camera. Initially, the exposure time could take from ten to thirty minutes. Then with great improvements in the lenses,apparatus, and chemistry of exposures, the subject's sitting time was shortened to 1-2 minutes. Regardless of theadvancements, those posing for a portrait still had to remain motionless until the camera had made its full exposure.Luckily, photographers had a tool to help keep their subjects still. Anxious models ready to pose for the camera had to firstplace their necks into a clamp. Though this sounds strange and unusual to us, you have to remember that it took 1-2minutes for the light to filter through the lens and imprint the image onto the silver-copper plate. If the subject movedslightly within that time frame, the image was blurred. Here's a common low light problem. Professional sportsstadiums have bright, expensive lighting that makes night games easy to photograph. What can you do when your subjectis high school sports and the lighting is lousy? Naturally there are limits, but we'll tell you about the state of the art in alater installment. Today, we still confront the importance of good lighting. Whether indoors without a strong lightsource or outside at night with a canopy of stars, oftentimes our pictures turn out blurred or too dark. Thankfully, muchhas changed since the days of the daguerreotype, and it is possible to not only take aesthetically pleasing photos with littlelight but also to create photographs that stand alone artistically because of their emphasis on lighting. Low light


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doesn't just mean nighttime. A good dreary winter day also qualifies. Low light is in the eye of the beholder, just waiting tobe captured by the photographer. For the true revolution of low light photography, another one hundred years wouldpass. Next month we will explore the modern techniques of taking low light and night photography. Take an opportunityto visit www.daguerre.org to see their timeless collection of the old-fashioned daguerreotype photographs. LaurenRagland

Low Light Part-II The Right Equipment for the Right Results In understanding low-light photography, last month we looked at the history of photography and how the art form

evolved out of the daguerreotype. In the pre-Edison, pre-light bulb days of the daguerreotype, photographing by availablelight was the only choice, and the constraints of slow film and lenses made working in low light impossible. In thisinstallment, we're going to look at the present-day techniques and equipment, which separate night from day in terms oflow-light photography. Next month, we'll discuss different scenarios to help you find the light during the precarious night.In the glistening daylight, you've clearly identified your subject and simplified the fore and background. The angle you'vechosen captures the subject and the photograph as a whole in the most telling light. But now imagine the sun having sunkbelow the hills, city, or living room window and trying to find that right angle appears elusive. It's hard to see what you'redoing, let alone capture what you see on film. This picture was made in low light and in the cold as well. Taken in apark in Chicago by NYI Student Julius Pizarras as part of his Unit Three Photo Project, all we can tell you is that he usedISO 100 slide film and a 35-105 zoom lens. It looks pretty cold out there, but then it's always cold in Chicago in thewinter. Low-light photography lies in a class by itself, reflecting the different techniques and equipment needed tocapture this other world. While it's still enormously important to apply the Three Guidelines to all your photography, thechallenge of working in low light requires more of the individual photographer. Outside of the particular equipment andapproach, low-light photography also requires a different mindset-that of the nocturnally deprived soul who expects the

unexpected and answers the call of spontaneity that springs out of the gloom of night. Film Knowing what you'll needwhen you venture out into the night or simply dim the interior lights will greatly increase the quality of your photography,as well as decrease your frustration level. First, let's look at the film speed you'll need. With low light, it's usuallynecessary to load your camera with speedier films. Sometimes light sources at night will be intensely bright, like a white-lighted statue, other times very dim, like a buttery moon. For color photos, use ISO 800 or 1600 films. In black-and-white,you can use T-Max 3200 ISO, or use our special formula for pushing Tri-X (ISO 400) to ISO 5000. Click here if you don't have it and we'll e-mail it to you. There's no hard-and-fast rule that says you haveto use fast film in low light, but most of the time it will make the job easier. If you do use a medium-speed or slow film,you'll probably have to use a tripod for all your photography. We'll get to that in a minute. Camera and Lens Here's alow light shot taken with an SLR, 200 speed Kodachrome film and no tripod. Camera reads small lights wrapped aroundcolumns of the New York Stock Exchange and sets exposure of 1/8 @ /3.5, the maximum aperture on the 28-80 zoomlens used to take this photo. NYI Dean Chuck DeLaney told us that when he uses a lightweight automatic SLR at this kindof shutter speed he takes several frames and finds that one is usually sharp. For the photo on the right he rotated thecamera as he pressed the shutter. To round out the collection he also took a tight shot and a wider one. The favorite

cameras among professional photographers for shooting night and low-light scenes are 35mm SLR or rangefinder models.These cameras accept the widest selection of film, including all the fast films, and large-aperture lenses are readilyavailable. The primary concern is the speed of the lens-either fast or slow depending on the size of its maximum lenssettings. A fast lens is one that has a maximum aperture of /2.8 or larger. Many medium-range zoom lenses that comewith SLRs, such as a 28-80 lens, usually have a maximum aperture of /3.5. Zoom lenses that have a steady /2.8maximum aperture through their entire range of focal lengths can be quite expensive. Fixed focal length lenses, such asthe 50mm or 55mm lens that used to be sold with an SLR twenty years ago usually have larger maximum apertures. It wascommon to see fixed focal length lenses in the 50mm range /2 or even /1.8 as a maximum aperture. If you're interestedin low light photography and only have a mid-range zoom lens, you might want to look around and see if you can find afixed focal length lens that would be compatible with your camera. Older fixed focal length lenses may not have theautomatic features that are common in newer SLRs, but you can probably work around those limitations. Wide angle andtelephoto lenses can also be used for low light photography. With a telephoto lens you will definitely need a tripod.Here's a nice low-light time exposure of fireworks taken when there was still enough light in the sky to give definition tothe cityscape. We're looking at Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Notice the streaks of the shells near the ground. See suggestedexposure in the chart below. Tripod and Cable Release or Self-Timer If you've used one, you know that a tripod can becumbersome and carrying it around is a hassle. But, for very low-light scenes, a tripod is an absolute must. Inphotographing a subject that requires a slow shutter speed, over perhaps a long time exposure of a minute or more, thetripod stabilizes the camera, preventing pictures that are blurred from camera shake. When shopping for a new tripod,look for one that locks tightly, especially if you intend to move from horizontal to vertical framing. Your tripod shouldhave an adjustable top or a pan hand for adjusting the camera angle. It's also a good idea to buy a tripod with legs that arelong enough that you can use it at eye level without having to extend the tripod's center column, which usually is lessstable. It's important to realize that when you depress the camera's shutter for a long exposure, your camera may shakeslightly and that could distort the image. To avoid this unpleasant occurrence, you can use a cable release. For somecameras, you can find an inexpensive release that screws into the cable-release socket in your camera. Some automaticmodels don't accept the standard cable release screw and you need to purchase a special electronic release. There's


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another way to avoid any shake that could be caused by the pressure of your finger on the shutter release, and that's byusing your camera's self-timer. This gizmo, usually used to allow the photographer to get into family photos, has thebenefit of triggering the shutter without pressure from the photographer's finger. Mirror Lock While we're on the subjectof minimal camera vibration that could harm a long exposure, we're sure someone will take us to task if we don't mentionthe fact that there are certain SLRs, generally more expensive ones, that have a feature that allows you to lock up themirror that is used to direct the image entering the lens up into the viewfinder. When you press the shutter on an SLR, thismirror has to move up and out of the way before the image entering the lens can be focused onto the film in the back of thecamera. Even in an SLR featuring superb craftsmanship, the mirror will cause some vibration when it pops up out of the

way prior to exposure. Locking the mirror up before you open the shutter eliminates this source of vibration. Of course,once you lock the mirror up, you better have your picture planned and your angle selected, since you won't be able to seeanything through the viewfinder until you put the mirror back down. Selecting Exposure and Using a Light Meter Yourmost important tool for correct exposure will be your light meter. There are generally two kinds of low light situations first where it's dim in the entire scene, and second, when there is a small bright object, such as a light, the moon, thesetting sun, or some street lights. Be careful in the latter situation because the bright light may confuse your meter,particularly if the bright light falls into the center area where you camera's metering system is usually concentrated.Today's auto exposure SLRs are often very good at taking low light readings, and many times the shutter speeds availablego up to 4, 8, 15 or even 30 seconds. With such a camera, it's possible to take photographs in very low light situationsusing auto exposure. However, if there's a bright light in the scene, particularly near the center of the scene, it's usuallybest to get a meter reading by pointing your camera to an area where there are no bright lights. To get detail in shadowareas, meter a dark area, or take the reading from your hand and shoot at two, three, or four times more than the indicatedexposure. So, for example, if your hand gives a reading of 1/8 of a second at /2.8, twice as much exposure would be 1/4second at /2.8, and four times as much exposure would be 1/2 second. Bear in mind however, that you don't want to make

the shadow areas so light that they look unnatural. Shadow areas should be dark. If you're using an older camera and youwant to do a lot of low light photography, you may want invest in a separate handheld meter, either a reflected light meterthat reads the light coming off the subject, or an incident meter that reads the light that's falling on the scene. With a littlepractice, either type will give good results in low light situations. Bracket Most of the time, your low light subjects willbe landscapes or still life settings of some sort. It's not that often that you'll be trying to photograph action, or movingsubjects in low light. Since your subject isn't moving, or not moving very fast, the key to getting the right exposure, andlearning what constitutes the right exposure in low light situations, lies in bracketing your exposure. As you may know,bracketing means to take several different pictures of the same scene, giving each a little more or less exposure, hopefullywith the result that one of the exposures turns out to be the best for the overall scene. That is to say that you take themeter's suggested best exposure and bracket it with some exposures that capture more light and some that capture less.To learn the most about how exposure renders low light scenes, we suggest that you pick what you believe to be the rightexposure and take the picture, then make two exposures with less light, perhaps one stop and two stops less light, or evenone stop and three stops less light, and then make two exposures with more light, either one stop and two stops more light,or one stop and three stops. Can you feel the rumble as the train pulls into the station? It's always low light in the

subway, and Keith Moffett used the converging lines of the platform and the fluorescent light bank to call attention to theincoming train. You can almost hear the dripping of water on the walls. Notice the greenish color of the lighting in thestation. When you start working in low light, it is essential that you study each image that you create. Study theunderexposed ones, and see how the detail in the shadows disappears. How serious is the drop off? What aboutoverexposed images? Chances are, you'll lose detail in the highlight areas, but does that matter? What about the increaseddetail in the shadow areas? How quickly does it increase? Too many photographers spend too much time looking only atthe successful images. Remember, there's always a lot to be learned by studying the photos that don't work, or theexposures that seem less than ideal. What if you don't have a meter, or if you can't get close enough to the subject tomake the meter reading the way you would like it? Here are some suggested exposures for common low light subjects withISO 400 film. You could use the same settings for ISO 200 film, and then bracket by giving one stop more exposure aswell. Subject close to candle lit only by the candle: 1/15 at /2 Home interior with regular lights: 1/30 at /2 Indoor andoutdoor Christmas lights: 1/15 at /2 Bright lights such as New York's Times Square: 1/60 at /4 Bonfires, burningbuildings: 1/60 at /4 Sports arena with lighting: 1/125 at /2 Moon on a clear night: 1/250 @ /16 after all, it's being litby the sun! Fireworks: keep shutter open for time exposure, set aperture to /16 You're Equipped Almost! Now thatyou've got your tripod, light meter or exposure strategy, appropriate lens and film, what about those necessary items thatmake your journey into the world of low-light photography that much easier? First, if you've got everything thrown intoyour camera bag willy-nilly, take everything out and organize your bag. With little light and little time (sometimes) tocapture the fleeting images of the night, it's important to know exactly where your equipment is when you need it. Forinstance, make sure to separate the color from the black-and-white film. Only pack the things that you think you'll actuallyuse. Then pack special items, such as cable releases and special effect filters, in specific places for ready access. Anabsolute necessity, which is sometimes overlooked, is a plentiful light source-a small penlight or pocket flashlight forreading meters, camera settings, and film data sheets. And the very last item you'll need is a watch with a face that lightsup. This way you can time those long exposures. If you don't have one, get a cheap $20-dollar model with a button thatlights up the face of the watch. It will make that thirty-second exposure by moonlight a lot easier! Congratulations! Yourbag is organized and you're ready to begin photographing the nocturnal world before you. Sometimes astonishing,


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unexpected images will emerge when light from nebulous sources swirl, erupt, or highlight your subject. Next month, we'lllook at how best to utilize your camera and equipment for low-light photography. Lauren RaglandCopyright 2002 New York Institute of Photography 211 East 43rd Street, Dept. WWW New York, NY 10017 [email protected] For permission to reproduce in any manner, see Notice on Home Page.

Low Light Part-III In Part One of Low Light Photography welooked at the history of photography and how the art form evolved out of the daguerreotype. In the pre-Edison, pre-lightbulb days of the daguerreotype, photographing by available light was the only choice, and the constraints of slow film and

lenses made working in low light impossible. In Part Two weexplored the present-day techniques and equipment, which separate night from day in terms of low-light photography. Inthis installment, we'll discuss different scenarios to help you find the light during the precarious night. Now, that you'vegot all the equipment you need for low-light photography, it's time to bring to light the shimmering, mystical, beautifulnight just beyond your front door. Let's start with the most accessible subjects. The most traditional and loved form ofavailable-light photography is just before sunrises and just after sunsets. The effect of minimal light upon these settingscan be very dramatic. With each moment, the view before you changes; with different lens length, shutter speed and f-stop,you can greatly manipulate the appearance of the natural world. If you're anxious to begin photographing the reverentglow inside a church, the spotlighted moves of football players, or the silhouette of a friend, we suggest holding off. Firstgetting a grasp on the most traditional form of low-light photography will prepare you for more demanding settings.Walking down a city street or driving home from work, you happen to glance up and see a beautiful pink and gold tintedsunset. It may only last a short while. You may try to follow it with your eyes before it's vanished behind a building or thetops of trees. The trick is to place your photograph. The first step is to find the perfect location. That is of keyimportance. The place may be your backyard, on the side of the road, on a rooftop or if you're lucky, by the beach. Find a

view that can be easily simplified. If you're going to photograph from your backyard, you don't want to include too muchin the photo. Nothing should interfere with the camera and the sunset or sunrise, unless it draws greater attention to yoursubject, such as a silhouette of a lone tree against the horizon. Often, people associate the magnificent views of a sunsetwith the beach because the horizon is entirely unobstructed. It appears infinite, resting at the end of the earth and socreates an ideal setting. Most of us don't have immediate access to an attractive beach. Fear not, and find that special placewhere the entire landscape draws attention to the vibrant sky. City lights, trees, a mountain, or bridge can complement thehorizon perfectly. Once you've identified that perfect location, get there a half an hour before the sun is to rise or sinkinto the horizon. Remember that you'll need to organize your equipment in advance so that when the sun rises or falls tothe perfect angle, you only need worry about photographing it. The setting will change appearance from minute to minuteso it's important to take a bunch of pictures, capturing this kaleidoscope of colors before you. To get the best exposureuse a separate light meter for measuring the ambient level of light. Either take an incident-light reading, or take a gray-card reading. To be on the safe side, take a number of bracketed shots at different exposures. Bracketing can create a moreinteresting and imaginative photo. To do so, if your meter tells you to expose the scene at 1/60 of a second at f/8, thenmake the photograph and then take another frame at 1/60th at f/5.6 and another at 1/60th at f/11. This way, you have

taken frames with more and less exposure than that which the meter indicates. Experimenting with different f-stops willpossibly give you dazzling results, using your camera to alter the actual landscape and creating something truly dream-like. If your camera doesn't have a separate meter or a way to control the aperture and shutter speed, it's still possible toget different exposure settings using a little ingenuity. First, point your camera at the sunset and take the indicatedexposure, and then, point it at the ground where it's darker. Lock the exposure, recompose on the sunset, and take anotherexposure. Now, turn around and point the camera at the sky, lock the exposure, turn around, recompose on the sunset, andtake another photograph.This is an easy way to get one photo with more exposure and one photo with less. It's an easy,somewhat casual way of bracketing, but it works. Remember that when photographing the sun, you'll need to use a200mm to 400mm or longer lens to produce a large, glowing orb. With this understood, don't look directly into your lensuntil the sun is low enough to have turned red. Otherwise, the sun's beauty may backfire right into your eyes - ouch!Almost any film will do. We recommend ISO 200 or 400.What will your composition look like? Remember the rule of thirds. When looking through your camera, visually divide

the picture area into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The intersection of these imaginary lines creates a guidelinefor the placement of your subjects. Putting the horizon in the middle makes for a boring landscape. This photo by NYIstudent Diane Lynch of Mount Ranier is great example of well-executed positioning. Over two-thirds of the photo isshared by the light blue sky and mountain. The shadowed foreground occupies just enough space to create a contrast to thesnow-covered mountain and sky. The clouds and the mountain are the focus, and gain greater attention due to thesimplified background and foreground. Just as the sun has a powerful effect on all that lies below it, water, inconjunction with the sun, creates a similar effect on all above it. The ocean, a lake, or a river acts as a strong reflector forthe sky's rays. This makes your image more powerful, as is evident in Lyle Klinge's photo "Of the Sunrise," below. It's aradiant composition because of the two contrasting color and textual schemes. One, the pink and blue fluffy clouds aremirrored in the water below. This creates continuity and makes the image much stronger. The surrounding dark forest oftrees makes for a nice border to the water. Notice how the treetops punctuate the horizon, drawing our eye towards thelimitless sky. With sunrises and sunsets, you are the designer to interpret nature in your own way. A perfect way to do sois by using one or a few subjects, such as a rock, driftwood, or a tree, against the horizon. This can create an eerie or


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magical effect, as in "Silhouette Vista" by Mark L. Walker. Imagine this photograph without the trees. While it wouldremain an attractive image, it would lose much of its uniqueness that makes it so sublime. Mark's photo nicely balancesthe dark sky with the dark foreground, highlighting the vista of red, blue, and gold colors. In order to bring theforeground to light, one option is to fire your flash as Gail Baker did in this photo taken at Lake Powell in Utah. Using herflash, Gail makes an otherwise, uninteresting photo, infinitely more picturesque. Without the flash, this would be a prettybland picture with just the dark mountain and gold tinted sky. No matter that the foliage is common in appearance, itlights up the picture, literally! For a different type of look, try the sun setting over a city skyline, or even a"moonscape." This photo by Kok Mun Wong looks like a tourist postcard. He positioned the camera so as to get an

expansive vista without making it too busy. The reflection from the moon and the city lights tint the water and the skysimilar shades of aquamarine. This creates balance, as well as beauty. The moon, the bridges, and the city lights all worktogether to give it a romantic quality. Cities are great subjects to photograph because each has its own personality, whichshines the fullest in the night.Now, you should be well on your way to photographing the beautiful, always changing, mystical sunsets and sunrises. Notonly do these scenes make for enjoyable and rewarding work, but also they can be wonderfully lucrative. This genre willalways be in demand. On the cover of greeting cards, calendars, postcards, the mysterious look and majestic colors of asunset or sunrise will never grow tired. Lauren Ragland

Copyright 2002 New York Institute of Photography 211 East 43rd Street, Dept. WWW New York, NY 10017 [email protected] For permission to reproduce in any manner, see Notice on Home Page.

Low Light Part-III In Part One of Low Light Photography welooked at the history of photography and how the art form evolved out of the daguerreotype. In the pre-Edison, pre-light

bulb days of the daguerreotype, photographing by available light was the only choice, and the constraints of slow film andlenses made working in low light impossible. In Part Two weexplored the present-day techniques and equipment, which separate night from day in terms of low-light photography. Inthis installment, we'll discuss different scenarios to help you find the light during the precarious night. Now, that you'vegot all the equipment you need for low-light photography, it's time to bring to light the shimmering, mystical, beautifulnight just beyond your front door. Let's start with the most accessible subjects. The most traditional and loved form ofavailable-light photography is just before sunrises and just after sunsets. The effect of minimal light upon these settingscan be very dramatic. With each moment, the view before you changes; with different lens length, shutter speed and f-stop,you can greatly manipulate the appearance of the natural world. If you're anxious to begin photographing the reverentglow inside a church, the spotlighted moves of football players, or the silhouette of a friend, we suggest holding off. Firstgetting a grasp on the most traditional form of low-light photography will prepare you for more demanding settings.Walking down a city street or driving home from work, you happen to glance up and see a beautiful pink and gold tintedsunset. It may only last a short while. You may try to follow it with your eyes before it's vanished behind a building or thetops of trees. The trick is to place your photograph. The first step is to find the perfect location. That is of key

importance. The place may be your backyard, on the side of the road, on a rooftop or if you're lucky, by the beach. Find aview that can be easily simplified. If you're going to photograph from your backyard, you don't want to include too muchin the photo. Nothing should interfere with the camera and the sunset or sunrise, unless it draws greater attention to yoursubject, such as a silhouette of a lone tree against the horizon. Often, people associate the magnificent views of a sunsetwith the beach because the horizon is entirely unobstructed. It appears infinite, resting at the end of the earth and socreates an ideal setting. Most of us don't have immediate access to an attractive beach. Fear not, and find that special placewhere the entire landscape draws attention to the vibrant sky. City lights, trees, a mountain, or bridge can complement thehorizon perfectly. Once you've identified that perfect location, get there a half an hour before the sun is to rise or sinkinto the horizon. Remember that you'll need to organize your equipment in advance so that when the sun rises or falls tothe perfect angle, you only need worry about photographing it. The setting will change appearance from minute to minuteso it's important to take a bunch of pictures, capturing this kaleidoscope of colors before you. To get the best exposureuse a separate light meter for measuring the ambient level of light. Either take an incident-light reading, or take a gray-card reading. To be on the safe side, take a number of bracketed shots at different exposures. Bracketing can create a moreinteresting and imaginative photo. To do so, if your meter tells you to expose the scene at 1/60 of a second at f/8, thenmake the photograph and then take another frame at 1/60th at f/5.6 and another at 1/60th at f/11. This way, you havetaken frames with more and less exposure than that which the meter indicates. Experimenting with different f-stops willpossibly give you dazzling results, using your camera to alter the actual landscape and creating something truly dream-like. If your camera doesn't have a separate meter or a way to control the aperture and shutter speed, it's still possible toget different exposure settings using a little ingenuity. First, point your camera at the sunset and take the indicatedexposure, and then, point it at the ground where it's darker. Lock the exposure, recompose on the sunset, and take anotherexposure. Now, turn around and point the camera at the sky, lock the exposure, turn around, recompose on the sunset, andtake another photograph.This is an easy way to get one photo with more exposure and one photo with less. It's an easy,somewhat casual way of bracketing, but it works. Remember that when photographing the sun, you'll need to use a200mm to 400mm or longer lens to produce a large, glowing orb. With this understood, don't look directly into your lensuntil the sun is low enough to have turned red. Otherwise, the sun's beauty may backfire right into your eyes - ouch!


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Almost any film will do. We recommend ISO 200 or 400.What will your composition look like? Remember the rule of thirds. When looking through your camera, visually divide

the picture area into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The intersection of these imaginary lines creates a guidelinefor the placement of your subjects. Putting the horizon in the middle makes for a boring landscape. This photo by NYIstudent Diane Lynch of Mount Ranier is great example of well-executed positioning. Over two-thirds of the photo isshared by the light blue sky and mountain. The shadowed foreground occupies just enough space to create a contrast to thesnow-covered mountain and sky. The clouds and the mountain are the focus, and gain greater attention due to thesimplified background and foreground. Just as the sun has a powerful effect on all that lies below it, water, in

conjunction with the sun, creates a similar effect on all above it. The ocean, a lake, or a river acts as a strong reflector forthe sky's rays. This makes your image more powerful, as is evident in Lyle Klinge's photo "Of the Sunrise," below. It's aradiant composition because of the two contrasting color and textual schemes. One, the pink and blue fluffy clouds aremirrored in the water below. This creates continuity and makes the image much stronger. The surrounding dark forest oftrees makes for a nice border to the water. Notice how the treetops punctuate the horizon, drawing our eye towards thelimitless sky. With sunrises and sunsets, you are the designer to interpret nature in your own way. A perfect way to do sois by using one or a few subjects, such as a rock, driftwood, or a tree, against the horizon. This can create an eerie ormagical effect, as in "Silhouette Vista" by Mark L. Walker. Imagine this photograph without the trees. While it wouldremain an attractive image, it would lose much of its uniqueness that makes it so sublime. Mark's photo nicely balancesthe dark sky with the dark foreground, highlighting the vista of red, blue, and gold colors. In order to bring theforeground to light, one option is to fire your flash as Gail Baker did in this photo taken at Lake Powell in Utah. Using herflash, Gail makes an otherwise, uninteresting photo, infinitely more picturesque. Without the flash, this would be a prettybland picture with just the dark mountain and gold tinted sky. No matter that the foliage is common in appearance, itlights up the picture, literally! For a different type of look, try the sun setting over a city skyline, or even a

"moonscape." This photo by Kok Mun Wong looks like a tourist postcard. He positioned the camera so as to get anexpansive vista without making it too busy. The reflection from the moon and the city lights tint the water and the skysimilar shades of aquamarine. This creates balance, as well as beauty. The moon, the bridges, and the city lights all worktogether to give it a romantic quality. Cities are great subjects to photograph because each has its own personality, whichshines the fullest in the night.Now, you should be well on your way to photographing the beautiful, always changing, mystical sunsets and sunrises. Notonly do these scenes make for enjoyable and rewarding work, but also they can be wonderfully lucrative. This genre willalways be in demand. On the cover of greeting cards, calendars, postcards, the mysterious look and majestic colors of asunset or sunrise will never grow tired. Lauren Ragland


Low Light Part-IV From the last three installments of Low-Light Photography, (Lowlight, II , III) you've learned how it is a part of the rich beginnings of the entirecraft; you've discovered what equipment is needed; and you now know how to capture magnificent, golden sunrises, andtourmaline-colored sunsets. But that is just the beginning. There is so much more to discover, to capture, and to uncoverwhen the sunlight fades. While the rest of the world turns down their bedspreads, the crafty photographers of the world areadjusting their shutter speeds in preparation for the tricks that the night plays when the lights go out. So much canhappen in a low-light situation, and with each setting there are considerations to make for the best results. This month,we're discussing the bright lights found in a cityscape and those from one specific building or object. The fascination withphotographing a skyline is that each city seems to have a different personality. The challenge is capturing that character.Also, because of the nature of these concrete and glass ecosystems, the photographer has many exciting choices to make.First, what perspective to use to capture the city to the best effect? Then, how much light should be recorded in the image?To bring out more of the illuminated details in the picture, use a short exposure. On the other hand, use a long exposure toshow more detail in the shadows. Let's first begin with cityscapes one of the most popular subjects for nighttimephotography. This excellent photo by NYI student Rob Bowman demonstrates one of the most important aspects ofcityscapes design! That is how all of the elements in the photo work together to achieve balance, function, and a strongaesthetic. The beaming lights, shades of blue or pink or gray in the sky, and the contrasting shapes of the buildings canpresent many options. From which angle do you photograph to capture the city's personality? Can it be captured with onlyone image? Firstly, try photographing many images from one angle, and then photograph one image from many angles.Each perspective can appear as though it was from a different city. The skyline can change that much. Try to figure outhow the shapes of the buildings fit together. How they interact with the fore and background, creating a pattern, a design!In Rob's photo, we immediately notice the large black slash, which is the belly of the Brooklyn Bridge. It swoops above theskyline and breaks up the empty dark blue sky. It also adds to the great use of perspective. Obviously, Rob was under thebridge when he took the photo, which worked to his advantage. Ironically, we see more of the skyline than we may haveotherwise. The darkly colored bridge acts as a roof to the lighted cityscape of old Lower Manhattan as it appeared before


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the destruction of the World Trade Center. Image if the bridge was equally as lighted. It would compete for attention.Instead the bridge draws our focus more clearly to the lights. When taking cityscapes, as Rob's picture demonstrates, it'sbest to photograph at twilight. At this time, the sky is not entirely black. Instead it will have a spectrum of blue colors thatwill enliven the picture as a whole and add contrast to the dark buildings and white lights. In most cities, the lights turn onat dusk, before the sky turns completely dark. But when you're in Las Vegas, where the lights burn in every colorimaginable, a jet-black sky will provide a good backdrop and help to simplify the picture. This is evident in NYI studentJacqueline Lynch's picture of that dazzling, hypnotic city. She took this picture in late September of 2001 while standingon the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. We would never know it, but she held the camera through a gap in the

fencing. To us it looks like a mecca of lights, and a tribute to the city that really never sleeps. With all the lights, whydidn't they simply fuse together, ruining the picture, and creating a spotlight effect? When photographing a cityscape, it'simportant to use an exposure light meter. It's also important to be aware that a meter can be misleading. In all truth, it canout and out lie. Though don't blame the meter, it's not entirely its fault. First when there are great dark areas, coming fromthe sky, a mass of water, or a mound of treetops, the meter averages the darkness in ratio to the lightness. Oftentimes, itwill overcompensate for the dark regions and instruct the user to expose for too long. Use a little common sense, and ifyour picture has ten times as many dark regions than light, take the meter reading and reduce it by two or three stops.Now, a vast sea of lighted buildings can be mesmerizing, but what about when you come across one set of curvaceousotherworldly buildings that look as though they were designed specifically to be photographed? You do what NYI studentJean-Christophe Bieselaar did photograph them! The buildings are illuminated with some type of high-intensity sodiumvapor lamps. This gives them and the statue in the foreground the aqua-green tint. The effect is that they stand out asthough they had just landed off a spacecraft. In the areas that the light is the brightest, the effect is that the buildings lookcrystalline. Against, the black night, these buildings really stand out. Notice that in the right hand side of the picture thereis the faint trace of clouds. They act as a nice counterbalance to the futuristic looking structures. The clouds remind us that

the buildings are within a natural setting. This building would look very different if it was photographed in daylight.Jean-Christophe's picture works mainly because it is a close-up. If the buildings were surrounded by a large sea of black,they may appear as a small beacon of light. As a result, the picture would have lost the artistic quality. His subjects appearlarger than life not only because of their design but also because of his perspective. Imagine if they didn't occupy three-fourths of the frame. As it stands, we may even imagine that those in the buildings are wearing uniforms, speaking andwalking with robotic timing. The effect of Jean-Christophe's perspective and use of the sodium light is very dramatic. Thispicture shows that even an image that appears designed to be photographed can be made more illuminated, moresensational with the use of a camera and the photographer's eye. Next, NYI student Greg Brown creates a ghostly effectin his picture of a power plant taken at sunrise. The lights, the reflections from the water, and the emissions have all beenenhanced for a number of reasons. Greg used slow film and a medium sized aperture, and the result was a very slowshutter speed, which made the beautiful contrasts evident. The exposure, which was 40 seconds, makes this picture sospecial and brings to it qualities that may have otherwise been lost. With the long exposure, we can see that the trails ofemissions are moving. The colors in them become more real instead of fading into the background. As Greg's photographdemonstrates, exposure in low light settings can show motion that the naked eye can not see. The effect can be very

strongtaking a theme and making it the focus of the picture. There is a dark, eerie, almost deathly feel that comes acrossin this picture and is impossible to ignore. The image, through the eyes of Greg, clearly represents what is unnatural anddangerous. In the above photographs, the photographers took the moving, still, lighted, darkened images before them andmade them larger than life. When a cityscape or isolated building brilliantly lit up by the hands of man is contrasted with adark sky amazing pictures can be produced. When objects or substances, such as emissions, moving through the nighttimeare brought to light by a camera, new, beautiful images are created. In the hopes of creating more magnificent pictures,we're going to look at a handful of scenarios and look at how to approach each in the following Low-Light installments.Had you thought about the impact of motion on a low-light setting? Lights in motion can create beautiful effects, and thecamera is the singular medium that can capture what our eye can't see. Just wait and you'll see. Then, we'll look at randomevents, such as lightning, and how you prepare for them. Finally, lights in a design and low-light interiors occupy a worldinto themselves. As the series progresses, we're going to enter that world.Now, you should be well on your way to photographing the beautiful, always changing, mystical sunsets and sunrises. Notonly do these scenes make for enjoyable and rewarding work, but also they can be wonderfully lucrative. This genre willalways be in demand. On the cover of greeting cards, calendars, postcards, the mysterious look and majestic colors of asunset or sunrise will never grow tired. Lauren Ragland


Incident and Gray-Card ReadingsHow do you meter a sunset? Or a flag backlit by the sun? Or a very dark-skinned subject? Or any other "tricky" exposuresituation?One way is to point your camera with its built-in meter toward the subject...and pray a lot. The exposure you get may beright on the money, but it may be way off too. There's got to be a better way. And there is!


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In a "simple" lighting situation - for example, a portrait of your friend taken outdoors under the shade of a tree - thetraditional aim-your camera-and-trust-the-meter method usually works just fine. But when the lighting is more complex,you often need to use a different method to get the right exposure. A method that involves reading the light hitting yoursubject, rather than reading the subject itself. You can do this in either of two different ways - either read the light off agray card or take an incident reading. Either way should bring you the same result as the other. And both are simple, onceyou know how.Let's back up a bit first, and discuss how a light-meter - any meter, built-in or hand-held - determines the "right" exposure.For example, you want to determine the right exposure for your friend's face. You point your lens or a hand-held meter

toward the face, and your meter tells you the "correct" exposure. Correct for what? Well, correct to produce a pleasing skintone on color or B/W film. NYI StaffBut how does the meter know what a "pleasing skin tone" is? It doesn't - and that is the problem. The meter doesn't knowif you're pointing to a human face, a field of snow, or a lump of coal. All the meter knows is how to tell you what shutterspeed-aperture combination to use to produce an 18% gray tone.Why 18% gray? Why not 25% gray...or 12% gray...or 99% gray? Because it has been determined that if the light in anaverage scene is averaged out, it will produce an 18% gray tone. So film - color and B/W - is formulated to produce properexposure when it is exposed to produce an 18% gray tone.Immediately, some questions come to mind. What is an "average scene"? Is a ski slope average? A beach? A neon sign?And what is an average skin tone? Is it the skin of a Swedish blonde? Or a Nigerian black? Or a tanned California sun-worshiper? The meter doesn't know or care. It will tell you how to produce an 18% gray tone no matter what you point itat!

Knowing this, we can now proceed. If film - all regular film - is formulated to produce the best exposure when it isexposed to 18% gray light, why not read the light itself? Then, no matter what color your subject is - black, white, red,green, or anything else - if you read the light falling on it, you should come up with a "correct" exposure. And this isexactly what a gray-card reading or an incident-meter reading does.This is the such an important point, that we suggest your go back and read the last paragraph again (and again, ifnecessary) so that it is crystal-clear in your mind before you proceed.Method One is to take a gray-card reading. A gray-card is a piece of cardboard that is colored a precise tone that reflects18% of the light that strikes it. This tone is 18% gray. NYI StaffYou take a reading of a gray card using either your camera's built-in meter or a hand-held. Just make sure the card is tiltedso that the light that falls on it is similar to the light that is falling on your subject. You already know that your meter iscalibrated to give you a reading that will produce an 18%-gray tone on your film. This means the tone of the gray-cardwould be duplicated perfectly on the film. It also means that all other tones, lighter or darker, will be faithfully reproduced

on the film too. So whether your subject is blonde or brunette, snow or coal, red or green, it will be faithfully reproducedand properly exposed on your film.Where do you get a gray card? There's one in the Kodak Professional Photo Guide, a valuable guidebook that sells forabout $32. Or you can buy a Kodak gray-card by itself for $14.95 at your local camera store. Or, if you're an NYI student,you'll get one free as part of your Course when you come to the lesson on Exposure.An incident-reading with a hand-held meter gives you the same result. It reads the light, and tells you what exposure touse to reproduce an 18%-gray tone on your film. Unfortunately, the built-in meter on your camera does not have thiscapability. But most handheld meters do. To take an incident reading with a hand-held meter, you usually push a milk-colored plastic gizmo (dome) in front of the light-sensitive cell and point the meter away from the subject and toward thelight source, like this:The milky plastic dome transmits only 18% of the light it sees. Result: The meter gives you a readout of an exposure thatwill produce a perfect 18%-gray tone on your film in that light. This should be exactly the same exposure readout that youwould have gotten if you had read a gray-card under the same conditions. So once again, the reading will be correct in thatlight no matter what the coloration of your subject.Now you can see why we recommend that, when you are faced with "tricky" lighting, you use either a gray-card reading oran incidentmeter reading.We hope this explanation is clear. It is a very brief recapitulation of the much more detailed step-by-step explanation thatis given to NYI students in their lesson on Exposure.

Copyright 1998New York Institute of Photography211 East 43rd Street, Dept. WWWNew York, NY 10017 [email protected] permission to reproduce content in any manner, see Notice on Home Page.


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How to use Hyperfocal Distance to get the greatest possible Depth of Field If you haven't seen it yet, check out our Pictureof The Month article. We think learning to use the hyperfocal technique is so important that we've analyzed this month'sPicture-of-the-Month in terms of the use of this concept. You probably know that to get maximum depth of field with anylens, you should shoot using the smallest aperture the lens permits - that is, the highest f-number. For example, if thesmallest aperture of your lens is f/16, use it to obtain maximum depth of field. If your lens shuts down to f/22, better still -use it. Or f/32 or whatever is the smallest aperture of the particular lens. But this is just the start. The next question is:

Where should you focus the lens? Should you focus on the horizon? In other words, should you focus on infinity? This iswhat most photographers do when they want to get maximum depth of field - they "shut down" to their smallest aperture,and they focus on infinity. But it's wrong! The problem with doing this is that, while this method gets distant objects infocus, it doesn't maximize the sharpness of foreground objects. (To best follow the discussion from here, we suggest youget out your camera and your favorite lens, and follow along with them as you read this.) As an example, suppose youwant to capture a distant mountain vista, and you also want to add a sense of depth from near to far by framing the scenewith the branches of the tree overhead. Nice idea, but how can you get the nearby branches in focus at the same time youkeep the distant mountains in focus? You can accomplish this by using what is called the hyperfocal distance setting ifyour lens has a depth-of-field scale imprinted on it. This is an important "if" since many of today's lenses don't have adepth-of-field scale. This is a scale with a series of numbers coinciding with the apertures available on the lens. Eachnumber is printed twice - once on the left of the center position, once on the right. So if your lens has apertures runningfrom f/2 through f/16, you will find a "2" imprinted in the center and the number "16" printed at the left extreme andagain at the right extreme. Here's how to use this scale to get the overhead branch in focus at the same time the mountainis in focus: Set your lens to its smallest possible aperture - say, f/16. Since your lens is set at f/16, find the "16" markings

on the depth-of-field scale on the lens. Instead of the normal procedure of positioning the infinity distance mark at thecenter, position the infinity symbol above the "16" mark on the right. This brings infinity just within the depth-of-field atf/16. Now, you are no longer focusing directly on infinity. Depending on the lens, you are now focusing on a distance ofaround seven to ten feet. But everything will be within the depth of field now from the distance above the left-hand "16"marking - about three or four feet - and all the way to infinity. This setting is known as the "hyperfocal distance setting."It provides you with the maximum depth-of-field you can possibly get with the lens you are using. In other words, you nowcan have the overhead branch in focus as well as the mountains in focus - and everything in between! One final word. Ifyour lens does not have a depth-of-field scale - and most of today's lenses don't - you might experiment. When you want tomaximize depth of field, use the smallest aperture, set your distance for infinity...then back off the distance from infinity alittle bit. How much? This depends upon the lens. So the operative word here is experiment!

How to use Hyperfocal Distance to get the greatest possible Depth of Field If you haven't seen it yet, check out our Pictureof The Month article. We think learning to use the hyperfocal technique is so important that we've analyzed this month'sPicture-of-the-Month in terms of the use of this concept. You probably know that to get maximum depth of field with any

lens, you should shoot using the smallest aperture the lens permits - that is, the highest f-number. For example, if thesmallest aperture of your lens is f/16, use it to obtain maximum depth of field. If your lens shuts down to f/22, better still -use it. Or f/32 or whatever is the smallest aperture of the particular lens. But this is just the start. The next question is:Where should you focus the lens? Should you focus on the horizon? In other words, should you focus on infinity? This iswhat most photographers do when they want to get maximum depth of field - they "shut down" to their smallest aperture,and they focus on infinity. But it's wrong! The problem with doing this is that, while this method gets distant objects infocus, it doesn't maximize the sharpness of foreground objects. (To best follow the discussion from here, we suggest youget out your camera and your favorite lens, and follow along with them as you read this.) As an example, suppose youwant to capture a distant mountain vista, and you also want to add a sense of depth from near to far by framing the scenewith the branches of the tree overhead. Nice idea, but how can you get the nearby branches in focus at the same time youkeep the distant mountains in focus? You can accomplish this by using what is called the hyperfocal distance setting ifyour lens has a depth-of-field scale imprinted on it. This is an important "if" since many of today's lenses don't have adepth-of-field scale. This is a scale with a series of numbers coinciding with the apertures available on the lens. Eachnumber is printed twice - once on the left of the center position, once on the right. So if your lens has apertures runningfrom f/2 through f/16, you will find a "2" imprinted in the center and the number "16" printed at the left extreme andagain at the right extreme. Here's how to use this scale to get the overhead branch in focus at the same time the mountainis in focus: Set your lens to its smallest possible aperture - say, f/16. Since your lens is set at f/16, find the "16" markingson the depth-of-field scale on the lens. Instead of the normal procedure of positioning the infinity distance mark at thecenter, position the infinity symbol above the "16" mark on the right. This brings infinity just within the depth-of-field atf/16. Now, you are no longer focusing directly on infinity. Depending on the lens, you are now focusing on a distance ofaround seven to ten feet. But everything will be within the depth of field now from the distance above the left-hand "16"marking - about three or four feet - and all the way to infinity. This setting is known as the "hyperfocal distance setting."It provides you with the maximum depth-of-field you can possibly get with the lens you are using. In other words, you nowcan have the overhead branch in focus as well as the mountains in focus - and everything in between! One final word. Ifyour lens does not have a depth-of-field scale - and most of today's lenses don't - you might experiment. When you want to


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maximize depth of field, use the smallest aperture, set your distance for infinity...then back off the distance from infinity alittle bit. How much? This depends upon the lens. So the operative word here is experiment!

Back to Black-and-White

This marks the beginning of a new www.nyip.com series designed to introduce a new generation of photographers to thepossibilities that exist making and working with black-and-white photographs. We won't promise a new installment

every month, but there will be regular chapters until we've covered the entire story. By the way, we are interested yoursuggestions and ideas for this series and we are open to proposals for installments to be written by our readers. Addressyour comments to Back to Black-and-White .A Little History, Or, Who Killed Black-and-White the First Time Around? Before there was color photography, there wasblack-and-white photography. Before national magazines were published with nothing but color photos, they used to run acolor photo on the cover and a few color photos sprinkled through the rest of the magazine. Everything else was black-and-white. Let's go way back: The shiny-and-dark image of the Dauguerreotype was essentially, a black-and-whiteimage. So too, the brown-and-white albumen print, the muted tones of the calotype and even the murky image of tintypes.Most of the history of the first hundred plus years of photography was etched in monochromatic tones a photograph was atwo-dimensional rendering of light and dark patches that created a black-and-white likeness of a real-world scene.Sometimes the dark portions were dark gray and black, other times dark brown and deep brown (sepia). Even in the pastfifty years, there have been lots of reasons to use black-and-white film. Early color film, processing and printing wasexpensive much more expensive than black-and-white. Worse still, the quality of the images was often poor, particularlyfrom low-cost labs used by amateurs. This was because the film wasn't so hot, the processing (except for very high-end

magazine and advertising work) was shaky, and the volume wasn't there. For pros, only some jobs called for color images,the majority of photographs that were reproduced in print-even on television-were black and white. Color reproduction inmagazines and books was usually poor right up to the 1970s or early 1980s. Sometimes it was downright lousy. Today,we live in a full-color world. For photo viewers, even the color photos in newspapers are pretty good. Color images inmagazines, books, and gasp! television too, are usually crisp and well-balanced. For the makers of photographs,including the amateur photo enthusiast and even the family snapshot photographer, today's color films and prints arereasonably priced and better than ever. For the pro, almost every customer wants color, and the exquisite films and qualityprocessing and printing that is available allows us to produce photos that drip with eye-popping color. When that'sappropriate. The result of this full-color media world is that today many photographers shoot everything in color.Chuck DeLaney, NYI Dean Along the way to this full-color media world (starting around 1975-1980) there was anunintended consequence. The use of black-and-white film plummeted. There were many reasons: Manufacturers wereoffering better color film and processing at lower prices, while fewer and fewer commercial processors could do a good jobprocessing black-and-white film. It even became hard to buy black-and-white film! The result? The creation of black-and-white images dropped precipitously. In little over a decade, black-and-white went from a basic photographic

commodity to something that was a chore to purchase and tough to get processed. Lots of photographers, as we'll discussin a moment, stuck with black-and-white in recent times and continue to produce fantastic work in that medium. Thepeople who have suffered are the ones who got excited about photography in the past ten to fifteen years. If you took upphotography since say, 1985, there's a danger you haven't really had the fun of working with black-and-white film andgetting good results. That's a real loss. Chuck DeLaney, NYI Dean But it's an understandable situation. After all, ifyou have to work hard to buy black-and-white film, if you can't get someone else to process it, and if you can't easily buythe gear you would need to do the job yourself, then you would have to really be devoted to black-and-white images tolearn how to make them and to keep making them. And, if you never learned how to do it in the first place, how can youkeep the tradition alive? But that was then. Now there's a different direction: Black-and-white is back! That's why it'stime for you to get: Back to Black-and-white! Black-and-white is back because it's part of the power of photography.Black-and-white is back in print advertising. In today's saturated-color manipulated-image world, black-and-white feelsreal. To many, it looks fresh. This is true even though, as we'll discuss in this series, it's as easy to manipulate b/w imagesdigitally as color ones. NYI Student William B. Moody III Black-and-white is back because brides want to see black-and-white photos in their wedding albums. Black-and-white is back because it's still a great way to learn about how film"sees" light. That's why good photo educators have never abandoned teaching beginners how to work with black-and-whitefilm and images. That's why we still teach how to expose, process and print black-and-white film in the NYI CompleteCourse in Professional Photography. The bottom line? Black-and-white photography is back because it's beautiful. Aswe mentioned, for pros and long-time serious photographers, black-and-white never left. The fine-art market in vintagephotography has mushroomed in part because black-and-white silver halide images are long-lasting and resistant tofading. There are lots of smaller newspapers that still ask photographers to shoot black-and-white when they know thephotos will run in black-and-white. Street photographers who still admire the seminal work of Henri Cartier-Bressonexpose countless rolls of b/w film in search of the "decisive moment." For this type of imagery, color can be downrightdistracting. Black-and-white is educational. As we mentioned, black-and-white photography is a great way to learn aboutthe photographic medium. Many would argue it is essential: Concepts of highlight and shadow detail, image contrast, filmand exposure latitude and tonal range are all best understood by studying the black-and-white image. The traditional "wet"


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darkroom is still a place where the magic of the black-and-white image appearing in a tray of developer under the pale redglow of a safelight captivates people who are new to photography. NYI Student Victoria F. Cross There's magic in theblack-and-white darkroom. The color "wet" darkroom is a maze of chemicals (some quite harsh) and stringent temperaturerequirements. In truth, you have to be a glutton for punishment to process color in a home darkroom. For color, thecomputer's "electronic darkroom" excels. But the black-and-white home darkroom is a relaxing, informal place, where therich black-and-white print can be pursued at a leisurely pace while listening to one's favorite music, sequestered from thelight and the hustle and bustle of the "real" world. In fact, if the black-and-white "wet" darkroom were to disappear, theworld will be diminished. The educational value of black-and-white film is not limited to making black-and-white

images. In truth, color silver halide images are actually made out of three (or more) layers of black-and-white images thatinteract with color couplers to produce layers of color dye that when viewed together give the illusion of a full range ofcolors. Whether you're learning to control color film and prints, or even the different layers of a color image that has beenscanned into a computer, the more you know about contrast, exposure latitude, and highlight and shadow areas of black-and-white images, the greater your mastery over color will be. In short, even if you're accomplished and comfortableworking in color, you'll derive great benefit from learning about black-and-white photography. Black-and-white films.Part One: Traditional Films To choose from the full range of films for black-and-white, you'll have to visit a good camerastore, either in your locality, by mail order, or on-line. Chances are, you won't find even a roll of black-and-white film,much less a decent selection at your local drug store or big discount store. This is one area where the specialty store shines.NYI Student Michael Haser, M.D. When you get to a good store, you'll find a variety of great black-and-white films in avariety of speeds. The most common traditional b/w films are: Kodak: T-Max 100, T-Max 400, T-Max 3200, Plus-X(125), Tri-X (400), Ilford: Pan F+ (50), FP4+ (125), HP5+ (400), Delta 100 Pro, Delta 400 Pro, Delta 3200 Agfapan 25,100, 400 Fuji Neopan 400, 1600 In coming installments of Back to Black-and-White we'll discuss some of these films indetail. For now, just realize that the number that accompanies each film is its ISO, or speed. The higher the number, the

"faster" the film, meaning that it is more sensitive to light. We have some films on this list that are particular favorites,and a few that we don't like that much. That's a discussion for another installment of this series. You can get lots of detailsabout each of these films by visiting the manufacturer's Websites. There are distinctly different approaches in site design atwork, but with a little clicking here and there, you'll get lots of information at www.kodak.com, www.ilford.com,www.agfa.com and www.fujifilm.com. The Kodak and Ilford sites offer technical sheets on each of these films in the formof downloadable PDF files. Cool. For most users, we recommend using a 400-speed film, and for low light situations wesuggest you try one of the 1600 or 3200-speed emulsions. Other Black-and-White Film Stocks. In addition to thesetraditional black-and-white films, there are some unusual film stocks that you might want to consider: Kodak's TCN-400and Ilford's XP-2super are 400-speed black-and-white films that can be processed in conventional color negativechemistry, a process technically known as C-41. These films have one drawback they're not as stable as traditional black-and-white emulsions. The benefit is that you can get decent processing at any photo store or one-hour lab. We'll discussthese films in detail in a later installment, but the benefit that the average one-hour lab can handle them is a big one. Aswe've mentioned, even the big processing outfits have been known to do a lousy job with black-and-white these days. We'lldiscuss your options for processing traditional film in a later installment, but if you have a lab that you love which does a

great job with black-and-white, e-mail us with that information! Agfa makes Scala, a 200-speed film that produces black-and-white slides. This is a very interesting product with one major drawback-there are only a few labs in the entire countrythat can process the film. Nevertheless, it's such an interesting film that we'll devote a column to its potential. NYIStudent John O'Grady Other unusual stocks include Kodak's Infrared film, Ilford's SFX 200, which features an extendedred range that gives an infrared "look" without the hassle, and Kodak's high-contrast Techpan 25. In addition, don'toverlook the fact that Polaroid makes a number of black-and-white film stocks that can be useful for making certain typesof images. Despite the recent surge of interest in black-and-white, there is one recent casualty. A few years back Ilfordintroduced a black-and-white single-use camera. Sadly, it has been discontinued. Black-and-white in your Computer.While we're going to start our series with traditional film-based materials, bear in mind that you can convert any colorphoto to a black-and-white image in your computer. In computer language, such an image is called "grayscale," but don'tlet the tech-talk confuse you. We'll cover how to use the computer to make black-and-white images as well. By the way, aswe write this, the news out of PMA includes a digital camera that allows users to capture images as black-and-white.How's that for a comeback? If you haven't read our PMA coverage, we encourage you to do so. In Closing... We hope thismonth's installment got you excited about black-and-white photography. Here's your assignment: Start looking for a filmsupplier and processor for your black-and-white work. We will be holding some "black-and-white only" photo contests alittle later in the year. If you have any suggestions for what you would like us to cover in this series, send them to "Back toBlack-and-White". Finally, we wouldn't be covering the subject of black-and-white photography if we didn't mentionMason Resnick, a hard-working photographer, journalist and Web designer who has been a staunch advocate of black-and-white photography for as long as we can remember. In fact, he has a site www.photogs.com/bwworld that is devotedto black-and-white photography. Check it out! Chuck Delaney, NYI Dean

Back to Black-and-White Part 2 As we pointed out in the introduction of Installment One of Back to Black-and-White, (B2B&W) this will be a series devoted


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to the enjoyment of all aspects of black-and-white photography. The first Installment taught us two things. First, theinterest in the subject is tremendous. It generated the most hits of any article in the March edition of www.nyip.com.Second, our readers are prone to feedback. The most interesting comment we received from several readers marks thedeparture point for this installment....Breathe This! Chuck DeLaney, NYI Dean Several readers of B2B&W wrote to lodge a complaint regarding thecomparison between the black-and-white and color darkroom. They actually argue that working in a color darkroom is amore pleasant, less toxic experience. More power to these brave souls. We hope they have great ventilation. It is true, asthey point out, that color prints are usually processed inside a drum, rather than floating around in a tray, hence the

surface area of liquid that can put off fumes in a tray-based darkroom is much greater than in a drum-processorenvironment. We'll hazard a guess that these people have never made a Cibachrome (yes, we know this disappearingproduct has been technically called Ilfochrome for the past decade or so) but to us it will always be Cibachrome. Drum orno drum, that's a nasty process. We're not here to talk about color, but it is pleasing to know that there are enough wetdarkroom devotees out there to actually be able to provoke such a debate. Suffice it to say, we find standing around fortwo to five minutes in a lit room watching a little drum roll around about as interesting as watching paint dry. Part of theblack-and-white darkroom is spending time in the peaceful low-stress environment swathed in pale red light, watching thephotograph emerge on the print. And we like it that way. With that piece of business out of the way, let's turn to the keysubject of this installment:What Subject Matter Makes Good Black-and-White Photographs? Mathew Brady Well, for a long time, any subject wasfine for black-and-white photography because that was (for all practical purposes) the only type of photography there was.It is still fair to say that any subject can be photographed in black-and-white, and we're not out to dictate any rules. But,common sense suggests that you try to avoid working in black-and-white with subjects that have a natural affinity forcolor, such as autumn scenics, blue-eyed portrait subjects or butterflies and flowers. These are all examples of subjects

where beautiful color has the potential to add a great deal to the power of a photograph.That's an aspect of NYI's Guideline Two for Great Photographs: How do you focus attention on your subject? If yoursubject is very colorful, then naturally calling attention to that color is a way to focus the viewer's attention. In fact, as astarting point in selecting subject matter for black-and-white photography, we suggest you consider subjects where just theopposite is true look for subject matter where color runs the risk of becoming a distraction to the subject and thephotograph. Chuck DeLaney, NYI Dean For example, blood-and-guts accident and war photos don't necessarilybenefit from vivid color. We know, (recalling Bertold Brecht's lyric from Three Penny Opera that "Aber Blut ist immernoch Rot." (Ah, but blood is always still red) without seeing it. So too, gritty poverty, human suffering and anguish, aswell as pictures with brooding emotion often benefit from the understatement of black-and-white. Sometimes large areasof color don't add to a photo, but rather create a powerful color field that can pull the viewer's attention away from theintended subject. The bright blue shirt may divert attention from the sad eyes of the child in an orphanage. Remember,whether our goal is to capture reality or create an illusion, all photographs are at best a representation of reality. We live ina three-dimensional world, where sound, smell, touch and the passage of time contribute to our experience. Allphotographs are flat, two-dimensional renderings on paper, in print or on a computer screen. Space, time and other aspects

of our real-life experience have been eliminated. In a black-and-white photograph, our sense of color has also beeneliminated.Chuck DeLaney, NYI Dean Chuck DeLaney, NYI DeanThat doesn't make a black-and-white representation less meaningful. A large body of work known as street photography,including photographs by masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Sabastiao Salgado, derives its power from thephotographer's ability to use black-and-white, along with the form and placement of the subject, to control the viewer'sexperience. We see the intended subject without the risk of getting lost in a bright blue sky or some colorful object in thebackground. Another point about perception: Color imagery can show us the difference between the dark green leaves onthe apple tree and the red skin of the apple. In black-and-white, these dark tones may be reproduced as very similar tonesof gray. The black-to-gray-to-white continuum has the potential to conceal many things. Sometimes this works for thephotographer and adds power to the image, other times it can create problems. In a later installment of this series, we'llshow you how to use color filters with black-and-white film to solve the apple/apple leaf proble

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