Photographic Process
1. Subject :
2. The Light Source :
3. Camera :
4. Photographic Film & Chemicals for film processing :
5. The Printing Device
6. Photographic Printing Paper
Hello students in this lecture, we’ll understand about the photographic process. In order to understand the photographic process, we must know that - what is the subject; what is light source; camera, photographic film & chemical for film processing, the printing device & photographic printing paper.
1. Subject :
The subject can be anything. If it can be seen it can be photographed, just as there must be light to form an image, there must be a subject from which to form the image. In photography, a landscape, person or a model, any physical object an abstract or regular form can be used as a subject.
2. The Light Source:
Photography which means Writing with Light has the word Light inherent in it. It is a component without which no picture can be made. NO PICTURE NO LIGHT. It is the light which makes an impression on the film and in the case of Digital Camera on the CCD that is charged couple devices. Light has its own characteristics which at any point of time has its own effects. To understand lights properly, we must understand about the types of light &their properties.
Types of Light and Properties:
Lights as we know keeps varying throughout the day, the effect of this can be seen during the day, and during the seasons. For example in the months of summer light is very strong even harsh while in the months of winter it is very pleasant, it is very warm, while on the other hand during monsoon light can be very flat. It can be overcast, leaves no shadow, therefore one has to be careful as far as play of light is concerned. Camera records these effects faithfully and it is up to the cameraman to study and to make the best possible use of it. Therefore study of light by the cameraman is absolutely essential. Primarily there are two sources of Light. One is the natural source and the other one is artificial source. Let us see the natural sources of light. Sun is the biggest source of Light, which is available to us throughout the year. Besides this what we normally fail to realize is that even the moon is a source of light. There are bright stars in the sky besides the sun nearly hundreds of them which are a source of light. Terrestrial body like milky-way also forms part of natural light. Besides we also have even fireflies. Even what you call jelly fish which are a natural source of light. Volcanoes are a big source of light the amount of fire they bring out and light they create it immense. These are some of the sources where natural light is available. Yet another source of light is lightening which we normally take it as a subject or thrill matter but the fact is that the amount of light it gives can be used even for doing great Photography.
Let us now see the artificial sources of light, the first one is the one, which is the one combustion based lamp on the walls, on the ceilings else one of the best sources available in the olden period. Today they are used as antiques and they have great amount of decorative values. During those days whale oil was used to light up these lamps. But, these days these pieces have lost their values and can be found in beautiful settings, drawing rooms or at some other places. Outdoor lamps or Circular lamp, these lamps had a round wick and they were very beautifully made and were decorated and at the same time they were very useful. Today they can be seen in the movies of olden days as a piece of antiques or something like that.
Next we will have is the Argon Flash which is very bright and is used for very brief moment, that is all. It doesn’t do anything except, it can be used for flash purposes.
CANDLES:
These need no introduction. Solid wax with wick inside. These are most decorative pieces today and they are also very useful and when they are lighted up they create a beautiful atmosphere, a mood, a romantic mood and an ideal candle light dinner.
PYROTECHNICS:
These were initially used by the army to light up an area so that they could fire up the enemy. Today they are used all over for the sports event, for any function. Today pyrotechnics have played a very important role, they themselves are subject to shoot and are so beautifully managed and beautifully displayed all over the world.
GAS LIGHTING:
These are the famous old time gas lights used for lighting up the house and even the business places; these are also used during the marriages possession and things like that. They are very useful and the amount of light they generate is for a very long time and white light which is pure manages to last very long.
ELECTRIC BULB:
Most commonly used tungsten bulbs need no introduction. They are still in great demand and great use.
We now have Halogen Lamps, they also need no introduction you must have seen them during weddings during any function they are very useful, they help you in doing photography when you don’t have a flashlight available to you.
COMPACT FLORESCENT LAMPS:
This is the latest Introduction in the lighting system, these lights are very expensive, they are very bright and at the same time they are very economical. The trend is catching on to use them and they can be used including for Photography.
CARBON ARC
This is the light source which is used in Cinema Halls for Projection Purposes as it gives Natural Lights.
And the last we have is,
MERCURY AND SODIUM VAPOURS LIGHT:
Which we must have seen in the streets, on the roads, and avenues not only looks beautiful but have a certain amount of charm in it.
MODERN CAMERA FORMATS:
With that exhaustive list of specialized cameras, let us now move on to the modern cameras and before we discuss them let us see, what are the three formats of cameras which are available in modern world.
Miniature Cameras: these are the cameras which have the size of 35mm or below. Mostly 35mm is used and the other ones are outdated.
Then we have Medium Format Camera which uses a 120mm film and the negative size in 6cm on one side and on other side it can vary from 6 x 6 to 6 x 7 to 6 x 8 to even 6 x 70.
Then we have Large Format Cameras which starts with 4” x 5” and go up to 20 x 24” also. But the most popular ones are 4” x 5” and 8” x 10”.
TYPES OF MODERN CAMERA
Having seen the three formats of the camera let us now see as to what are the cameras available to us in these formats.
We first have the view camera, then we have the view finder camera, then we have the TLR camera, SLR camera, and of course the most modern and the most useful DSLR camera.
View camera
View Camera is basically ‘Light Tight Seal’ which means to say that no light can enter into the camera unless it is planned for. The bellows are something like the bellows of an accordion or a harmonium, which can move up and down and backward and forward. It was first introduced in the 19th century and over to the period of time it is being refined and over refined and today it is particularly one of the top cameras which is being used simply because of the large size of the negative. Though cumbersome looking this camera has its own advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage is it has a high quality picture. -
4
1. It permits you to use a picture in the ground glass before it is clicked.
2. The front holding lens and the real ground glass can be moved to ensure proper
focus, perspective and depth of field.
3. The camera being heavy is in bearably placed on a stand thereby avoiding camera
shake.
VIEWFINDER CAMERAS :
We will now see View finder cameras. First of all let us understand as to what a view finder camera is? A view finder is primarily a facility available for the photographer to look through the eyepiece and see what is the composition going to be like? He can manipulate, he can move up and down, He can move right and left to get what he wants in his frame. He can see all this clearly and there after proceed with the next action. View finders are found in both single lens reflex and twin lens reflex cameras. You would have seen the cameraman looking through the eyepiece trying to focus the subject also trying to compose the picture and ultimately pressing the shutter.
DSLR :
That is Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera;
Having seen the film cameras, let us now have a look at the latest and the most modern in the photographic technology. The Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras – The digital camera is a system which permits recording an image on an image sensor. An image sensor is a device which enables recording of a visual in a digital information. Image sensors are of two types – CCD and the CMOS. CCD are preferred simply because they have been used over a period of time, they are been time tested, lot of improvement has taken place, development is taking place and they are therefore first choice as far as recording an image is concerned.
4. Photographic Film & Chemicals for film processing:
Today we are going to see black & white process of a film. As we all know when we expose a film, a latent image is formed on the film, Now this image has to be developed and that is what we called developing an image.
Developing the Film
There are various kinds of black & white films available in the market. To name a few, we have the AGFA Pan 25, we have AGFA Pan 400, &we have Ilford FP 4, Ilford FP 5, Kodak
Tri-X Pan, one of the best films that is available at 400 ASA, and Kodak Verichrome Pan. Now these are some of the film that we have used for black and white photography. To develop the film we have various developers available to us, for example D-76 or ID then AGFA Rodinal and Paterson Acutol. These are some the famous developer which are used for developing a film.We also use Ilford FP4 and the developer is D-76. Now for D-76 at 18 degree centigrade we require a time of 6 to 8 ½-minutes for developing.
As far as sheet film are concerned these process is different in which case the film is process through different tanks and it is moved from one tank to another in absolute darkness then we also have the tray processing in which it is not like that this because there is no day light developing tank there and you have to control processing under different light conditions.
Black and white films besides being negative films are also there which are in the form of slide films. Slide films have a different chemical process to be used and those films are basically used for making black and white films or slides, otherwise mostly the black and white negative films are going out of fashion particularly in this part of the world and whatever films are available there are processes and mostly what happens is the negative film the color negative film is used, it is processed in the lab and then the prints can be made in the grey tone that is to say black and white tones.
Photographic Processes
Monochrome Process
We all know that originally the photography was in black and white or monochrome. Between Black and Pure white there are Grey tones in between, now these tones are the ones which makes a picture give a classic picture. The more the Grey tones the better there picture is. And therefore one should try to get picture with as many grey tones as possible, another point to note is that while Black and White picture is considered between Pure Black and Pure White there is a thing called cyanotype pictures which are also in the same category as Black and White. Now in this there is Blue tone instead of Pure White Or Pure Black tone. Another tone which is available is Albumen where in the tones are brownish. Today we can produce Black and White picture through digital cameras also and monochrome pictures will always have a special place in the world of Photography because of their Appeal. The permanence due to the Silver halide based chemicals used in process make it long lasting and of archival value.
The Color Process
The first permanent color picture was taken in 1861 using three color separation principle. Take three separate black and white photographs using Red, Green, and Blue filters. These provides us the three basic channels required to create an image. Transparent prints of the Images could be projected through similar colour filters and super imposed on the projection screen. This is additive method of Color Reproduction.
Autochrome
The first commercially successful color process was introduced by Lumiere Brothers in 1907. In 1935 Kodachrome introduced the first integrated tri pack and it captured three color component in multi layer emulsion. A color print in Paper could be produced by super imposing carbon print of three images made in their complementary colors that is the subtractive method of color reproduction which is Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Instant color film used a Special Camera which yielded a unique finished color print only a minute or two after the exposure, was introduced by a Polaroid in 1963.
Digital Process
In 1981 Sony Introduced Sony Mavica a Digital Camera using Charged Couple Device (CCD) this eliminated the need for a Film Camera. While Mavica saved Images to Disk the images were displayed on Television and the camera was not fully digital. In 1991 Kodak introduced its first digital single lens reflex camera, it was very expensive and only Photo Journalist and Commercial Photographers could use it. People who were working commercially were also using it but for common man it was not easy to use. The other was that digital camera recorded the picture on a CCD and while the analog camera recorded on the celluloid where there were chemical changes. The next thing is that in a digital camera, in a digital photograph one can do lot of manipulation which is really not possible in the case of a film. Like that there are many things which are in favor of CCD and at the same time people prefer to use film camera simply because of couple of reasons:
Films superiority in capturing more information on medium and large format
films.
Creating a traditional photographic look
Capturing shadow and highlighting details
The wide exposure latitude of film and
Archival storage
5. The Printing Device
Automated Print Machines
Let us talk about the automated print machines which are being used extensively for printing.
What happens in this is that principles of manual printing are followed however since it is
computerized the entire data is fed including sharpness, the contrast and other data is fed into the computer or to the enlarger and one by one the three lights are shown on to the paper and the image is made. Ultimately computer does everything for the print to be made. And the best thing about this is that this very data can be used of making enlargements of different sizes you don’t have do like in the case of manual enlarger that for every enlargements you need a different set of timings. In this case the timings, the sharpness the other things the other data is the contrast is fed and you can make any size of enlargement.
Another advantage of this kind of machine is that you can make compact disks and keep the data recorded elsewhere for use in reprinting or some other time. However the point to note is that due to the inherent problems of digitization the quality of print will not be the same as that of the one which was done originally. As we know normally the quality goes on deteriorating and we go on using the
same picture again and again like it happens in the case of Photoshop. For example when we make the print we use the picture we save the picture again and again the quality goes down. Similarly in the case of compact disk also the quality of picture will not be the same as it was there when it was first printed. The best course open is that since the data is available in the computer every time you want to get a picture made you go to the printer same printer that is the same lab and tell them to print the same technical data to print the picture. Sometimes this data can be found at the back of the print also.
Photographic Printing Paper :
A major step after the creation and processing of image that the Image is taken over an optimum hard copy or printing paper, in order to give correct look and feel. Printing is a major step after creating and processing of image. A good paper can give a correct look and feel of the subject. Printing papers are decided as per the need of the image.
Before understanding different types of papers let us first understand some major properties of papers.
First of all the weight Basis that is it is on gsm that is to say Grams Square Meter. The weight or substance per unit area is obviously fundamental in paper and paper borne products. The basis weight of paper is the weight per unit area. This can be expressed as the weight in grams per square meter that is gsm or g/m2, pounds per 1000 sq. ft. or weight in kgs or pounds per ream that is of 500 sheets of a specific size. Ream weight is a common term to signify the weight of a lot or batch of paper. Control of basis weight is important as all other properties are affected.
Variation of moisture content in paper effects the grammage.
Let us see Brightness, Whiteness and Color Brightness.
Color Brightness is defined as the percentage reflectance of blue light only at a wavelength of 457 nm.
Whiteness refers to the extent that paper diffusely reflects light of all wave lengths throughout the visible spectrum. Whiteness is an appearance term.
Color is an aesthetic value. Color may appear different when viewed under a different light source.
Brightness is arbitrarily defined but carefully standardized blue reflectance that is used throughout the pulp and the paper industry for the control of mill processes and certain types of research and development programs. Let us see the types of papers and to begin with we have glossy paper. Glossy paper is most common paper for printing photos. It produces a sharp and vibrant image. Glossy paper is also smooth to touch.
The disadvantages include the fact it is easy to mark them with fingerprints or dust and they cannot be removed. Glossy photos are best framed so that no dirt or fingerprints can touch them. Glossy paper is also more reflective and shiny which is a problem if you plan to view the image in sunny area.
If you need your images to be as sharp as possible then you might want to think about using glossy paper.
Semi-gloss is cheaper and more affordable than glossy paper. As the name suggests, it is simply less glossy. Premium grade is a higher quality paper and will produce sharpest results.
Brand specific papers are produced by companies to be used with their own printers.
Then we have Gloss Laminative, very popular paper.
The best example of a gloss laminated paper is in the form of a postcard. The main photo is on the front, along with a gloss laminate coat applied, which makes it even shinier. The back has the texture of plain card stock.
Laminating the paper makes the colors even more vibrant. If you plan to do any sort of advertising, then glossy laminated paper stands out above others and should be your choice of paper.
Let us come to another important kind of paper that we use in photography and that is known as Matte Paper.
Matte Paper looks dull and lusterless. It is used in industry to produce good quality prints but it doesn’t have a vibrant color finish. Matte paper is not glossy and therefore finger marks or glare from the sun are not a problem.
A good use of matte paper would be inside a shop in which the lighting might cause reflections. Due to the non-reflective nature of this paper, it would be an ideal paper to use.
Disadvantages of matte papers include the fact they soak more ink into the paper, this will affect the sharpness of the image.
When printing macro shots, portraits or other images that rely in small details you may be better off using a glossy paper. There are many different types of matte papers so pay close attention to what you purchase a semi matte or luster paper may have totally different look than traditional matte paper.
1. Subject :
2. The Light Source :
3. Camera :
4. Photographic Film & Chemicals for film processing :
5. The Printing Device
6. Photographic Printing Paper
Hello students in this lecture, we’ll understand about the photographic process. In order to understand the photographic process, we must know that - what is the subject; what is light source; camera, photographic film & chemical for film processing, the printing device & photographic printing paper.
1. Subject :
The subject can be anything. If it can be seen it can be photographed, just as there must be light to form an image, there must be a subject from which to form the image. In photography, a landscape, person or a model, any physical object an abstract or regular form can be used as a subject.
2. The Light Source:
Photography which means Writing with Light has the word Light inherent in it. It is a component without which no picture can be made. NO PICTURE NO LIGHT. It is the light which makes an impression on the film and in the case of Digital Camera on the CCD that is charged couple devices. Light has its own characteristics which at any point of time has its own effects. To understand lights properly, we must understand about the types of light &their properties.
Types of Light and Properties:
Lights as we know keeps varying throughout the day, the effect of this can be seen during the day, and during the seasons. For example in the months of summer light is very strong even harsh while in the months of winter it is very pleasant, it is very warm, while on the other hand during monsoon light can be very flat. It can be overcast, leaves no shadow, therefore one has to be careful as far as play of light is concerned. Camera records these effects faithfully and it is up to the cameraman to study and to make the best possible use of it. Therefore study of light by the cameraman is absolutely essential. Primarily there are two sources of Light. One is the natural source and the other one is artificial source. Let us see the natural sources of light. Sun is the biggest source of Light, which is available to us throughout the year. Besides this what we normally fail to realize is that even the moon is a source of light. There are bright stars in the sky besides the sun nearly hundreds of them which are a source of light. Terrestrial body like milky-way also forms part of natural light. Besides we also have even fireflies. Even what you call jelly fish which are a natural source of light. Volcanoes are a big source of light the amount of fire they bring out and light they create it immense. These are some of the sources where natural light is available. Yet another source of light is lightening which we normally take it as a subject or thrill matter but the fact is that the amount of light it gives can be used even for doing great Photography.
Let us now see the artificial sources of light, the first one is the one, which is the one combustion based lamp on the walls, on the ceilings else one of the best sources available in the olden period. Today they are used as antiques and they have great amount of decorative values. During those days whale oil was used to light up these lamps. But, these days these pieces have lost their values and can be found in beautiful settings, drawing rooms or at some other places. Outdoor lamps or Circular lamp, these lamps had a round wick and they were very beautifully made and were decorated and at the same time they were very useful. Today they can be seen in the movies of olden days as a piece of antiques or something like that.
Next we will have is the Argon Flash which is very bright and is used for very brief moment, that is all. It doesn’t do anything except, it can be used for flash purposes.
CANDLES:
These need no introduction. Solid wax with wick inside. These are most decorative pieces today and they are also very useful and when they are lighted up they create a beautiful atmosphere, a mood, a romantic mood and an ideal candle light dinner.
PYROTECHNICS:
These were initially used by the army to light up an area so that they could fire up the enemy. Today they are used all over for the sports event, for any function. Today pyrotechnics have played a very important role, they themselves are subject to shoot and are so beautifully managed and beautifully displayed all over the world.
GAS LIGHTING:
These are the famous old time gas lights used for lighting up the house and even the business places; these are also used during the marriages possession and things like that. They are very useful and the amount of light they generate is for a very long time and white light which is pure manages to last very long.
ELECTRIC BULB:
Most commonly used tungsten bulbs need no introduction. They are still in great demand and great use.
We now have Halogen Lamps, they also need no introduction you must have seen them during weddings during any function they are very useful, they help you in doing photography when you don’t have a flashlight available to you.
COMPACT FLORESCENT LAMPS:
This is the latest Introduction in the lighting system, these lights are very expensive, they are very bright and at the same time they are very economical. The trend is catching on to use them and they can be used including for Photography.
CARBON ARC
This is the light source which is used in Cinema Halls for Projection Purposes as it gives Natural Lights.
And the last we have is,
MERCURY AND SODIUM VAPOURS LIGHT:
Which we must have seen in the streets, on the roads, and avenues not only looks beautiful but have a certain amount of charm in it.
MODERN CAMERA FORMATS:
With that exhaustive list of specialized cameras, let us now move on to the modern cameras and before we discuss them let us see, what are the three formats of cameras which are available in modern world.
Miniature Cameras: these are the cameras which have the size of 35mm or below. Mostly 35mm is used and the other ones are outdated.
Then we have Medium Format Camera which uses a 120mm film and the negative size in 6cm on one side and on other side it can vary from 6 x 6 to 6 x 7 to 6 x 8 to even 6 x 70.
Then we have Large Format Cameras which starts with 4” x 5” and go up to 20 x 24” also. But the most popular ones are 4” x 5” and 8” x 10”.
TYPES OF MODERN CAMERA
Having seen the three formats of the camera let us now see as to what are the cameras available to us in these formats.
We first have the view camera, then we have the view finder camera, then we have the TLR camera, SLR camera, and of course the most modern and the most useful DSLR camera.
View camera
View Camera is basically ‘Light Tight Seal’ which means to say that no light can enter into the camera unless it is planned for. The bellows are something like the bellows of an accordion or a harmonium, which can move up and down and backward and forward. It was first introduced in the 19th century and over to the period of time it is being refined and over refined and today it is particularly one of the top cameras which is being used simply because of the large size of the negative. Though cumbersome looking this camera has its own advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage is it has a high quality picture. -
4
1. It permits you to use a picture in the ground glass before it is clicked.
2. The front holding lens and the real ground glass can be moved to ensure proper
focus, perspective and depth of field.
3. The camera being heavy is in bearably placed on a stand thereby avoiding camera
shake.
VIEWFINDER CAMERAS :
We will now see View finder cameras. First of all let us understand as to what a view finder camera is? A view finder is primarily a facility available for the photographer to look through the eyepiece and see what is the composition going to be like? He can manipulate, he can move up and down, He can move right and left to get what he wants in his frame. He can see all this clearly and there after proceed with the next action. View finders are found in both single lens reflex and twin lens reflex cameras. You would have seen the cameraman looking through the eyepiece trying to focus the subject also trying to compose the picture and ultimately pressing the shutter.
DSLR :
That is Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera;
Having seen the film cameras, let us now have a look at the latest and the most modern in the photographic technology. The Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras – The digital camera is a system which permits recording an image on an image sensor. An image sensor is a device which enables recording of a visual in a digital information. Image sensors are of two types – CCD and the CMOS. CCD are preferred simply because they have been used over a period of time, they are been time tested, lot of improvement has taken place, development is taking place and they are therefore first choice as far as recording an image is concerned.
4. Photographic Film & Chemicals for film processing:
Today we are going to see black & white process of a film. As we all know when we expose a film, a latent image is formed on the film, Now this image has to be developed and that is what we called developing an image.
Developing the Film
There are various kinds of black & white films available in the market. To name a few, we have the AGFA Pan 25, we have AGFA Pan 400, &we have Ilford FP 4, Ilford FP 5, Kodak
Tri-X Pan, one of the best films that is available at 400 ASA, and Kodak Verichrome Pan. Now these are some of the film that we have used for black and white photography. To develop the film we have various developers available to us, for example D-76 or ID then AGFA Rodinal and Paterson Acutol. These are some the famous developer which are used for developing a film.We also use Ilford FP4 and the developer is D-76. Now for D-76 at 18 degree centigrade we require a time of 6 to 8 ½-minutes for developing.
As far as sheet film are concerned these process is different in which case the film is process through different tanks and it is moved from one tank to another in absolute darkness then we also have the tray processing in which it is not like that this because there is no day light developing tank there and you have to control processing under different light conditions.
Black and white films besides being negative films are also there which are in the form of slide films. Slide films have a different chemical process to be used and those films are basically used for making black and white films or slides, otherwise mostly the black and white negative films are going out of fashion particularly in this part of the world and whatever films are available there are processes and mostly what happens is the negative film the color negative film is used, it is processed in the lab and then the prints can be made in the grey tone that is to say black and white tones.
Photographic Processes
Monochrome Process
We all know that originally the photography was in black and white or monochrome. Between Black and Pure white there are Grey tones in between, now these tones are the ones which makes a picture give a classic picture. The more the Grey tones the better there picture is. And therefore one should try to get picture with as many grey tones as possible, another point to note is that while Black and White picture is considered between Pure Black and Pure White there is a thing called cyanotype pictures which are also in the same category as Black and White. Now in this there is Blue tone instead of Pure White Or Pure Black tone. Another tone which is available is Albumen where in the tones are brownish. Today we can produce Black and White picture through digital cameras also and monochrome pictures will always have a special place in the world of Photography because of their Appeal. The permanence due to the Silver halide based chemicals used in process make it long lasting and of archival value.
The Color Process
The first permanent color picture was taken in 1861 using three color separation principle. Take three separate black and white photographs using Red, Green, and Blue filters. These provides us the three basic channels required to create an image. Transparent prints of the Images could be projected through similar colour filters and super imposed on the projection screen. This is additive method of Color Reproduction.
Autochrome
The first commercially successful color process was introduced by Lumiere Brothers in 1907. In 1935 Kodachrome introduced the first integrated tri pack and it captured three color component in multi layer emulsion. A color print in Paper could be produced by super imposing carbon print of three images made in their complementary colors that is the subtractive method of color reproduction which is Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Instant color film used a Special Camera which yielded a unique finished color print only a minute or two after the exposure, was introduced by a Polaroid in 1963.
Digital Process
In 1981 Sony Introduced Sony Mavica a Digital Camera using Charged Couple Device (CCD) this eliminated the need for a Film Camera. While Mavica saved Images to Disk the images were displayed on Television and the camera was not fully digital. In 1991 Kodak introduced its first digital single lens reflex camera, it was very expensive and only Photo Journalist and Commercial Photographers could use it. People who were working commercially were also using it but for common man it was not easy to use. The other was that digital camera recorded the picture on a CCD and while the analog camera recorded on the celluloid where there were chemical changes. The next thing is that in a digital camera, in a digital photograph one can do lot of manipulation which is really not possible in the case of a film. Like that there are many things which are in favor of CCD and at the same time people prefer to use film camera simply because of couple of reasons:
Films superiority in capturing more information on medium and large format
films.
Creating a traditional photographic look
Capturing shadow and highlighting details
The wide exposure latitude of film and
Archival storage
5. The Printing Device
Automated Print Machines
Let us talk about the automated print machines which are being used extensively for printing.
What happens in this is that principles of manual printing are followed however since it is
computerized the entire data is fed including sharpness, the contrast and other data is fed into the computer or to the enlarger and one by one the three lights are shown on to the paper and the image is made. Ultimately computer does everything for the print to be made. And the best thing about this is that this very data can be used of making enlargements of different sizes you don’t have do like in the case of manual enlarger that for every enlargements you need a different set of timings. In this case the timings, the sharpness the other things the other data is the contrast is fed and you can make any size of enlargement.
Another advantage of this kind of machine is that you can make compact disks and keep the data recorded elsewhere for use in reprinting or some other time. However the point to note is that due to the inherent problems of digitization the quality of print will not be the same as that of the one which was done originally. As we know normally the quality goes on deteriorating and we go on using the
same picture again and again like it happens in the case of Photoshop. For example when we make the print we use the picture we save the picture again and again the quality goes down. Similarly in the case of compact disk also the quality of picture will not be the same as it was there when it was first printed. The best course open is that since the data is available in the computer every time you want to get a picture made you go to the printer same printer that is the same lab and tell them to print the same technical data to print the picture. Sometimes this data can be found at the back of the print also.
Photographic Printing Paper :
A major step after the creation and processing of image that the Image is taken over an optimum hard copy or printing paper, in order to give correct look and feel. Printing is a major step after creating and processing of image. A good paper can give a correct look and feel of the subject. Printing papers are decided as per the need of the image.
Before understanding different types of papers let us first understand some major properties of papers.
First of all the weight Basis that is it is on gsm that is to say Grams Square Meter. The weight or substance per unit area is obviously fundamental in paper and paper borne products. The basis weight of paper is the weight per unit area. This can be expressed as the weight in grams per square meter that is gsm or g/m2, pounds per 1000 sq. ft. or weight in kgs or pounds per ream that is of 500 sheets of a specific size. Ream weight is a common term to signify the weight of a lot or batch of paper. Control of basis weight is important as all other properties are affected.
Variation of moisture content in paper effects the grammage.
Let us see Brightness, Whiteness and Color Brightness.
Color Brightness is defined as the percentage reflectance of blue light only at a wavelength of 457 nm.
Whiteness refers to the extent that paper diffusely reflects light of all wave lengths throughout the visible spectrum. Whiteness is an appearance term.
Color is an aesthetic value. Color may appear different when viewed under a different light source.
Brightness is arbitrarily defined but carefully standardized blue reflectance that is used throughout the pulp and the paper industry for the control of mill processes and certain types of research and development programs. Let us see the types of papers and to begin with we have glossy paper. Glossy paper is most common paper for printing photos. It produces a sharp and vibrant image. Glossy paper is also smooth to touch.
The disadvantages include the fact it is easy to mark them with fingerprints or dust and they cannot be removed. Glossy photos are best framed so that no dirt or fingerprints can touch them. Glossy paper is also more reflective and shiny which is a problem if you plan to view the image in sunny area.
If you need your images to be as sharp as possible then you might want to think about using glossy paper.
Semi-gloss is cheaper and more affordable than glossy paper. As the name suggests, it is simply less glossy. Premium grade is a higher quality paper and will produce sharpest results.
Brand specific papers are produced by companies to be used with their own printers.
Then we have Gloss Laminative, very popular paper.
The best example of a gloss laminated paper is in the form of a postcard. The main photo is on the front, along with a gloss laminate coat applied, which makes it even shinier. The back has the texture of plain card stock.
Laminating the paper makes the colors even more vibrant. If you plan to do any sort of advertising, then glossy laminated paper stands out above others and should be your choice of paper.
Let us come to another important kind of paper that we use in photography and that is known as Matte Paper.
Matte Paper looks dull and lusterless. It is used in industry to produce good quality prints but it doesn’t have a vibrant color finish. Matte paper is not glossy and therefore finger marks or glare from the sun are not a problem.
A good use of matte paper would be inside a shop in which the lighting might cause reflections. Due to the non-reflective nature of this paper, it would be an ideal paper to use.
Disadvantages of matte papers include the fact they soak more ink into the paper, this will affect the sharpness of the image.
When printing macro shots, portraits or other images that rely in small details you may be better off using a glossy paper. There are many different types of matte papers so pay close attention to what you purchase a semi matte or luster paper may have totally different look than traditional matte paper.
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