STILL CAMERA

The first partially successful photograph of a camera

image was made in approximately 1816 by
Nicephore Niepce and Louis Daguerre , using a very small
camera of his own making and a piece of paper coated
with silver chloride, which darkened where it was exposed
to light. No means of removing the remaining unaffected
silver chloride was known to Niépce, so the photograph
was not permanent, eventually becoming entirely darkened
by the overall exposure to light necessary for viewing it.
FIRST SUCCESSFUL CAMERA
The still image camera is the main instrument in the art of photography
and captured images may be reproduced later as a part of the process of
photography, digital imaging, photographic printing.
The world's first photograph—or at least oldest
surviving photo—was taken by Joseph
Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827. Captured
using a technique known as heliography, the
shot was taken from an upstairs window at
Niépce's estate in Burgundy.
APERTURE
Lenses have a ring that determine how much light is be let into the camera.
The iris diaphragm, generally called the f-stop, is the opening that can be
made larger or smaller to regulate the amount of light admitted to the
sensitive surface of the imaging device. A series of number, such as f/1.4,
f/2.8, f/4, f/11, f/16 etc.., marked on the lens ring indicated the size of the iris
opening. The lower the number the wider the opening and greater the amount
of light entering the camera. The smaller the iris opening, the larger the f-stop
number. In other words the size of the f-stop number has an inverse relation
to the size of the iris opening .
Depth of Field
Depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the farthest
objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image. The depth of field can
be calculated based on focal length, distance to subject, the acceptable circle of
confusion size, and aperture. A particular depth of field may be chosen for
technical or artistic purposes.

Large aperture = Small f-number = Shallow (small) depth of field

Small aperture = Larger f-number = Deeper (larger) depth of field
SHUTTER SPEED
The length of time a shutter remains open in order to allow light to reach the
CCD is called the shutter speed.
The shutter is an electronic control that governs the time taken for the
incoming light from a single video field.
The key concept hare is that the longer the shutter remains open, the greater
amount of light that is allowed in the camera, and the faster the shutter closes,
the smaller the amount of light that is allowed into the camera.
Shutter speed is measured in seconds or fractions of seconds. Using very fast
shutter speeds will capture fast moving objects, clearly. Slow shutter speeds
are used to intentionally capture the movement of the subject.
 ISO is simply a camera setting that will brighten or darken a photo. As you
ISO increase your ISO number, your photos will grow progressively brighter. For
that reason, ISO can help you capture images in darker environments, or be
more flexible about your aperture and shutter speed settings. However,
raising your ISO has consequences.

A photo taken at too high of an ISO will show a lot of grain, also known as
noise, and might not be usable. So, brightening a photo via ISO is always a
trade-off. You should only raise your ISO when you are unable to brighten
the photo via shutter speed or aperture instead ISO Brightness Chart Note
how much brighter the image gets when ISO is increased from 100 to 1600 .
LENS
Focal length is the distance from the optical canter of the lens to the point where the image is
seen in focus by the lens. The creative use of the lens gives photography its expressive
qualities - they shape the way you “see” the world through the viewfinder. There are many
types of camera lenses.
Wide Angle Lens :
It can show a large field of view. If we want to have a large
number of people in a shot, we need the wide-angle lens to get
them all in . The lens, however, needs to be used with care, as it
can make objects and people appear larger than the normal . The
wide-angle lens can also create the illusion of speed and is most
suitable for high-action shots such as speeding cars.
Telephoto Lens :
It has the opposite qualities from that of wide angle lens. First, it
does not have a large field of view – through it does magnify the
area we want the viewer to see. Second, it needs constant
focusing. And third, the zooming-in make movements appear
much slower and reduces distance on screen.
Zoom Lens :
Zoom lens comes with range. A zoom range is the degree to
which we can change the focal length of the lens. If the camera
lens is marked 3* , it means that we can zoom in three times. If
the camera lens is marked 20* , it means that we can zoom in
twenty times. Wide lens comes with a range in the negative also ,
if a wide-angleis marked -2* , it means we can decrease the focal
Macro Lens : Macro setting that allows us to focus on an object very close to the
frontal element of a lens. A button, or a similar control, enables us to
select the macro position for the lens. A button, or a similar control,
enables us to select the macro position for the lens to créate a screen-
filling close-up of a small object .
The standard lens has a fixed focal length (50mm, 85mm, 100mm), and Prime Lens :
reproduces fairly accurately what the human eye sees – in terms of perspective
and angle of view.
For a 35mm film camera or a full-frame DSLR, the 50mm lens is considered
standard.
At higher focal lengths (85mm or 100mm) you have an ideal lens for
portraiture because when coupled with a wide aperture they thoroughly soften
any background detail, thus making it less likely to distract from the main
subject.
COMPOSITION & FRAMING
# RULE OF THIRDS
The rule of thirds is a "rule of thumb" or guideline which applies to
the process of composing visual images such as designs, films,
paintings, and photographs. The guideline proposes that an image
should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally
spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and
that important compositional elements should be placed along these
lines or their intersections.
# LEADING LINES
Leading lines refers to a technique of composition where the
viewer of your photos attention is drawn to lines that lead to the
main subject of the image. A leading line paves an easy path for
the eye to follow through different elements of a photo. Usually
they start at the bottom of the frame and guide the eye upwards and
inwards, from the foreground of the image to the background,
typically leading toward the main subject.
# FRAMING
A natural frame is created when you place a secondary object such as a tree or a door in
the scene of a photograph so that it frames your main subject. It's really that easy and you
have probably done it naturally yourself at some point.
# DIAGONALS
Diagonal lines generally work well to draw the eye of an image’s viewer through the
photograph. They create points of interest as they intersect with other lines and often give
images depth by suggesting perspective.
 # FIGURE TO GROUND
Find a contrast between subject and background. Figure to ground photography has the ma
subject in contrast with the background. Light on dark or dark on light. You can also create contra
by colour and tone differences alone. Where your subject and background are in the same light b
the subject is a lighter or darker tone than the background.
# SYMMETRY
Symmetry is always pleasing to the eye.
# COME CLOSER TO THE SUBJECT & CENTER DOMINANT
EYE
Come close to your subject and place the dominant eye in the
center of the photo. This little trick will give you much more
intriguing portrait. If you want to capture real emotions or
deliver the most authentic reportage photos, forget “long
lenses”—that is, telephoto lenses. Take a 50mm or better yet
a 35mm lens and move in close.
# PATTERNS & REPETITION
Find Patterns are aesthetically pleasing but the best is when the patter is interrupted.
But the best is when the pattern is interrupted.
 Remember the composition is
important but also the rules are meant
to be broken .
So the main point is to enjoy yourself
and photograph in your own style.
TYPES OF SHOTS
EXTREME CLOSE-UP BIG CLOSE-UP CLOSE-UP
It is a detail shot . This shot is used It is a generally know as face shot. . A close up shot features just above
to show facial expressions. This is From mid overhead to above chin. It head and shoulder of a person ,
the tightest shot possible. can be used in heighten tension. cutting below the neck.
MEDIUM CLOSE-UP MEDIUM SHOT MEDIUM LONG
It is called chest shot. It cuts body It is called waist shot, it covers SHOT
at lower chest/breast/pocket. This the subject body from waist The subject is seen from the
shows the upper half of the body. upwards. knees upwards, along with lots of
The shot is taken from the above background. This shot is also
the head to lower chest. known as knee-shot.
 LONG SHOT EXTREME LONG SHOT
It is a wide and comprehensive shot but not so It is a shot in which the principal subject
wide that one cannot identify the subject even is remote from the camera, occupying less
on the small screen . This allows the viewers than half of the picture frame, with large
to understand the relationship between the amount of details seen in the background.
character and environment.
PERSISTENCE OF VISION
Persistence of vision refers to the optical
illusion whereby multiple discrete images blend
into a single image in the human mind and
believed to be the explanation for motion
perception in cinema and animated films.
Persistence of vision can also be understood to
mean the same as "flicker fusion", the effect
that vision seems to persist continuously when a
stream of light is repeatedly interrupted for very
brief instances and thus enters the eyes
intermittently.
In 1877, Edward Muybridge
mounted a line of still cameras along a
race track to make sequence photos of
a horse gallop. In 1879 he projected
such sequence photographs from a
cylindrical drum called a
“zooperaxiscope”. The persistence of
visión gives the illusion of a horse in
motion.
CAMERA MOVEMENTS IN VIDEO
PANNING- LEFT & RIGHT
Panning means swiveling a still or
video camera horizontally from a
fixed position. This motion is similar
to the motion of a person when they
turn their head on their neck from left
to right.
Moving the camera lens to one side or
another. Look to your left, then look
to your right — that’s panning.
 TILT- UP & DOWN
Tilting is a technique in which
the camera stays in a fixed position
but rotates up/down in a vertical plane.
Tilting the camera results in a motion
similar to someone raising or lowering
their head to look up or down.
Moving the camera’s lens up or down
while keeping its horizontal axis
constant. Nod your head up and down
– this is tilting.
 ZOOM - IN & OUT
Zooming is one camera move that most people are
probably familiar with. It involves changing the
focal length of the lens to make the subject appear
closer or further away in the frame.
Zooming can either be performed towards longer
focal lengths, giving a "zoom in" effect: The filmed
object will then increase in apparent size, and fewer
objects become visible on film. Or it is performed
towards shorter focal lengths, giving a "zoom out"
effect: The filmed object will shrink in apparent size,
and more objects come into view.
 TRACK - IN & OUT
A track shot is when you move the entire
camera forwards and backwards, typically on
some sort of track or motorized vehicle. This
type of movement can create beautiful,
flowing effects when done correctly. If you
want to attempt a track, make sure your track
is stable and will allow for fluid movement.
 DUTCH ANGLE SHOT
SHOT COMPOSITION Also known as Dutch tilt, is a type of camera shot
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT which involves setting the camera at an angle on its roll
Shot in which the camera looks at a person over axis so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at
another person’s shoulder and in such a way that the an angle to the side of the frame, or so that the horizon
shoulder and back of another person’s head are line of the shot is not parallel with the bottom of the
included in the picture. camera frame.
 BIRD’S EYE SHOT HIGH ANGLE SHOT
Is an angle that looks directly down upon a scene. This Is an angle that looks down upon the subject. A
angle is often used as an establishing angle, along with character shot with a high angle will look
extreme long shot, to establish setting. vulnerable and small.
 EYE LEVEL SHOT LOW ANGLE SHOT
Puts the audience on an equal footing with the Is a camera angle that looks up at the character.
characters. This is the most commonly used angle in A character shot with low angle will always look
most of the films as it allows the viewers to be strong and larger than life.
comfortable.
THREE-POINT LIGHTING
KEY LIGHT: The primary light is the key light. It’s there to bring light directly to your subject so that
whatever you are filming, the subject is well illuminated in the shot. Key lights should not be placed directly in
front of the talent or subject, but instead slightly off to the side. While just having this light may look like enough
light, if you want a well lit piece, you’ll want to include the other two lights to provide the subject in shot with
more dimension.
FILL LIGHT: The fill light fills the dark side of your subject. The fill light allows you to control the
overall feel of your shot depending on how much you dim or lighten the fill light. A dim fill light will give you
more of a harsh, film-noir type of shadow, while a having the light brighter will help give your subject a more
even look.
BACK LIGHT: The third light is the back light. A back light will put another element to the image of
your talent and will push him or her off from the background, again adding another dimension. For this all you
need to do is place a light behind your subject pointed at the back of their neck and high enough to be out of
frame. Watch that you don’t have the light too bright or the effect you get may not be the look you were going
for.
KEY LIGHT BACK LIGHT FILL LIGHT
COLOUR TEMPRATURE
The technical definition of colour temperature is full of terms like "black-body
radiator" and "chromacity space" - in short, it's very confusing, very boring,
and above all leaves you feeling even more baffled than before.
In layman's terms though, different light sources produce different coloured
light. For example, a candle emits a reddish light, while the midday sun's rays
have a blue tint. These different colours can be expressed using a number, and
this number is known as the colour temperature.
Colour temperature is measured on the Kelvin scale, which is denoted by the
letter "K" or the word "kelvin" after the number. However, this is largely
irrelevant - the only part we're interested in is the number.
WHITE BALANCE
White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that
objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper
camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light
source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes
are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital
cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) — and can
create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts. Understanding digital
white balance can help you avoid these color casts, thereby improving your
photos under a wider range of lighting conditions.
BLACK BALANCE
Black balance is an operation similar to white balance. As white balance
gives the camera a reference to "true white", black balance gives a reference
to "true black". This function is normally available only in professional
cameras — home video users don't need to worry about it. There seems to
be a lot of debate around the subject of black balance, and when it's
necessary to perform one. Some people say you should do it every time you
white balance, but we also know camera operators who hardly ever do it.
Our advice is that it can't hurt to black-balance, and you should definitely
do it at the beginning of a shoot, whenever you change filters or gain level,
and whenever the lighting conditions change significantly.
 LIGHTING INSTRUMENTS
FRESNEL SUN GUN HMIs
S

They are normally huge tungsten They are used to replicate

lights, daylight and need
Come in varying wattages and It comes in handy and need electrical procedures
are used when we want for setup.
as key and backlights . to flood big areas
with light .
CFL SOFT LED
LIGHT

It came into vogue around

These are cool fluorescent 70s. They are banks of
lamps housed in one case These are floodlights, are individual LEDs.
to light up large areas. normally hung from the
railing, it illuminate huge
backgrounds.
LIGHTING ACCESSORIES
GELS DIFFUSERS
Colored gelatin Flame-proof ‘spun’
sheets, placed in fiberglass sheets fixed
front of the lights over the lamp, or
will create different some material such as
intensities of reds, butter paper supported
yellows, blues etc. in a large frame, work
The most commonly as diffusers and will
used are the diffuse the lights.
cellophane sheets
available at
stationary store.
 REFLECTORS
Colored Reflectors, including handheld
circular flexible material and white
thermocol sheets, add a filling to light,
reflecting it gently back from its source.
It is used to bounce off light both
indoors and outdoors.
CROMA KEY
Chroma keying is a technique used for combining two frames or images by replacing a
color or a color range in one frame with that from the another frame.
It is often used in film industry to replace a scene's background by using a blue or
green screen as the initial background and placing the actor in the foreground. The
principle behind chroma keying is that the color blue is the opposite color of skin tone,
so a distinction between the two is very clear, making it easier to select the color
without worrying about any part of the actor being included in the selection. The
whole blue selection is then replaced with another frame as the background.
Chroma key is also known as color keying and color separation overlay; it is also
commonly called blue screen or green screen.
GENERAL CAMERA SETTINGS
DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDIO/VIDEO CONNECTOR
Composite Video (RCA jack plug, or F-pin)
Composite Video is the format of an analog television signal before it is modulated
onto an RF carrier. Composite Video is video information transmitted as a single signal
over one wire. Most older home video equipment (VCR and laserdisc) record a signal
in Composite Video format and then give the user the option of outputting the raw
signal, or mixing it with RF to appear on a selected TV channel.

DVI (Digital Visual Interface)

DVI is a digital interface standard to convert analog signals into digital signals to
accommodate both analog and digital monitors. The standard specifies a single plug and
connector that encompass both the new digital and legacy VGA interfaces, as well as a
digital-only plug connector. DVI handles bandwidths in excess of 160 MHz and thus
supports UXGA and HDTV with a single set of links. Higher resolutions can be
supported with a dual set of links.
VGA CABLE
A VGA cable is used to connect an analog PC monitor to a PC or
laptop. VGA cables utilize an HD15 connector (male or female
depending on the equipment being attached) to connect the
monitor and PC/laptop. L-com offers a very extensive selection of
off the shelf VGA cable assemblies and can custom manufacture
VGA video cable assemblies to your exact specifications.
FIREWIRE CABLE:
FireWire, also known as IEEE 1394, is not a cable you usually find these
days. Popularized in the early 90s, it was the competing standard to USB
for a long time, not unlike Thunderbolt is today. Offering much faster
speeds, even faster than USB 2.0, FireWire a connection you’ll usually
find on older external hard drives and digital cameras.
 HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)
HDMI is the next best level because HDMI combines Digital Video (DVI) AND
Multi-Channel Audio, and more - all into one convenient cable. With the DVI video
cable, you must hook up the audio using separate cables, since DVI transfers only
digital video signals. DVI cables typically don’t exceed 16 feet since longer lengths
may result in an unreliable signal. HDMI is the first interface to carry high-definition
video (720p & 1080i or standard video formats) AND multi-channel surround sound
audio. HDMI cables are available in runs of up to 40 feet while still maintaining
optimum data transfer.
Component Video
Component video uses three separate cables to send red, green and blue signals to
provide the sharpest, clearest, best possible picture. Not all TVs have Component
Video inputs. If your TV doesn't, then use an S-Video cable.
While Component Video is a high-performance video connection for digital sources
such as HDTV and DVD, it’s still an analog-based connection.