The question – What is the difference between a good photographer and a poor photographer?

The simple answer- a poor photographer shows you all of his pictures!

We are now past the age when the cost of film and processing were necessarily taken into consideration, so most people showed all of their pictures during the film photography age. Visitors shuddered when the host dragged out the slide projector! The age of digital photography has greatly reduced the cost per picture. People can now even take pictures with their phones. Also, the pictures are immediately available for viewing. If a picture is not the way we want it, we can shoot it again unless it is some rapidly moving subject. We can immediately delete bad pictures. We can store hundreds of pictures on a memory card, so take lots of photos to guarantee that you get some good ones. And be selective about which pictures you show to others.

A current fad is the posting of pictures on Facebook. We see many pictures where the faces of people are so dark as to be unrecognizable. Since we can immediately view the picture, there is no reason this should happen. The reason for it is that the background is brighter than the subject. The camera’s meter closes the lens down to properly expose the background, thereby underexposing the subjects. A common example of this is taking pictures of people on a shaded porch or in the shade of trees. Take the picture again and open the lens about two f/stops or use fill-in flash to properly expose the people’s faces.

Filters are glass or plastic objects which are placed in front of the camera lens in order to change the effect of the light which strikes the film. Light which is the same color as the filter passes through to the film, while the complementary color of the filter is blocked. Not all filters can be used with color film. Two of the most useful are listed below.

One of the most useful filters for color film is the polarizer. It is the only filter which can be used to darken the sky in color photographs without changing the color. It also saturates colors and helps eliminate reflections. Notice the darkened sky in the photo at the right. Polarizers can also be used to reduce reflections from glass and water and some metallic objects.

Another useful filter for color film is the ultraviolet (“UV”) or “haze” filter. It reduces the effect of atmospheric haze but does not affect the color. This filter is also useful in flash photography because electronic flash sometimes produces an overall blue cast in the picture. This is due to ultraviolet light which is emitted by the flash. You should always use a UV filter when taking pictures via electronic flash.

Also, see our article “Is Film Photography Dead?“

The photographic films article:

In the early days of photography flat glass plates were coated with a light-sensitive emulsion. Shortly before the turn of the century George Eastman invented “film” – a transparent celluloid-type material which was coated with the photographic emulsion. This meant that the material could be manufactured as a roll instead of a single flat plate. Therefore many pictures could be taken without having to reload the camera after each shot. Thus was born the roll-film camera – the “Kodak.”

Films may be either positive or negative. Positive films produce transparencies, usually called “slides.” Negative films are printed on paper which has been coated with light-sensitive emulsion. Films may be either color or black and white. On this web site, we will restrict our discussion to 35mm color negative film, because that currently is the most popular format. The resulting photograph from this type of film is generally a color print. However, color negative film is very versatile. It can also be used to make color slides (there is a print film available for this purpose) or black and white prints (this is accomplished by printing onto a photo paper which is panchromatic – that is, sensitive to all colors of light).

Films have varying degrees of sensitivity to light, which is indicated by an “ISO” number. The old “ASA” numbers have been replaced by ISO. However, the values of ASA and ISO are identical and can be used interchangeably. Films with a low ISO number are said to be “slow” because more light is required for a proper exposure than is required for films with a higher ISO rating. See the article about exposure for more information about this.

35mm film is marketed in rolls which can be purchased with varying numbers of exposures per roll – the most common being 12, 24, or 36 exposures. Some special purpose rolls may contain different numbers of exposures, and 35mm film can also be purchased in long rolls such as 25 feet. These long rolls are sometimes used with motor drives to cover events where many pictures must be taken, such as sporting events.

There are many film manufacturers. Most produce fairly good quality films, but there are also some that are very poor. I prefer to use Kodak or Fuji films. This is not to say that there are not other good quality films – it’s just that I’ve had more experience with these two companies.

Find a film that produces good results for you. Feel free to experiment and be sure to keep records so you can duplicate your results. One of the great attributes of a good photographer is the ability to produce consistent results.

Do not hesitate to take a lot of pictures. Film is the cheapest thing you  have! Take lots of pictures and edit your results to select the very best. Don’t be afraid to use the wastebasket. Show only your best pictures to others!

Paul Simon sang “Don’t take my Kodachrome away.” Well, Kodak has done just that – they have taken Kodachrome away! Kodachrome film first hit the photography market in 1936 and on June 22, 2009, Kodak officially retired Kodachrome color transparency film. Kodachrome built the color slide industry, and many 35mm cameras were purchased for the purpose of making color slides. I have several Carousel slide trays sitting unused on a shelf.

In more recent years, photographers have migrated to 35mm color negative film. How long will it be until these films also become history?

Several other films have been discontinued. I look at my collection of cameras and I have several which would take excellent pictures, except for one obstacle – film is no longer available in sizes to fit these cameras.

What’s causing this departure from film photography? The rise of digital photography! At first, digital photography was a novelty. But resolution became better and better cameras, including SLRs, were introduced. More and more people are making the switch to digital.

Digital cameras can now produce photos which are of equal quality to film photos. Digital already dominates the photographic market. So it appears that it is only a matter of time before all film cameras will become antiques.

We will discuss pros and cons of digital photography in future articles.

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