Photography and Technology

Capture - Reflected light from an object passes into a camera and then onto a sensitive surface.

Process - The captured image is turned into something we can see.

Store - The image is put onto something we can keep, such as a printed photograph.

Analogue Photography

1. Light enters camer through lense.


2. Lights hit sensitive film and reacts with it.


3. Film removed from camera and put into chemicals for developing in a negative.


4. Negative projected onto photographic paper and printed using more chemical

Digital Photgraphy

1. Light enters camera though lense and hits light sensitive sensor.


2. Signal from sensor converted into digital data by a processor.


3. Digital data stored as an image on a storage medium in the camera.

USB- A physical connection used by cameras and scanners, possibly the fastest option.

Removeable Card- Images can be captured by a digital device onto a removeable card. Can be connected to a computer by a card reader.

WiFi- Some cameras use WiFi technology to send digital images to a computer.

Bluetooth- Mobile phones, PDA's and some digital devices can send information to other bluetooth devices providing they are close to eachother.

RAW Files- These files have not been processed by the camera. They can be printed or edited with computer editing software. RAW files are very large and not all software can edit them. Computers can correct RAW files more sucessfully than those that have been processed by a camera.

JPEG- This stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. These set the standard of photo compression. When a captured image is turned into a JPEG, quality is sacrficed for a reduction in the size of the file, consequently this is known as a "lossy" process.

The table below shows the different file types images can come in and their uses.

Aperture and Shutter Speed

Shutter speed - How quick the shutter opens to let light into the lense for a picture to be processed.

Aperture - How big the opening of the lense is.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds.
1/250th of a second is considered fast, while 1/30th of a second is considered slow. A picture cannot be taken under 1/20th of a second without the use of a tripod.

Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the cameras digital sensor. This can be controlled on a camera by different functions.

On a camera usually the shutter speed is label "T" and the aperture labeled "A"

Aperture is usually expressed in F-Numbers.
F/2.1 is large while F/22 is small.

If the aperture is large (for example F/2.1) the shutter speed must be fast (for example, 1/250th of a second). If the aperture is small (for example F/22) then the shutter speed must be slower (for example 1/30th of a second.)

The higher the aperture is the smaller the hole in the camera will be to let light through to the light sensitive surfaces which process the picture.

Photo Ethics

Manipulation has always been a key aspect to photography. Using photos to communicate has become increasinly popular since the first photograph was taken in 1826. Whether its cutting key elements out of a picture to make it mean something else or cropping the piture to make the viewer have a different outlook, every picture tells some kind of story.


In this picture Stalin had his commissar removed from the photo when he fell from power because he was considered an enemy, so through history when people viewed this picture no-one would have known that there was even another man there.

This picture was taken from the Veitnam war.