Question 1
Research, written and practical assignment
Throughout this lesson you’ve learnt about the various techniques used and inventors that contributed to the art form that is Photography. Choose only one, do some additional research and in your own words write a report on why you think the chosen technique contributed to what we are able to do today through photography.
- Explain your research and choice of technique.
- Include any images which you think are necessary to explain your thought process.
- This should be 500 – 1000 words.
I have chosen the Daguerreotype technique for this task. I think the technique seemed exciting and wanted to immerse myself more in this as it was the first publicly available photographic process.
The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. The process required great care. The silver-plated copper plate had first to be cleaned and polished until the surface looked like a mirror. Next, the plate was sensitized in a closed box over iodine until it took on a yellow-rose appearance. The plate, held in a lightproof holder, was then transferred to the camera. After exposure to light, the plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared. To fix the image, the plate was immersed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate or salt and then toned with gold chloride.
Exposure times for the earliest daguerreotypes ranged from three to fifteen minutes, making the process nearly impractical for portraiture. Modifications to the sensitization process coupled with the improvement of photographic lenses soon reduced the exposure time to less than a minute.
Although daguerreotypes are unique images, they could be copied by redaguerreotyping the original. Copies were also produced by lithography or engraving. Portraits based upon daguerreotypes appeared in popular periodicals and in books. James Gordon Bennett, the editor of the New York Herald, posed for his daguerreotype at Brady’s studio. An engraving, based on this daguerreotype later appeared in the Democratic Review.
For research, I read more about the daguerreotype technique, Louis Daguerre how it affected the world, and its advantages and disadvantages.
Louis Jaques Mande Daguerre was a French artist and photographer who developed a friendship with Joseph Niepce. Joseph Niepce had invented heliography and was reluctant to give away details about his photographic work. They prepared a new and better version of the heliography technique and called it the physautotype. In 1833, Joseph died suddenly and his son Isidore entered into a new contract with Daguerre to make it possible to improve the process in another direction.
Daguerre worked a lot with the new technique and instead of asphalt in heliography, he discovered that it was more efficient to use iodized silver plates. Francois Arago helped Daguerre present the technique to the French Academy of Sciences. The French government presented the daguerreotype with a manual, as a “free for the world” gift. This made it possible for the rest of the world to take part in this photography adventure and was the first photographic success in history.
At the same time, the calotype also existed, but the daguerreotype was the preferred type due to its long-lasting material and better quality.
Instead of just imagining their story, it was now possible for everyone to preserve it. For the first time, the middle class could now also visit galleries and take their pictures in the studio. The daguerreotype technique created an equalization among the classes which in turn created a common basis for everyone to be equal.
Resources:
https://www.loc.gov/collections/daguerreotypes/articles-and-essays/the-daguerreotype-medium/
http://www.daguerreobase.org/nb/knowledge-base/what-is-a-daguerreotype
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype
https://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/dagprocess.htm
Question 2
Observation and analysis
After watching the video: Introduction to Photography: The Camera by Ben Long (1h 52m), please answer the following questions. If necessary, refer to your Camera Manual:
My camera: Canon EOS 70D
- Name all the functions / buttons on the front of your camera
2. Name all the functions / buttons on the back of your camera
3. Explain how you would set the correct ISO
- ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization
- The 70D is capable of automatically checking the ISO level, so it is recommended to set the ISO to Auto (press the Q button> ISO box> Scroll main wheel all the way to the left). To reduce the grain in the images I have to set the ISO to 3200. (Go to the third tab after pressing the menu button, then press the row “ISO speed settings”. Scroll down to 3200 in the Maximum box under Auto ISO range .)
- I can also go manually if I want better control or need to push the ISO settings a little higher for a dark situation.
4. Explain how you would change the aperture
- Aperture is measured in number increments called f-stops. Each f-stop or “f” number indicates how small or large the hole is.
- The higher the f-stop or “f” number, the smaller the hole.
- The lower the f-stop or “f” number, the larger the hole.
- 1: I turn the dial on the top of my camera to manual mode (M).
- 2: I hold down the AV +/- button to the right of my camera display.
- 3: As I hold down that button, I turn the control dial on the top of my camera to the right to get a higher f-stop/smaller hole, and to the left to get a lower f-stop/larger hole.
5. Explain how you would change the shutter speed
Shutter speed is fast or slow shutter speed. Slow = more light versus Fast = less light. It can have different effects on my photographs, and I have to choose my shutter speed depending on if I want a blurred or frozen motion. The blurred effect can be beautiful for a waterfall but might not give the same results if I should take a photo of someone running. The faster the motion, and if I want to freeze a moment, I’ll aim for a fast shutter speed. It also depends on the lighting available. If I want the camera to catch more light in the photograph, I’ll choose a longer shutter speed. For a longer shutter speed, it’s important to stabilize the camera with a tripod that doesn’t make the photo blurry from body movement. So all in all, the shutter speed settings depends on the desired results, but to change it I only have to turn the Main dial wheel.
MY GRAPHIC DESIGN JOURNEY 