Saturday, December 18, 2010

Traditional Photography: Essential Equipment

By James Goldstein


Traditional photography schools will teach you all the basics to become a professional photographer. They will cover the use of all different types of cameras and attachments that will make your photos look more professional, and enable you to obtain the results you desire. One of the first cameras they will teach you to use is a film camera. Most professionals still use the film cameras as opposed to a digital.

A single reflex camera, often referred to as a SLR, is one of the most popular cameras with professional photographers. Unlike regular cameras, where the image you see in the view finder, may not be the image that shows up in the picture, SLR cameras use a moving mirror that will allow a the image you see to actually be the image that appears in the picture. These cameras allow for manual or automatic focus.

The bodies of and lenses of SLR cameras are made to last a lifetime. Many of the attachments on a traditional SLR film camera are interchangeable with an SLR digital camera. When considering the type of SLR camera and what it is going to be used for, the professionals advise building a SLR system rather than just concentrating on buying the right kind of body.

35mm film has long been the gauge used in professional and personal photographing. This gauge works well with chemical, still photography. 35mm film was first introduced in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison. Since its introduction, there haven't been many changes to the way it is made and used. Many professional photographers rely heavily on this type of film.

Telescopes and microscopes use optical lenses very similar in make up to the ones that are used in still life and video cameras. Small adjustments need to be made in the final production of the camera lens. The advantage of lens made for SLR cameras is the fact that they are interchangeable between the SLR digital and SLR film cameras. SLR cameras give you the option of manually focusing and zooming.

There are several types of lens filters that are used by professional photographers. There are two types of polarized lenses. Circular polarized filters are used for auto focus SLR cameras. Linear polarized lens are used for video. A neutral density filter is used to change the image so that certain parts are clear and other parts are blurred or shadowed. UV filters are used to reduce haziness or cloudiness by filtering out ultra violet rays.

An external camera flash is best used in some situations. Although automatic flash is included in the new cameras, external will allow more lighting. Photography courses will teach you under which circumstances external camera flash is best used. If the photos you are taking are wider or deeper shots, like shots taken into the woods, or items further back, then external camera flash should be used.

Almost every professional photographer has a good tripod. A tripod is a piece of camera equipment that stands on three legs with a place to attach the camera on top. Tripods keep the camera steady so there won't be any double images or blurs. The use of a tripod is important for different kinds of shots. For example, it gives you a clearer image when you are using the maximum zoom feature.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment