Photography Tips and Tricks

Photography isn't just about making memories, it's about art. Be artistic. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you make those photos, picture perfect.

To make those dull photos turn into works of art, consider these questions:
Decide if you want the full subject, half, or even a close up. How much background do you want, or even foreground? Exactly how close do you want that close up? What details do you want to focus on? Do you want a vertical, horizontal, or tilted photograph? What angle do you want? What's the best lighting? What background do you want to use?

1. Placing the subject of interest. Choose how much of the subject you want photographed. (Example: you want full body, half body, or face shot.) If your subject fills the frame then it's okay to center it. If you are trying to get more of the background, try placing your subject to the right or left in the viewfinder. With a horizontal (laying down), try to place them at the top for more foreground, or at the bottom for more background. And you could even tilt the camera for a more funky picture. It all depends on what part of the scenery you want visible in the picture. Maybe you want that tree to your left and your subject to the right. Or the patch of flowers in front and the mountains in back. (I find it best to take my time and take shots of each possible way and several different poses. This way I know I'll find the best photograph with the most potential.)

2. Don't center. The circle, plus sign, or brackets in the middle of your viewfinder is for focusing and isn't necessarily for centering the subject. Placing your subject in t he circle could leave you with a lot of empty and useless space on your photograph. Too much background and not enough subject. If your subject fills the frame then it is okay to center them. (Sometimes you just have to ignore the focus points and concentrate on your subjects placement in the frame instead.)

3. Camera angles. Walk around the subject, shoot from all angles and sides. This will help you to get the best lighting, background, and different aspects of the subject. You will want to find the best angle for all three. Pick a background that will not distract your viewers from the subject of interest. (I choose my backgrounds to where there's not much clutter. Sometimes I will use a plain sheet or blanket and place it behind the subject, but making sure it does not clash or blend.)

4. Reflectors. In some situations you just can't get enough light or you perhaps you just want more. To use a light reflector, place it in a position where it reflects light onto the subject without it getting in the frame. Use this if your shot is coming out too dark or there are too many shadows. On night shots that you need more than your flash can put out, place a lamp (or several) near your subject, but out of sight, and use the light reflectors to bounce from the lamps to where needed. (Some homemade light reflectors can be real cheap to make. You could use white cardboard, or if you can't find this, then simply take any piece and paint it white. For more light, place tin foil over your piece of cardboard, smooth it out, and reflect where needed.)

5. Shading. Using the same piece of cardboard as mentioned above, you can use this to block the light as well. You could make this easier by painting one side white and the other black. Or just place the piece in front of the lamp or sun to dismiss light from your subject. On most cameras you can use a sunshade for the lens, some cameras come with this, some you buy separate. This won't keep light from your subject, but it will block the light from causing a flare effect on the outcome of your photograph. The sunshade just clicks into place around your lens, and keeps the lens safe from any glaring.

6. Outside daylight. Direct sunlight is when you place the sun behind the camera, but in front of the subject. Using direct sunlight can cause shadows on the subjects face and possibly their eyes squinting. Back light is when the sun is behind the subject and in front of the camera. This will lighten the photo and cause much softer features on the subject.

7. Preventing red eye. Red eye is caused when the flash is too close to the lens. Ways to prevent this are: Attach a larger flash to your camera, t his way the flash is further from the lens. Or if buying a camera, look for one with the flash located far from the lens. Try getting closer to your subject when needing the flash. (Before I bought my camera with built in red eye correction, I had to use a photo editing program to correct these problems. I was even scanning my pictures and still having to edit when I was using my film camera that was hopeless against red eye.)

<em>Casque D'or</em> is a Romance Set Within the Confines of a Gangster Film

Set during the Belle Époque, Becker’s Casque d’or is a romance set within the confines of a gangster film.  Manda (Serge Reggiani) isa reformed criminal who now works as a carpenter.  While chatting with Raymond, an old friend from jail, Manda sees a gangster’s moll, the beautiful, blonde Marie (Simone Signoret) waltzing reluctantly with Roland, the man she belongs to.  Marie catches his gaze and won’t let go of it even as Roland spins her around the dance floor.  Raymond and Roland are members of Felix Leca’s gang.  Leca sells wine as a front and is in good stead with the local authorities. 

Willing to give up the new life he has established, Manda comes the next evening to take Marie away from Roland.  They fight over her, resulting in Manda killing Roland.  This complicates matters because not only does Manda have to skip town to avoid the police, but also he has no idea that Leca also wants Marie and to paraphrase the song, whatever Leca wants, Leca gets.  Marie runs off to be with Manda, who after risking his life to be with her, isn’t going to give her up.  While all the story’s participants might not enjoy the final outcome, the film resolves this clash of desires in a very satisfying way for the audience.

The movie is brilliantly crafted from on all fronts.  The story is very well written with a plot that is surprising yet always believable in the choices that are made by the characters.  Nothing ever seems to happen to force the story in a certain direction and there is never a question of the motivation behind someone’s actions.  The characters, including the minor ones, appear as real people with lives that take place when they are off screen.  The performances were very good, especially Claude Dauphin as Leca.  He’s cool and calm most of the time as he tries to keep everything under his control.  This made him very believable and likable. The black-and-white cinematography looks fantastic and the camerawork is very fluid, using a lot of dolly shots instead of cutting.

Film scholar Peter Cowie provides a thoroughly informative commentary track.  He discusses earlier drafts of the story and tells you what scenes were cut or trimmed and what information they contained.  He provides background information about the actors and director, discussing their lives and stature.  He draws your attention to the details of a shot, of a character’s action, telling you what the film was showing you.  As I listened to the commentary track, I noticed that the chapter titles had changed from describing the scene to the subject matter that Cowie was discussing.  I don’t know if other commentary tracks do this, but I thought this was a stroke of genius.

The Criterion crew has done it again with some amazing finds of supplemental material.  There are interview clips from Signoret in 1963 and Reggiani in 1995.  She discusses her career choices, acting and Casque d’or.  He discusses working with Signoret as well as his friendship with her.  There are also excerpts from the French television program Cineastes de notre temps about Becker and this film.  This segment is very interesting in the way it was edited.  Interviews of a number of collaborators, such as Signoret, and admirers, such as Truffaut, were assembled together.  As someone speaks to a subject, the film cuts away to other participants listening, creating the illusion that they are together having a conversation.  The film has some silent, behind-the-scenes footage that was shot on the set during the rehearsals.  It shows Becker and the crew at work.  There’s an option to listen to film critic Philip Kemp, who wrote the liner notes for the DVD, providing commentary for the footage.  I’m not sure why you would watch it without his informative comments, but that option is available.

Casque d’or is a very good French film noir for fans of the genre.  While the theme of the film deals with giving in to your desires, I’m sure that Becker and his crew wouldn’t apply that lesson when it comes to purchasing this DVD.  Appréciez, mon ami.

Starting Your Own Professional Photography Business

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So now you have the desire and determination to make it work, but what will you do? Photography is your passion, or is it? There are hundreds of photographers out there no matter where you live; what makes you so different from all the other photographers?

* Do you have the unique style necessary to attract the crowds to your camera?

* Can you survive in the cut-throat business of shooting day in and day out whoeversteps in front of your camera?

* Are you original and creative enough to think of different poses, create various styles of portraits of babies, families, couples and single people and still think sanely?

If you answered these questions positively, you may be on your way but that’s not all it requires. Though photography seems a fairly easy business where in movies and television you see a young man photographing beautiful women in studios or on exotic locations, selling all the images to magazines or having huge billboards displaying his pictures, that’s just a dream. Reality can be quite different from what many think of this profession.

It takes more than a fancy camera in this day and age to make a person buy your pictures, let alone to make a business out of it, surviving on income made with your photography. If you live in Spain or anywhere else, if there’s other photo studios then you’re competing against those already established with a good clientele. How can you compete against them?

Here are some recommendations to help you build your dream of working as a photographer:

a.       Create an unique style that stands out from the other photographers

b.      Be professional at all times

c.       Display only your best images to possible clients and change these often

d.      Offer specials to advertise yourself and your photography

e.       Have exhibits of your photography to help spread word of your new business

f.        Be patient and be sure to have a good supply of backup funds in the case they don’t come

Let’s discuss the above points….  This will help you to understand how to succeed.

Look at those you will be competing against; what do they offer in their photographic services? Can you offer the same or more? Most importantly, how does your style of capturing a scene or a face stand up against theirs? You will need to establish that style before you can start with a business. Be sure in what you do and do only that.

When you work with a client, you must maintain a professional environment at all times. In my many years behind a camera, I have seen amateurs make many mistakes during events, weddings and other assignments. In some cases, it wasn’t a mechnical or technical error but a public relations mistake – some people just don’t know how to work with the public. If you do the same, you will not last for very long. While people talk a lot of good images, they talk even more about how terrible a session was. You don’t want that type of advertisement. Research your assignments, know the light. If you have new equipment, then be sure you know what they can do and how you can use it. There’s nothing worst than finding out the hard way a flash or a new lens isn’t completely “right” in your hands.

Advertising yourself is the most important thing you can possibly do; no matter how good (or bad) you think you are, if nobody knows of your services or product, then you wont sell many if at all. When you display a poor image, then others will see the faults also – never display an image that is in bad taste. Show only your best work and watch people contact you. If they see bad results, they will stay away. Your best form of advertisement is word-of-mouth from a satisfied client!

While you may be one who doesn’t believe in the “store specials”, this method of advertising does work, and you can make it work to your benefit. A special attracts people who normally wouldn’t buy a product but does due to the price offer, or does buy and sees a special pricing as a reward for their loyalty. Act on that thought and you will see more customers contacting you!

Many people go to art exhibitions to see art – when this exhibit involves portraits of people for example, it can draw in customers from a different area you never thought possible. While many go for two main reasons – to see art and enjoy it, or to buy art for themselves – having an exhibit consisting of portraits for example, encourages possible interest in becoming a subject for your camera. It also works in a different direction, establishing your track record and building on your resume to show people interested in your experiences and awards, etc. in photography.

Lastly, starting a business is not easy or as “easy” as you may think photography may be. This profession is no exception to the rule. These days everyone having a digital camera makes them a “photographer”. Who will pay you to create their memories to last a lifetime? Before you actually start your new life in photography, be sure to have a good sum of reserve cash banked away to maintain your living expenses through the lean months – if that is the case. In most new businesses, the first two years can be the hardest and patience can save your sanity! The biggest mistake here is that after two or so years of little or no business, new businesses will close, but that is wrong! That’s the worst time to close as now you already have yourself in people’s minds: seeing the storefront, knowing you’re a photographer, etc. stick it out just a bit longer!

The Best Baby Showers Gifts to Give

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When your friend announces the wonderful news of a new arrival the thought always turns to what you want to buy the baby that will be of most use. Having had my first baby and 2 showers I received several gifts that were total life savers and am forever in debt to the people who bought them.

The coolest thing I received was a Fischer Price Oceans of Wonder cradle swing, this is the best gift I could've ever asked for, it has 2 ways to swing, plays melodies has lights as well as 10 different speeds. I was able to use this from day 1 up until my little guy got 25 pounds. This was truly awesome as the baby was able to nap and the fish and lights held his attention long enough for mom to get housework done.

Diapers are always a great gift because parents go thru so many, the trick is to give a few packages in the larger sizes as many new parents receive so many smaller sizes and babies grow so fast. A case of diaper wipes is also helpful as they tend to last longer.

The Fischer Price Deluxe Jumperoo is also a great gift, the baby can start using around 4 months of age, it helps strengthen their legs and provides plenty of entertainment. I found this to be a great way to get a moment of peace when having a hectic day.

The Womb Bear is also great to help baby sleep at night, it makes the sound of a heartbeat and reminds baby of time spent in the womb.

Gift cards are also great as their are many last minute things that parents need or want, and can be used to buy many different things.


These are some great suggestions and good luck with the shopping

Whoever Said a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Probably Didn't Use Positive Images Photography

Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes

Well I've come to terms with the fact I'm no Denzel Washington... and I'm okay with that. All I really wanted to do was to take some good quality pictures I could use as profile headshots for my internet businesses and for my business cards, brochures, etc. This was important since I had a deadline coming up that I needed pictures for.

Based on my photography needs, I had wondered was there a photographer where the average looking person can go to get reasonably priced, almost "Star Quality" pictures taken. Also, I preferred that they were local too because I wanted a photographer that I could do business with again on future projects. Just imagine my delight when I found out that there was such a photographer located in Oakland at Positive Images Photography.

The owner is Gisele Bonds (no relation to Barry) and she not only consulted with me on the objectives of my project, she also happened to be a pleasure to talk to. She is very knowledgable. She definitely won points when she suggested that I go home to retrieve a few darker outfits to round out my photoshoot after I mistakenly arrived with all lighter colored outfits. She then explained why and how the darker colored outfits could be used to my advantage in the photoshoot.

As we took pictures she instructed me to pose at various angles and again she told me why those angles were important based on the numerous ways we discussed I could to utilize those pictures in my marketing mix. For instance, some of my pictures were taken with my business' branding in mind so that my company's logo or other images could be easily incorporated into those pictures. Nice!

For someone who's camera shy, I can honestly say I did enjoy Gisele's professionalism and creativity. After what felt to me like a thousand pictures and almost an eternity, we finally finished! At that point my mind started thinking, I hope these pictures look okay. I have to admit, I felt a little self-concious about the prospect of seeing the finished product because I have like many people, facial blemishes. When I mentioned this concern to Gisele she said not to worrry the pictures are going to look good.

Gisele invited me to come in and take a look at all the pictures we took and choose the ones I wanted. She gave me some positive feedback that was helpful and then I selected my favorites.

Later, when I received my Picture Disc I was happy to see that she was so right, my pictures did look good and my facial blemishes were gone... at least in my pictures! Interestingly, I'm told her specialty is working with high school aged students. Her studio is filled with with a plethora of graduation and prom pictures, etc.

She mentors students by providing intern opportunities at her studio and one of her past interns who is in college currently, still works at the studio which to me says alot about the kind of person Gisele is. I think that Positive Images Photography is aptly named and if you're looking for high quality photos, Gisele is the person you need to see. You may soon find that your pictures will be worth much more than a thousand words if you do!

Amazing Secrets of Underwater Photography

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Do you like underwater photography? Do you want to know how it is done and what are the different things you should look out for when taking underwater pictures? Then you have come to the right place to learn what really underwater photography is. We all know that underwater photography can be a great fun and enjoyment activity and it can be more enjoyable experience for you if you really know all the nitty-gritty about underwater photography.

If you want to take beautiful underwater pictures then most importantly you should have a powerful digital camera which can work underwater without any hassles. Because it is not like that you go underwater and immediately start taking pictures. Rather you have to take care of many things when taking pictures in the deep water. If you do not take enough care then your pictures can become blurred and quality can be compromised. You should always look out for the direction of the sunlight underwater as sunlight travels differently in the deep water which affects the picture quality. You have to adjust your camera angle properly with the direction of the sunlight when you are underwater.

Then there is the impurity in the ocean water like mud and dirt which can really affect the picture quality underwater. This dirt can make the water so impure that you can not see properly in the deep water. But this happens most of the times only in the lakes and rivers. But many of the oceans are so clear and pure that you can see longer distance without any problems and your pictures most of the times comes as a quality product.

Many people who try underwater photography; takes their own friend's and families pictures and this can be more entertaining and really memorable experience for the family members to cheer for long time. But one of the most important factor every underwater photographer should remember is that the underwater currents and their effects. It is the most unpredictable factor which really affects our picture quality when you are underwater. When you are underwater it is extremely difficult for everybody to stand still in the same pose. And with the dynamic nature of underwater currents it becomes more difficult to give the still pose for the photo. So you should always keep in mind the direction of the underwater currents while taking pictures.

With the advancement of different types of digital cameras it will become easier in the future for us to take underwater pictures and really enjoy the experience of underwater photography.

Photography Project #1: Recreate Family Photos

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A fun photography project you can do with your family or friends is to recreate special photographs. Here's how to do it:

Gather old photographs. Take a look through your photo albums to gather the old photo(s) you'll use. Try to go back as far as you can. If you're a teen recreating a moment from your childhood just a few years before, you'll have a large enough contrast. If you're an adult you'll want to go back further to a time when you looked somewhat different than you do now. Pick out a photo that is really memorable to you and others. The photo could have been embarrassing when it was taken, but you laugh about it now. Narrow down your top choices and consider which ones you can realistically recreate.

Grab your family and friends in the original photograph. After you've selected a photograph make sure your photo subjects are on board with recreating the special moment. If someone didn't like their hair in a certain photo now is the time for them to change it a bit. If the photo is a goofy or silly moment you'll want to maintain that same humorous nature.

Dress the part. You don't have to try to recreate the hair and clothing styles of the 90's, 80's, 70's, 60's, but you can wear the same type of clothing. If you're wearing suit in the original photograph, put on another suit. You may also want to similar colors if possible. If a fashion has come back in style similar what you're wearing in the original photograph, that could make for a stylish comparison.

Find the location. Try to go to the same location as the original photograph so both background and setting will be consistent. In some cases there may be a location you can't access. You may not be able to get into your old high school cafeteria. Or maybe you've moved to a different house. Try to find a similar location. If the photo was taken in your old kitchen, take a similar one in your new kitchen.

Study the poses. If you and a couple of friends have distinct poses in the old photo do exactly the same thing. If the photo is more of a close up then focus more on having the same facial expressions.

Place the photos side-by-side. Now that you've taken your recreated photograph take a look at the old and new images. What similarities do you see? What differences? Enjoy your new photo as you've just created new memories.

The History of Photography

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Capturing and commemorating precious moments in time has been a need for humans since ancient times. All over the world Prehistoric men have meticulously painted countless cave walls depicting either hunting and sporting events or other significant moments of their time. Later civilizations across the globe operated in similar fashions constructing either elaborate paintings or laborious sculptures. Each painting or sculpture afterward would strive to appear more and more detailed as if attempting to attain that life-like quality of each moment being projected. Battlefield paintings are littered throughout countless history books and journals in multiple languages with the sole purpose of endeavoring to convey a message in which words alone could not express. It is impossible to imagine how much information has been lost in translation throughout time without the truly marvelous invention of the camera and photography. If important events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the pilgrim's first Thanksgiving feast with Native Americans had been captured on film would they hold more important places in the minds and hearts than they do now? People may never know, but the importance and raw power of photography cannot be denied. Whether viewing a portrait or just a moment caught in time, never has the imagination been captured nor have emotions been pulled to the surface as by the captivating image of a photo.

It is important and necessary to understand and explore the origins, the historical figures, and advancements involved in photography's history before people can appreciate just how far this field moved and exceeded all expectations.

"Photography" is derived from the Greek words photos ("light") and graphein ("to draw"). The word was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1839. It is a method of recording images by the action of light or related radiation, on a sensitive material (Bellis, n.d.). Photography has played a crucial role in various societies the world over not only as an intricate art form but also as a significant part in our way of life. From its early beginnings to its key figures of inventors and innovators who ushered in the critical and the amazing technical advancements which have made photography the phenomenon it is today.

William M. Ivins was Curator of Prints at the metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1916 until 1946 and published a documentary on photography in 1953 which distinguished between the relationship of traditional techniques of hand-drawn printmaking (the woodcut, metal and wood engravings and lithograph) and photography. Ivins noted that historically, printmaking was not usually practiced as an art form as they are practiced today, but as a means of distributing visual information. Ivins argued that once you begin to examine prints (or pictures) in functional terms you discover that without them very few modern sciences would exist; technologies, archaeologies, and ethnologies. Each of these is dependent upon information conveyed by exactly repeatable pictorial statements (Crawford, 1948).

The idea of photography existed long before the camera was invented. The human urge to produce pictures that amplified the faculty of memory by capturing time is at the theoretical base of photography. Artist and inventors have sought after ways to expedite the picture making process and ultimately concentrated on how to repeatedly capture an image directly formed by light since ancient times. Around the fifth century the Chinese philosopher Mo Ti discovered that light reflecting from an illuminated object and passing through a pinhole into a darkened area would form an exact, but inverted, image of that object, offering a prototype of the pinhole camera. By the 10th century the Arabian mathematician Alhazen demonstrated how the pinhole could be an instrument and that images formed through the aperture became sharper when the opening was made smaller.

Leonardo da Vinci noted in 1490 the earliest surviving description of the camera obscura (dark chamber), which was a device designed to reproduce linear perspective. This was a prototype of the photographic camera and essentially a large dark room in which an artist physically entered. Light would emit through a small hole in one of its four walls and produce a distinct but inverted image onto the opposite wall which could be traced. The camera obscura was popular with artist because it could automatically modify a scene by compressing form and emphasizing tonal mass according to pictorial standards (Hirsch, 2000). In 1589 it was discussed that the use of mirrors could theoretically reverse the image that was reflected backwards into the camera obscura which is now the basis for modern-day single lens-reflex camera. By the 17th century camera obscuras were in frequent use by artist and also made portable in the form of sedan chairs (Bellis, n.d.).

Early in the 18th century the rising commercial class longed to procure the status of being commemorated in much the same pictorial style as of the rich. Multiple inventors had commercial incentives to harness the camera to portrait making, as less training would decrease the costs of making a picture. Machine-based systems for multiple copy production were on the threshold of replacing the outdated handmade methods. One such machine was the physionotrace invented by Gilles Louis Chretien in 1786. This device combined two inexpensive methods of portraiture, the cutout silhouette and the engraving. The operator would trace a profile on a glass using a stylus connected to an engraving tool which duplicated the gestures of the stylus onto a copper plate at a smaller scale. Although it was not a camera, the physionotrace reduced portrait making to a systematic mechanical operation and inevitably expanded the portrait market to the middle class.

In regards to the actual process of photography it was in 1727 Professor J. Schulze surmised that by mixing chalk, nitric acid and silver into a flask images would begin to appear in the presence of sunlight. He noticed a darkening on the sides of the flask which were exposed to direct sunlight and purely by accident was the initial creation of the first photo-sensitive compound (Bellis, n.d.).The first to experiment with in the production of images was Thomas Wedgwood from 1800 to 1802 using white leather impregnated with silver nitrate. It was known at that time that most chemical compounds of silver darkened on exposure to light. Wedgwood was able to produce reversed impressions of objects but was unable to make his pictures permanent by removing the unused silver salts after exposure. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was the next experimenter and in 1816, even though he was able to produce reversed prints on this material and faint pictures on it in a camera obscura, he had little more success due to the paper eventually darkening. In 1822 he directed his attention to the problem of sensitizing metal plates. Niépce discovered that by coating a pewter plate with a varnish he could produce copies of engravings by placing them in contact with strong light and his coated plates and enabled him to etch his plates and them for printing. This process was later improved by his partner Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre who, after Niépce's death in 1833, established a workable process by exposure to the vapor of heated mercury.

"I have found a way of fixing the images of the camera! I have seized the fleeting light and imprisoned it! I have forced the sun to paint pictures for me!" These were the historical words of L. J. M. Daguerre spoken to Charles Chevalier at his Paris optical shop and reflect the driving desire to make permanent images through the action of light. (Hirsch, 2000, 10). Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, inventor of the first practical process of photography, was born near Paris, France on November 18, 1789. A professional scene painter for the opera, Daguerre began experimenting with the effects of light upon translucent paintings in the 1820s. In 1829, he formed a joint venture with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to improve the process Niépce had developed to take the first permanent photograph in 1826-1827.

After several years of experimentation, Daguerre developed a more convenient and effective method of photography, naming it after himself - the daguerreotype. In 1839, he and Niépce's son sold the rights for the daguerreotype to the French government and published a booklet describing the process. The invention was announced to the public on August 19, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris and his process was used widely in Europe and in the United States. Daguerre's daguerreotype process required long exposure time and made portraits virtually impossible until in 1840 John Goddard cut exposure time in half by treating the plates with bromine and iodine. With this innovation and the development of new lens designs, made possible the idea commercial portraiture. The daguerreotype process went out of use to the general public in the 1850s due to tight patent restrictions which affected application and eventually became obsolete by 1860 (Coe, 1978).

During this time an English scientist, William Henry Fox Talbot, independently devised a camera based imagining process in 1834 using the light sensitivity of silver salts. He invented the salted paper print which was a printing-out process that allowed him to make images without the use of a camera of botanical specimens engravings, pieces of lace, and even solar photomicrographs. By first coating sheets of ordinary writing paper with sodium chloride, letting them dry, and then recoating them with silver nitrate he formed silver chloride which was more highly sensitive to sunlight and reduced exposure time tremendously producing spontaneous images without chemical development. In 1841 Talbot accidentally discovered a process for negative development that he patent under the name calotype. In this process, an exposed sheet of iodized paper was transferred to a darkroom and brushed with gallic acid until a potent negative was developed. It was then that the negative was contact-printed onto unexposed, salted paper in sunlight to form a positive. This process formed the foundation for silver-based photographic systems still in use today.

The negative-positive principle of the calotype process designed by Talbot and the popular daguerreotype were both truly remarkable for their times but not without limitations. A new process evolved from both but without their limitations and would eventually take their place and was referred to as wet-plate photography. It was a photographer's axiom that paper negatives advantages were outweighed by their disadvantages with their resolution limited of fine detail. It was realized that if glass was used the problem would not exist but it simply was not absorbent to carry the coating of light sensitive salts. In 1839 Sir John Herschel was able to produce an image on glass by precipitating silver chloride onto a glass plate and was later perfected by Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor in 1847 by using egg white albumen coated on the glass providing a suitable medium for sensitive salts. A new material for development called collodion was discovered by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851 formed through dissolving a form of gun-cotton in ether. A glass plate was covered with collodion and plunged into silver nitrate and then the wet-plate was loaded into and exposed in a camera. Immediately after exposure the plate was developed, fixed and washed. The collodion negative could record fine detail and subtle tones and also had the advantage of being more highly sensitive than either the daguerreotype and calotype processes. In contrast the gelatin dry plate was first developed by Dr. Richard Leach Maddox who used gelatin instead of ether vapor of the wet collodion plate due to his poor health. It was later perfected by Charles Bennett in 1878 by reducing exposure times drastically, retaining their properties, being easily manufactured and very sensitive.

Pertaining to film and photo depth, one of the most popular photographic novelties which went on display at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 was the stereoscopic photograph. The mildly dissimilar vantage points provided by the eyes are combined in the brain to give an image in depth. If two photographs of a scene are taken from points of view separated by two about two inches, and are then viewed so that each eye receives only the image appropriated to it, the result is an apparently three-dimensional picture. This principle was first introduced by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1832 but was not until Sir David Brewster in 1849 introduced an improved device using lenses that the stereoscope became really practical (Coe, 1977).

Another important milestone in photography is that of the photography of action. The early photographic processes were all relatively insensitive. It was impossible at that time to record moving objects without producing a blur on the plate. Specially designed lenses were utilized by Thomas Skaife in his cameras to pass 200 times more light than conventional landscape lenses. Skaife's 'Pistolgraph' camera was introduced in 1856 and after adding the required lens and a shutter powered by a rubber band allowed permitted exposures sufficiently brief to stop the action of slowly moving subjects. Sir John Herschel's name is synonymous with the term 'snapshot' which describes an instantaneous photograph. But it was Eadweard Muybridge who pioneered the process of motion picture photography using gelatin dry plates in the 1880s and eventually led the likes of Professor Etienne Marey and Ottomar Anschutz to document true animals in action. These individuals were often referred to as chronophotographers (Rosenblum, 1997).

Around the mid 1890s public interest began to peak over the publication of the results of chronophotography. This brought about the demand for the development of hand held cameras to replace the traditional and larger stand cameras. Even though small hand held 'detective' cameras were in circulation they were quite awkward and still required multiple cumbersome pieces of hardware that were an inconvenience to everyone but the most enthusiastic of photographers. Even though the dry plate relieved photographers from making their own plates they still had to process and print them requiring knowledge and necessary skills for the dark room. This was answered by the American bank clerk George Eastman who invented the Kodak camera. Eastman felt that photography was too complicated and stated that; "It seems that one ought to be able to carry less than a pack horse load."(Coe, 1978, 13). Though there were some 'detective' cameras that were reasonably small most were bulky. He developed a rolling mechanism and combined it with lightweight sensitive material and decided to construct a camera that would be small and simple to use. In 1888 the first Kodak camera with a celluloid roll-film was developed.

Around the 1850s, photography was viewed by some as a new medium of communication and became hard to discern between art and industry. Eventually it became apparent that photography was considered a business with a widening division of purpose between amateurs and professionals. The latter were motivated by market forces to develop profitable products while the amateurs pursued their personal inclinations and claimed the moral high ground of art, beauty, truth, relegating the professionals to the corner of crass commercialism. Many of England's most notable photographers abandoned their amateur status and turned professional. During the 19th century realism became a force in the arts. Realism sought to counter the idealized subject matter of Romantic and Neoclassical painting with direct and frank views of everyday life. As the public became acquainted with photography's veracity and ability to give significance to everyday experiences, their expectations about how reality should be represented and what subjects were worthy of depiction changed. Ironically photographs became artistic when they looked less photographic by utilizing retouching methods to appear more like a painting. Paintings, on the other hand, were thought to be more artistic if they portrayed more photographic detail. This contradiction resulted in neither medium being valued for its own inherent qualities. (Hirsch, 2000).

The evolution of the camera has advanced beyond all expectations from the digital mega pixel masterpieces we have today to their most earliest ancestors, the camera obscura. Dating back to ancient times, the camera obscura consisted of a pinhole in a contained box. The pinhole would allow light to pass through and project an image on the adjacent wall thus allowing artist to trace the captured image as it appeared at that moment. Niépce, Wedgewood, Talbot are credited with the first portable camera obscuras but it was Daguerre who designed the first cameras to be commercially produced on any practical scale.

The folding box camera, T. Ottewill's folding camera, and portable "dark tent" cameras all gave way to user friendly handhelds such as the momentograph and detective cameras in 1886, the unusual photosphere with its bell-shaped body and hemispherical shutter, the American Tom Thumb camera in 1889, and the Key camera. These box-form cameras eventually became less popular after 1890 and were replaced with collapsing and folding strut cameras.

Kodak sold these forms of cameras in which glass plates or roll films could be used. For a brief time a type of camera was introduced to appear as anything but a camera. The first 'concealment' camera to receive any publicity was Thompson's Revolver camera in 1862 which resembled a pistol. Another was Marion's Parcel Detective camera of 1885 which was supplied in brown paper and tied with a string to appear as a normal parcel and Ross's Photo scope in 1892 mimicked binoculars. Kodak cameras are credited in 1885 with introducing the ingenuity and the marketing of film development roll-film designs. In 1908 still photography was made practical by Audobard and Baradat with 35-mm film due to its small size and handling convenience. The development of Kodachrome, the first multi-layered color film took place in 1936 as did the development of Exakta which pioneered 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. In 1963 Polaroid developed the first instant color film while Instamatic was released by Kodak. Also in this year Nikon released the first purpose-built underwater camera thus changing the way the world viewed oceanography. As the world approached the millennia major advances in the field of computer technology swept the many nations and major advances in film development also transpired in the field of photography. Computer programs such as Adobe Photoshop was released to the public in 1990 and changed the way photography was perceived by allowing users to edit their own pictures. In 1992 Kodak introduced PhotoCD which permitted users to store their pictures on compact disc. In light of this new technology and with the arrival of digital cameras Kodak ceased all production of film cameras. And most notably, the cutting edge technology most familiar to the public is that of camera phones. These multifunctional cameras hit the market from Japan in 2000 and are changing the field of photography and availability unlike anything seen before (Greenspun, 2007).

Through the course of time and painstaking trial and error, the expansive field of photography had grown immeasurably from the exclusive dreams of a handful of visionaries determined to rival the skilled painters and bring to the public what only was available to the wealthy at that time. Cameras and photography have transformed from an artful pastime into an essential way of life touching it in all aspects the public could have never envisioned nor can foresee what will be next in its future.

Through presenting the history of photography in this research it is paramount to stress the importance and necessary to understand the origins of photography and appreciate the many designs that the camera has undertaken since its birth. The field of photography would have undoubtedly fell short in practical use, technological discoveries, and the art community would most likely have suffered a tremendous amount without the inventors and innovations of its past. The advancements involved in photography's history are all but unparalleled in its ingenious technology and reigns as a true marvel for all inventions. Far though as foreign lands may be and alien that other cultures may seem, with a better appreciation of photography our world could be closer captured instantly in snapshot.

References

Bellis, M. Historyof Photography and the Camera. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from www.about.com

Web site: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blphotography.htm

Coe, B. (1977). TheBirth of Photography: The Story of the Formative Years 1800-1900. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.

Coe, B. (1978). Cameras: From Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures. New York: Crown Publishers.

Crawford, W. (1948). The Keepers of Light: A History and Working Guide to Early Photographic Processes. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Morgan and Morgan

Greenspun, P. (2007, January). History of Photography Timeline. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from

http://photo.net Web site: http://photo.net/history/timeline

Hirsch, R. (2000). Seizing the Light: A History of Photography. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Rosenblum, N. (1997). A World History of Photography. New York, NY: Abbeville Press.