الفصل الأول ، ماهي الكاميرا .. كتاب فن التصوير الفوتوغرافي

introduction

Photographic art has developed greatly since it emerged in the late eighteenth century until now. Despite this, it is still somewhat lagging behind in the Arab world, despite the availability of the necessary equipment and means in the Arab arena. This book fills some of the shortcomings in our Arabic library of books that talk about this great art. There are few books that dealt with the art of photography with serious and objective talk to serve the amateurs whose number is constantly increasing. It serves as a simple, general and comprehensive reference for all photography topics and techniques. A little bit of information, as the professional finds in it some new information that he may not be aware of.

I have intended to put the English terms related to photography, along with their Arabic translation, wherever they appear in the chapters of the book, to increase the benefit of it and to serve as a reference for the amateur if he wants to read foreign photography books or wants to buy some photographic accessories, some of which are known by their foreign names only in photography stores.

Finally, I am not exaggerating if I say that this is the first comprehensive book published by photography in our beloved country, Syria, and it talks about this art seriously and constructively, and other books will follow it, God willing.

Translator Muhammad Tarif Pharaoh

Chapter one

What is the camera

In order for a craftsman to be skilled in his craft, he must be well acquainted with the function of all his tools. Being an amateur photographer makes it necessary for you to know the work of your camera, just as it is necessary for a craftsman to know the work of his tools. It is also necessary for you to understand the work of all your photographic equipment in order to become a successful photographer, and this is what we aspire to through this book.

Even if you own a cartridge film camera, you must learn how to use it properly, and you would be surprised if you knew the large number of people who make mistakes in photography even with this simple camera. Understanding: They often exaggerate in getting close to the subject or use the flash for far distances beyond its range. Some of them even make funny mistakes like forgetting to put the lens cap on when shooting. All these mistakes happen because they think they understand their cameras well.

Whatever type of camera you own, you must be well trained in all its functions so as not to be surprised by disappointing images. And when you become fully aware of all its functions, your focus will be on the most important part of the capture process - which is the subject - and thus you will get successful pictures. Even flash events that happen unexpectedly will be captured automatically and without hesitation

How can a sports photographer photograph sudden events such as a cavalry falling off his horse or a speeding racing car crash if he does not have a quick response to events and good training that enables him to do so. One of us will stand motionless when seeing such events, and when he wakes up from his astonishment and starts filming, he will have missed the event and lost that exciting shot.

This is the difference between us and the photographer who knows exactly how his camera works. Your hobby will become more fun when you know exactly how to use this small black box in your hands.

Yes, the camera is in fact an airtight box with a hole on which a certain mechanism is fixed to allow only a certain amount of light to pass through the hole. This mechanism is similar to a door in its opening and closing, and it is called “the shutter”. When the shutter is opened, light reflecting off the subject enters through the aperture and falls on a light-sensitive layer called film. The film is exposed to light, and an image is formed that is not visible at this stage, but becomes visible during the endorsement stage

The shutter in early photography was very similar to a lens hood. The films were so insensitive that they required several minutes to be exposed. The photographer had to constantly warn his subjects to remain motionless for the duration of the exposure

The means have evolved since that time, and the capture process now takes parts of a second only, and even the most moving subject can appear motionless on film at the present time.

There are three types of shutters in modern cameras now. In simple types, the shutter is a single metal plate placed completely behind the lens. It has low speeds, but it has good capabilities. In the more advanced cameras, one of the following two types is used: 1 - A thin metal plate or a shutter between the lenses. 2 - Focal plane shutter. The first shutter consists of a group of thin metal plates superimposed on top of each other in a circular manner and placed inside the lens cylinder itself, i.e. between its elements. It is characterized by its high accuracy. Its maximum speed is usually 1/500th of a second for this shutter

As for the focal plane shutter, it is usually directly in front of the film and is provided with cameras that can change their lenses, so that we do not need to buy a new shutter with every lens we buy. Apart from the different types of shutters that appeared in the market, all of them are made of chemically treated hemp. And all of them work like a window curtain - only horizontally - and on the curtain there is an adjustable slit that passes in front of the film when the shutter button is pressed, so the film is exposed to light. The width of the slit is determined by the shutter speed used. A slower shutter speed requires a larger slit width, and vice versa.

Metal and the type of shutters that appeared recently resembles a guillotine, as it is made of metal and opens vertically, but it is similar to its cloth brother in other functions.