Most Important Tools in Photography

When the term photography is used, people tend to think first of pictures processed at the corner drugstore, school pictures, or perhaps a family portrait. This kind of photography is called “continuous-tone photography” and is an important part of the world. However, the applications of photography are much more far reaching than continuous-tone photography.

The basis of photography is a chemical change caused by the action of light on a light-sensitive material. It is generally agreed that visible light is electromagnetic radiation measured in wavelengths emitted from either a natural source (the sun) or an artificial source (an electric bulb). When radiation strikes an object, it is either absorbed or reflected. It is the reflected radiation that causes a chemical change on a piece of film.

In order to start shooting images in photography, one must first have a complete set of equipment. To know more about the available equipment, here is a list that you have to use in order to get that best shot:

1. Camera
It is a light-tight box that holds the film. It is a means to focus an image on the film. It is also the device that will control the amount of light that reaches the film.

Cameras come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, but they all have the same characteristics and controls. It has lens, which is an opening through which to pass and aim the light.

2. Film
All photographic films use some type of light-sensitive material called an emulsion to record a visual image. The characteristics of the light-sensitive emulsion as well as the quantity and quality of light reaching that emulsion will determine the sort of visual image recorded on a piece of film.

Most film emulsions are formed from a silver halide suspended in a gelatin compound and silver chloride are less common and are almost always used in combination with silver bromide to produce different film characteristics.

Whatever their chemical differences, all films are structured in the same general manner.

3. Lens
Lens comes in all sizes, depending on the size of the camera. However, an f/stop number will always pass the same quantity of light on any size camera lens.

In photography, it is necessary to be able to move the lens so the reflected light from the object will be sharp and clear on the film — this is called focusing. If the image is not in focus, a blurred picture will be produced.

These are just some of the many types of equipment necessary in photography, but these three are the most important in order to produce a good shot.

Posted in: Photography Equipment