Langford’s Basic Photography  Dedicated to Michael and P. Langford Langford’s Basic Photography Theguideforserious photographers Ninthedition MichaelLangfordFBIPP, HonFRPS Formerly Photography Course Director Royal College of Art, London AnnaFox Professor of Photography University for the Creative Arts, Farnham RichardSawdonSmith Reader in Photography Associate Dean Postgraduate University for the Creative Arts, Epsom & Farnham Contributors PeterRenn Senior Lecturer University for the Creative Arts, Farnham ChristianNolle Freelance Photographer and Designer AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, UK 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA First edition 1965 Second edition 1971; Third edition 1973 Fourth edition 1977; Fifth edition 1986; Sixth edition 1997 [Reprinted 1998 (twice), 1999]; Seventh edition 2000 Eighth edition 2007 Ninth edition 2010 Copyright © 2000 Michael Langford Copyright © 2010, 2008, Anna Fox and Richard Sawdon Smith. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The rights of Michael Langford, Anna Fox and Richard Sawdon Smith to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, farther information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangement with organisations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein) Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Control Number: 2010924052 ISBN: 978-0-240-52168-8 For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at focalpress.com Printed and bound in China 10 11 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Picture credits xii Foreword xiii Introduction xv Whatisphotography? 1 1 Why photography? 1 How photography works 3 Picture structuring 9 The roles photographs play 11 Changing attitudes towards photography 15 Personal styles and approaches 22 Measuring success 25 Summary 29 Projects 30 Light:howimagesareformed 31 2 Light itself 31 Wavelengths and colours 32 Shadows 33 When light reaches a surface 35 Light intensity and distance 39 Making light form images 40 Summary 45 Projects 46 Lenses:controllingtheimage 47 3 Photographic lenses 47 Aperture and f-numbers 50 Depth of field 52 How depth of field works 55 Depth of focus 58 Image stabilization 59 Lenses for digital cameras 59 Lens care 61 Summary 62 Projects 63 v CONTENTS Camerasusingfilm 64 4 The essential components 64 Camera types – which is best? 73 How view cameras work 76 How direct viewfinder cameras work 78 How reflex cameras work 83 Summary 90 Projects 91 Usingdifferentfocallengthlenses,camerakits 92 5 Why change focal length? 92 Lens kits 100 Close-up equipment 106 Essentials and extras 109 Right for the job 111 Summary 112 Projects 113 Digitalcameras 114 6 How are digital images captured? 114 File formats 122 Digital cameras 126 Summary 130 Projects 130 vi Langford’s Basic Photography  CONTENTS Lighting:principlesandequipment 131 7 Basic characteristics of lighting 131 Lighting equipment 140 Practical lighting problems 149 Special subjects 153 Summary 157 Projects 158 Organisingthepicture 159 8 Noticing subject features 159 Structuring pictures through the camera 175 Where photographs go 184 Summary 194 Projects 195 Films,filters 196 9 Silver halide emulsions 196 Features common to all films 199 Choosing films for black and white 206 Films for colour photography 209 Storing film – before and after exposure 214 So which film is ‘best’? 215 Filters – how they work 217 Filter kits 228 Summary 230 Projects 231 vii CONTENTS  Exposuremeasurement 232 10 Factors that determine what exposure to give 232 Exposing different film types 235 Measuring exposure (continuous light) 239 Practical exposure tips 250 Measuring exposure for flash 252 Practical flash exposure tips 258 Summary 262 Projects 263 Filmprocessing 264 11 Equipment and general preparations 264 Processing black and white (silver image) negatives 273 Processing chromogenic (colour and black and white) negatives 278 Processing colour slides and transparencies 281 Processing other film materials 283 Processing by machine 284 Permanence of processed results 285 Summary 287 Projects 288 Blackandwhiteprinting:facilitiesandequipment 289 12 Darkroom organisation 289 Equipment: the enlarger 292 Printing papers 299 Safelighting and printing paper sensitivity 305 Processing procedure 306 Summary 312 Projects 313 viii  CONTENTS Blackandwhiteprinting:techniques 314 13 Making contact prints 314 ‘Straight’ enlarging 317 Controls during enlarging 319 Variations 323 Common print faults 330 Chemical afterwork 330 Toning 332 Tinting 334 Retouching 335 Permanence and archiving 336 Summary 339 Projects 340 Thedigitalimage:post-production 341 14 Overview 342 Hardware 342 Software 345 Organising your work 345 Saving your digital file 348 Basic editing 350 Advanced editing 359 Summary 378 Projects 379 Finishingandpresentingwork 380 15 The permanence of prints 380 Mounting methods and framing 381 Spotting 384 Getting your work noticed 385 Pictures on the World Wide Web 390 Building your own site 390 How to get connected 393 Summary 394 Projects 395 ix CONTENTS Appendices 396 Appendix A: Optical calculations 396 Appendix B: Camera movements 397 Appendix C: Expressing film response 405 Appendix D: Chemical formulae 409 Appendix E: Health and safety concerns 414 Appendix F: Digital notebook 415 Appendix G: Photography timeline 417 Glossary 429 Index 457 x he first edition of this book, in 1965, was Michael Langford’s first published title. In its ninth edition Anna Fox and Richard Sawdon Smith have brought his coverage of Tphotography right up to date with contributions from Peter Renn and Christian Nolle. This is a classic text and every photographer’s bible. Much of Michael’s original text remains and the spirit of the new texts ensure that his influence lives on, providing guidance to everyone who shares a great passion for photography and wants to learn more. xi Picturecredits Cover image: Shiho Kito. Picture research: Natasha Caruana Figure 1.2 Vic Muniz. Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. 1.7 Brian Griffin. 1.8 Gareth McConnell. 1.9 Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos. 1.10 © 1984 The estate of Gary Winogrand, Courtesy Fraenkl Gallery, San Francisco. 1.11 Joel Meyerowitz. 1.12 Christopher Stewart. 1.13 Joan Fontcuberta. 1.14 Sir Francis Galton, UCL (University College London), Special Collections. 1.15 Jason Evans. 1.16, 13.16, 13.17, 13.18, 13.19, 13.20, 13.21, 13.23, 13.27, 13.28 Richard Sawdon Smith. 1.18 Eadweard Muybridge. Gift of the Sid and Diana Avery Trust. 1.19 Robert Demachy. 1.24 Stephen Dalton (DHPA). 1.28 Uta Barth. Courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. New York; and ACME, Los Angeles. 1.29 Hiroshi Sugimoto. 2.1 Science & Technology Picture Library. 2.10(a), 3.7, 3.15, 3.19, 4.11, 5.2, 5.6, 5.8, 5.9, 5.11, 5.16, 5.18(bottom), 5.20, 7.4, 7.7, 9.25, 9.27, 9.34, 9.36, 11.1, 11.5, 12.20 Peter Renn. 5.7 Walker Evans. 6.4, 8.6, 8.29, 14.34, 14.20, 14.29, 14.30, 14.21, 14.41, 14.35, 14.25b, 15.8, 15.9 Christian Nolle. 7.21 Robert Freson, Sunday Times Magazine. 8.1 Elliott Erwitt Magnum. 8.2, 8.7, 8.8, 8.27 Library of Congress. 8.3, 8.15, 8.25, 8.30, 8.37, 15.7(d) Anna Fox. 8.4 Mark Bolland. 3.12, 8.5(b), 8.35, 15.7(b) Natasha Caruana. 8.9 Paul Seawright. 8.10 Edward Weston ©1981 Arizona Board of Regents. 8.11 Bill Brandt © Bill Brandt Archive Ltd at www.billbrandt.com. 8.13 Susan Lipper. 8.14 Martin Parr/Magnum Photos. 8.16 Hunter Kennedy. Shot after a full day of rain at the end of October. Canon equipment, Fuji Film. 8.17, 8.36 Roger Bool. 8.20 Pierre Stoffel. 8.21 Bruce Gilden/ Magnum Photos. 8.22 Daniel Meadows from the exhibition ‘The Free Photographic Omnibus, National Portraits: Now & Then’. 8.32 Collections/Fay Godwin. 8.28 Anthony Haughey. 8.31 Paul Reas from the book I Can Help published by Cornerhouse Publications. 8.38(a), 8.40 Jason Evans.