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Many people are very ignorant about a 'process', all they usually know is that they get what they want, ie. the 'product'. These days, cameras are so simple that any 'idiot' can take photographs! (sorry for the crude word but basically an 'idiot' simply means 'stupid'). Have you heard of the word 'idiot proof' camera? Now you understand what it means?

I'm not against the idea of having 'intelligent cameras'. Well technology has done lots of good to us, human beings. But I believe that we should not take for granted the 'basics' of things in life.

Getting back to photography, let's talk about the very basics of photography, how it started.

“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.

Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham), a great authority on optics in the Middle Ages and lived around 1000 on the Gregorian calendar, invented the pinhole camera, and explained why the image was upside down. Around 1600, Della Porta reinvented the pinhole camera. Apparently he was the first European to publish any information on the pinhole camera and is sometimes incorrectly credited with its invention.

Having understood briefly the history of photography, let's talk about the technical aspect, again very basic!

Diagram 1

Diagram 1 on your left shows a simple invention by Alhazen, called the Pin Hole Camera. This is the very basis of photography.

Observe that the image that is produced is always upside down and it may not be sharp. The sharpness depends on a few factors like the size of the pin hole (APERTURE), the distance of the object and the brightness of the object. (refer Diagram 2)

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

Now, look at diagram 3. A Lens has been added between the pin hole (APERTURE) and the object. Now the image appears sharper.

So, in any camera you will find the following parts:

LENS - To help to focus and hence make the image sharp
APERTURE - A hole which can be adjusted in size to control the amount of light that enters
SHUTTER - A curtain which opens and closes when taking a photograph. The shutter speed can be controlled to again control the amount of light that enters.

Now you understand how a camera works, it is time to understand the different types of cameras. There many different brands in the market today but they could be of the same type of camera. So, which type are you using?

The is the ViewFinder Family of cameras. Recognise that your eye view and camera view is different. And hence caused the parallax error. The following cameras fallunder this family:

This is the simplest and probably the cheapest kind of camera that you can find in the market. Have you seen those cameras that do not ask you to adjust anything except, switch on the flash if you think it is dark? Or the disposable camera where it looks like a box and then once you are done, send the whole thing back to the shop? Well these are all fixed focus cameras. As the name implies, it's focus area is already fixed. You can never get a good photograph from such a camera unless you have a very good lighting condition.

You may ask, how does it keep the photo sharp ? Well, like the old pin-hole camera, it can only do a certain range. It has an aperture that will help to produce a good Depth-Of-Field (DOF) and hence the area of sharpness is wider.

This is another camera which I think hardly exists these days. Basically a rangefinder camera requires you to set the distance of your object from the camera. By doing this, you basically 'focus'. This is slightly better than the fixed focus since you have some control. But the bad thing is that if you judge the distance very wrongly, your photograph is going to be blur or out of focus. Both the Range Finder & the Fixed Focus, what you see via your viewfinder is not what you will actually get. The diagram below will help you understand better!

The Autofocus Camera is also a viewfinder camera, what you see could be slightly different from your results since you are looking thru a viewfinder and not thru the lens. As it is called, the focusing is done automatically. This means that the lens adjust itself based on the distance between the nearest object and the camera. Basically, an infra-red signal is sent out and reflected back to the camera and hence it calculates the distance and then focus. A very simple camera, another, I will term it an idiot-proof camera, you cannot really go wrong. These cameras nowadays are small, especially since digital photography came about. The size of the camera do not need to correspond to the film size anymore. However, other factors may take a dip when it becomes too small.

With a view camera light comes directly from the subject through the main lens and is viewed via a focusing screen at the back of the camera. The lens reverses the image so it appears upside down, otherwise it is identical to what will appear on the film. Before a picture is taken the viewing screens is replaced by a film holder.

Twin lens reflex as it's name implies, it has two lenses, one for viewing and one for photograph. Similar to the rangefinder, the parallax error will occur.

This is every photography hobbyist dream, it is the best camera for amateurs and professionals. As it's name implies, it uses a single lens to reflect the image to your viewfinder and that same lens is also used to capture the image. See diagram above.

This means that what you see is what you will get. And all SLR cameras have the option of changing lenses and other stuff that you will come to know later on.

The SLR is for the serious photographer. Having an SLR means an extra burden when you go for your trips or outings. Is it worth to be burdened by all the heavy stuff? The end results is your satisfaction and pride!

The SLR allows you almost full control (depending on your camera model), you are the master of your camera, you are also the artist of your photograph!

In the next segment, I will share with you more tips as I go for a photography outing with a friend.

In the meantime, if you want to know more about photography, you can check out this website, it is very imformative. The website is called 'Ted's Photgraphics' and can be found at http://www.ted.photographer.org.uk

I thought this photograph is interesting. The object is centralised and sharp while the background and foreground is blurred. Again here there is a shallow Depth of Field (DOF) simply to concentrate on the subject. Maybe it would be even better if the DOF can be shallower. The fresh bananas in the foreground gives one the impression that the fried stuff is made of bananas and the 'wok' behind shows that it's freshly fried.