Film, Digital Camera and Lighting

Most film is optimized for shooting photos outdoors: This is called daylight filming.

The sensitivity that film has to light is defined using an ISO (International standards Organization) number on the box is referred to as the film’s speed.

A film with greater sensitivity to light is referred to as faster film, the greater the light sensitivity, the faster the film.

Fast film allows the photographer to shoot photos under low-light conditions without using a flash as demonstrated by the photo shown in Figure 1-2.

Common film speeds includes ISO 25, ISO 50, ISO 64, ISO 100, ISO 160, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200.

Consumer films are usually ISO 100- 800.

ISO 25 films are very “slow”, so it requires much more exposure to produce a usable image than ISO 800 film.

Films of ISO 800 and greater (fast films) are thus better suited to low light situations and action shots.

The benefit of slower film is that it usually has finer grain and better color rendition than fast film.

Professional photographers usually seek this quality therefore require a tripod to stabilize the camera for a longer exposure.

Grain size refers to the size of silver crystals in the emulsion. The smaller the crystals, the finer the detail in the photo.

Digital Versus Film Quality Issues.

The quality of all but the most inexpensive digital cameras produces great photos.

Use the creative advantage of taking multiple shots.

The most important two are feedback (you can see the picture immediately after you take a digital photo) and photo capacity (which is practically unlimited with digital).

More photos is better. These professionals achieve their results by trying to capture as many different views of their subjects as they can. They know that even small change in the viewing angle, or the position of the subject, or the angle of the lighting can make a dramatic difference in the resulting photo.