Photography Course

LESSON 1

Light is he primary working tool of the photographer. Light is the visible portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The spectrum (see colored bar above) starts from violet (left), the weakest of rays, all
the way to red which is the strongest of rays. (Which is why it is easy to get those
pretty sunsets!)

Light rays from the sun are considered white and they contain all the colors of the spectrum. Black is the absence of any color.

When we place a prism in front of a white ray, the prism will diffract (separate) that light into
all the colors of the spectrum. Stop for a minute and watch this:

When we place a LENS in front of any ray, that lens will simply refract (bend) that ray.

So, being in focus simply means moving the lens
elements forward and backward until all the rays coming toward the camera from the subject
meet at one point: The “focal point” on the film. In the
illustration above you will see a point where the rays meet …… that is also called the
film plane. At that point all light rays of the subject must meet to accomplish
sharp, focused pictures.

Flip this page to learn a bit more about LIGHT