In the American society today, almost everyone has a camera. Whether it be an old film camera required to be developed, or a high end professional camera that could easily be imported to any computer in seconds. Almost everywhere you go there is someone with a camera shooting pictures from left to right. The Zoo, Sea World, and the Mall, are all places where you can pay a small fee to have your picture taken and framed. Not too long ago having a camera was a luxury. A decent camera for the average person was a disposable camera. Now we have cameras at the palm of our hands, built into our phones and computers and even on keychains!
In about 1820, a French nobleman, Niepce managed to retain a silver-based image on a pewter plate. His work was further developed by the inventor and artist, Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, who succeeded in 1837 in creating a chemical process, which could fix the image so that it became stable and could be preserved for the future. And so, photography was invented.
The digital camera was invented through a prototype form by Kodak in 1975. Space exploration in the 1960's first brought digital images in the spotlight of the conventional analog signal based pictures. Also digital cameras and television cameras essentially use similar technologies, one based on a charged couple device. The digital camera was introduced in the market on a commercial scale compatible with PC's in 1994. The apple-quick take 100 camera followed by the kodak DC40 camera in 1995.
F-stop and aperture are by far the most confusing and most complicated aspects to exposure control and composition. The F-stop is the ratio of the focal length to the aperture. Focal length is the distance from your cameras sensor to the focusing element in your lens and aperture is the size of the hole that allows light to come in. This can create either a lighter photo or a darker photos.
The aperture diaphragm of a lens (bigger and smaller values) and timing (open and close) of the cameras shutter curtain - Both perform the tasks of regulating the amount of light entering the camera and expose onto the film. The shutter speed scales engraved on the shutter speed dial of conventional camera bodies with a shutter speed ring or through some flickering digital numbers on the LCD screen. These numbers are essentially indicators of the duration (timing) at which the shutter curtain opens up and closes during an exposure process. The shutter opens up to absorb all of the available light source onto the film, creating an exposure.
A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light in an area. In photography, a light meter is often used to determine the proper exposure for a photograph. Typically a light meter will include a computer, either digital or analogue. Which allows the photographer to determine which shutter speed and f-number should be selected for an optimum exposure, given a certain situation and film speed. Light meters are also used in the fields of cinematography and scenic design. In order to determine the optimum light level for a scene. They are used in the general field of lighting, where they can help to reduce the amount of wasted light in the home, light pollution outdoors, and plant growing to ensure proper light levels.
