1, PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is both the art and science of using light to create a permanent
image record, either digitally through a chip or through a chemical process
through a light-sensitive material such as film. Light that is emitted or
reflected by objects is usually focused by the lens it passes through during
exposure and then hits the light-sensitive surface inside the camera to form
the actual image.

In the case of digital chips, an electric charge is generated in individual pixels.

The obtained signal is then converted into digital data and stored as a digital
file for later display or processing. In the case of a process using a
photographic emulsion, on the other hand, the result is an invisible latent
image and only by its chemical development does the image produce a visible
image. Whether it is a negative or a positive depends on the purpose of the
photographic material and the method of processing. Film negative is
traditionally used for printing, i.e. to create a positive image on paper with the
help of an enlarger or contact copy.

Photography is used in many areas of science, production (e.g.

photolithography) and business. It finds more direct use in art, film and video
production, as well as in the areas of recreation and mass communication.

1.1. Definition
Photography is one of the communication systems of human content
behaviour. The systems differ from each other by a minimal expressive
element. The expressive element of the photograph is a transformed and fixed
scattering ring, which is an image of a visual point of reality projected onto a
sensitive layer by the camera's optical system.

The scientific definition makes it possible to distinguish systems similar to the

surface, but operating on the basis of other principles, such as holography,
photogram, structage and focalk, etc.
 1.2. Etymology
The word "photograph" comes from two Greek words: ????? (f?tos), "light" and
????? (graphé), "drawing by lines" or "drawing". Together, these words mean
"drawing with light."

It is possible that the new term from these two words was created by several
people independently of each other. Hercules Florence, a French painter and
inventor living in the Brazilian city of Campinas, used the French term
"photographie" in his personal notes as early as 1834, according to historian
Boris Kossoj. The German book Geschichte der Photographie from 1932
attributes the use of the term to the Berlin astronomer Johann von Mädler in
an article published on March 14, 1839 in the German newspaper Vossische
Zeitung. Although both of these claims are widely reported, no independent
party has yet confirmed their veracity. Credit for creating the word
"photography" (or its English form, "photography") and making the public
aware of this word is traditionally attributed to John Herschel. Herschel had
used the neoplasm in correspondence before 25 February 1839 and publicly
on 14 March 1839 in his London lecture to the Royal Society. In both cases,
Herschl's use of the word "photograph" is so well documented that it is
accepted without further criticism or questioning.

1.3. History of photography

1.1.1. Predecessors of photography
Photography was created thanks to the combination of several technical
discoveries, some of which have their origins long before the first
photographs. Already in ancient China, Mocius, a member of the monistic
school of philosophy, discovered and began to develop the scientific principles
of optics and the camera obscura. "Camera obscura" in Latin literally means
"darkroom" – it is an object with an opening allowing light to pass through,
creating an inverted image on the side facing the opening. In the 5th and 4th
centuries BC its principle was described by Aristotle and Euclid, and in the
6th century AD it was used by the Byzantine mathematician Anthemius of
Trall for his own experiments. The camera obscura was later created by the
Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (1031-1095), who in his book Mengxi Bitan deals
with both its description and optical physics, and the Arab physicist Alhazen
(965-1040), whose methods described in the book The Great Optics may lead,
using medieval materials, to the emergence of primitive photographs. The
discovery of silver nitrate by Albert the Great (1193-1280) and silver chloride
by George Fabricius (1516-1571) was also important for photography. At the
same time as Fabricius, namely in 1566, Daniele Barbaro described the
aperture, and a century later, in 1694, Wilhelm Homberg described the way
light darkens some chemicals. However, the consideration of photography was
not limited to scientific research. The principle of photography was also
described in the fictional novel Tiphaigne de la Roche Giphanie, which was
published in 1760.

Since the discovery of the camera obscura dates back to ancient China, it is
not surprising that it found its place centuries later in Renaissance Europe.
Camera obscura was used by Renaissance painters and the color rendering,
which is dominant in Western art, is based on this technique. Leonardo da
Vinci also mentions the camera obscura, specifically its natural form in the
form of dark caves on the edge of a sunny valley. A hole in the wall allows the
cave to function on the same principle as the camera obscura, and the passing
light creates an inverted image on the side opposite the opening. The
beginnings of photography were mainly devoted to inventing ways to capture
and preserve this image.

1.1.2. The invention of photography

The first known attempt to capture an image on light-sensitive material using
a camera obscura was made by the British inventor Thomas Wedgwood
around 1800. He tried to do this using paper or leather impregnated with
silver nitrate. Although he managed to capture the silhouettes of objects
placed in direct sunlight, and even managed to capture the outlines of
paintings on sunlit glass, it was reported in 1802 that "the images created by
means of the camera obscura are too faint to have an effect on silver nitrates
in a reasonable time." The images of silhouettes completely darkened over
time.

The first known photograph was taken in 1822 by the French inventor
Nicéphore Niépce, but it was destroyed in attempts to make a print. Niépce
was successful again in 1825 when he made a heliographic copy of an
engraving of a boy leading a horse, which was discovered in 2002 and is now
considered the oldest surviving photograph. However, his photograph View
from the Window in Le Gras, which was taken in 1826, is better known. This is
the oldest surviving camera image of the outdoor landscape, and Niépce used
a tin plate covered with kerosene solution to create it, with an exposure time
of eight hours on a sunny day. This lengthy process proved to be a dead end,
and Niépce began experimenting with silver compounds, drawing on the
findings of Johann Heinrich Schultz, who found that a mixture of chalk and
silver darkens when illuminated.

Niépce and artist Louis Daguerre jointly perfected an existing silver-based

process. In 1833 Niépce died and left his notes to Daguerre. Although he did
not have much experience in science, he made two key discoveries. He found
that if he first exposed the silver to iodine vapor, then exposed the image, and
finally let it be subjected to mercury vapors, it would get a visible and volatile
image. This can then be fixed by immersing the plate in a salt bath. Unlike
many hours of exposures, minutes were enough for this new procedure. As a
result, Daguerre became the first photographer to be shown to have taken a
picture of a man. This happened in 1838, when he photographed the streets of
Paris. On a busy boulevard, among pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages,
stands a pedestrian who has his shoes polished. While other people are not
visible at all during such a long exposure time because they have been
moving, this person stood motionless enough to be the only one in the picture
of the seemingly deserted street. In 1839, Daguerre announced that he had
discovered a process using a silver-plated copper plate, and called it the
daguerreotype. A similar process is still used today by Polaroid cameras. The
French government bought the patent and immediately made it public
domain.

The work of the British chemist John Herschel, who was the first to use the
terms "photography", "negative" and "positive", also made a significant
contribution to the new field. Herschel invented cyanotype, later known as
blueprint. In 1819 he discovered that sodium thiosulfate was a solvent for
silver halides, and in 1839 he reported to William Fox Talbot (and, indirectly,
Daguerre) that this could be used to stabilize photographs based on silver
halides and make them completely light-resistant. At the end of 1839 he also
made his first negative on a glass photographic plate.

William Fox Talbot discovered a way to stabilize the image obtained with the
silver exposure, but kept it secret. After reading about Daguerre's invention,
Talbot perfected his process to be fast and sensitive enough to scan people,
and in 1840 announced the invention of the calotype. He coated sheets of
paper with a layer of silver chloride to create an immediate negative image
that can be used to create any number of copies, similar to today's common
negative process. Known is Talbot's small paper negative of the bay window at
Lacock Abbey, which figures in one of the many photographs taken by Talbot
in the summer of 1835, and is possibly the oldest existing photographic
negative. Talbot patented the process, greatly limiting its use. For the rest of
his life, he defended his patent in court and eventually quit working in the
field of photography. Later, however, the Talbot process was perfected by
George Eastman and is still used today. Hippolyte Bayard also developed a
way to take photographs, but he is not counted among the discoverers of
photography because he was too late in announcing the invention.

In March 1851, Frederick Scott Archer published an article in The Chemist

magazine about the wet collodion process. There are three subgroups of the
collodion process: ambrotype (positive on glass), ferrotype (positive on sheet
plate) and pannotype (negative on glass), and until the advent of dry gelatin
film in the 70s of the 19th century, Archer's plate was the most widely used
photographic medium. It was used, among others, by the writer Lewis Carroll,
who for some time devoted himself to photography quite intensively.

Throughout the rest of the 19th century, a number of advances were made in
photographic glass plates and printing. In 1891, Gabriel Lippmann introduced
a process for producing photographs in natural colors, which was based on
the optical phenomenon of interference of light waves. His invention was not
practical, but it was so elegant and important from a scientific point of view
that Lippman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1908.

Since the 50s of the 19th century, glass photographic plates were the most
widely used medium in photography and remained so until the 90s of the 19th
century, when flexible plastic film began to be used. The film had a number of
advantages and greatly helped to popularize amateur photography. However,
the first films were quite expensive, and at the same time their optical quality
was noticeably lower compared to glass plates. Until about 1910, plastic films
were not even available in the large formats preferred by most professionals.
Thus, the film did not replace glass plates overnight. Thanks to the better
permanence (ability to preserve dimensions) of glass, glass plates were used
for scientific purposes, for example in astrophotography, still in the 90s of the
20th century and in the narrowly specialized field of laser holography they
retained their place even after 2010.

1.1.3. Photo on film

In 1876, Ferdinand Hurter and Vero Charles Driffield began pioneering work
in the field of photographic emulsions and their sensitivity to light. The work
of Hurter and Driffield made it possible to design the first quantitative
measurement of film sensitivity.

In 1884, George Eastman produced the first photographic film, relieving

photographers of the need to carry heavy glass photographic plates and toxic
chemicals. This first film was paper and coated with a sensitive layer that
separated from the paper during image processing and transferred to dry
gelatin plates. In 1888, Eastman's company, Kodak, introduced the first film
camera, and a year later the first plastic film made of highly flammable
cellulose nitrate was created.

It was precisely because of its flammability that acetate cellulose film was
introduced by Kodak in 1908. Initially, it found only limited use as a substitute
for the dangerous nitrate film, which was more durable, translucent and
cheaper. In the case of X-ray films, a complete transition to acetate cellulose
film did not occur until 1933, and although acetatecellulose film was always
used for 16mm and 8mm amateur films, nitrate film remained the standard for
35mm film until production ceased in 1951. Perhaps the best-known
representative of cameras using 35mm film was Leica, first introduced to the
market in 1925.

Films remained dominant in the world of photography until the beginning of

the 21st century, when advances in digital photography led consumers to
move away from film. Although in modern photography the majority are
proponents of digital techniques, the film is still used by both enthusiasts and
professional photographers. The unique appearance of movie photos
compared to digital photos is likely due to a combination of factors, including
differences in spectral and tonal sensitivity, resolution, and color gradient.

1.1.4. Monochrome and black and white photography

All photos were initially monochrome, with the monochrome effect not limited
to white, black, and transient grays, but may also include shades of one
particular color, depending on the process. For example, cyanotype results in
an image rendered in blue hues, and albumen printing, which was first used
more than 160 years ago, is characterized by shades of brown. Black and
white photography remained dominant even after color film had been readily
available for decades because it was cheaper and had an appearance that was
characteristic of photography.
Although color photography has been prevalent for many years, many
photographers still create monochrome images at least sometimes. The reason
may be proven stability in the case of archiving properly processed materials
based on silver halides or artistic intent. Even color digital images can be
processed into black and white with the help of various techniques.
Sometimes monochrome printing or electronic display in monochrome form is
used to save color photos that are for some reason unacceptable in their
original form. After conversion to a monochrome image, they can sometimes
be considered better. Almost all digital cameras offer monochrome
photography, and almost all photo-editing software allows you to combine or
selectively remove the RGB color model to create monochrome images from
originally color photos. Some manufacturers even sell digital cameras that
only shoot monochrome.

1.1.5. Colour photography

The introduction of color photography was hampered by the limited sensitivity
of early photographic materials, which were particularly sensitive to blue,
little to green, and virtually completely insensitive to red.

The physical principle of color photography was first demonstrated by James

Clerk Maxwell in London on May 17, 1861. He simultaneously projected onto
the screen three black-and-white images of a color ribbon of magnitude
through red, green, and blue filters, which had previously been exposed
through filters of the same colors. He demonstrated the principle of additive
color mixing. In reality, however, the exposed photosensitive emulsion used
was insensitive to the red color. Instead of red, the invisible ultraviolet part of
the spectrum was exposed to the eye through a red filter. In practice,
however, this technique was useless due to its complexity.

James Maxwell's research was followed by Louis Ducos du Hauron. From 1862
he worked for several years on a practical way of recording color photographs
using two color systems: subtractive (yellow, cyan, magenta) and additive
(red, green, blue). In 1868 he patented these methods. He illuminated the
silver bromide collodion plate with process filters and made slides colored red,
blue and yellow. The three parts then had to be laid exactly on top of each
other in order to obtain the final photograph. However, due to the high cost of
this method, it was not used much in practice. One of the first color
photographs is the Landscape of Southern France, which was taken using the
subtractive method in 1877. At the same time as Hauron, Charles Cros
discovered a similar system, which later became his collaborator.
Also important was the discovery of photographer and chemist Hermann
Vogel, who in 1873 came up with a way to increase the sensitivity of green,
yellow, and even red by adding a dye. Advances in sensitivities as well as
overall sensitivity solutions gradually reduced exposure times that used to be
too long for color photography and slowly made it viable on the market.

In 1888, F. E. Ives developed a three-colour photograph, which was followed

by the German Adolf Miethe, who invented panchromatic sensitisation for the
reproduction of colour tones.

The first commercially successful color process was autochrome, introduced

by the Lumière brothers in 1907. The autochrome plates contained a filter
consisting of a colored mosaic of dry grains of potato starch. The three colour
components were thus captured as microscopic particles of the image as the
light passed. After processing the autochrome plate into positives, the starch
grains gave each particle the correct color.

The first modern inverse film, Kodachrome, was introduced in 1935. Using a
multi-layer emulsion, Kodachrome captured all three color components. One
layer was sensitive to the recording of the red spectrum, the other to the
recording of the green spectrum, and the last to the recording of the blue
spectrum. Without special processing, however, the result would have been
three stacked black and white images. Only a complex procedure in a
specialized laboratory produces a color image.

In 1936, Agfa introduced a somewhat similar film – Agfacolor Neu. Unlike

Kodachrome, Agfacolor Neu's colorformers were incorporated into the layers
during production, which greatly facilitated image processing. The color films
currently available still use a multi-layer emulsion and principles that most
closely resemble Agfa products.

In 1963, Polaroid introduced instant color film, which, when used in a special
camera, produced unique printed color images just a minute or two after
exposure.

Color photography can produce slides that can be projected through a slide
projector or color negatives from which positive color enlargements can be
made onto paper. Thanks to automated photo printing equipment, printing on
paper is now the most common form of color photography on film. After a
transitional period dating approximately 1995 – By 2005, color film was
pushed to the edge of the market by cheap multi-pixel digital cameras.
Nevertheless, some photographers continue to prefer film for its distinctive
look.
 1.1.6. The invention of digital photography
In 1969, George Elwood Smith and Willard Boyle invented CCD sensors, and
the following year they built CCD into the camera. However, it was not until
1981 that Sony produced the first camera, the Sony Mavica, which recorded
images on CCD electronic elements instead of chemically based film. Its
analog outputs were written to a floppy disk and subsequently displayed on
television.

The main driver of development in the eighties was the Kodak company. In
1991, it launched the DCS 100, the first commercially available DSLR camera
that spawned commercial digital photography, although the high price limited
its sales to a group of photojournalists and professionals.

The first digital camera to achieve significant commercial success was the
Apple QuickTake 100 in 1994.

Since 1996, digital cameras have also been on sale in the Czech Republic.
After 2000, cameras using digital recording began to displace conventional
cinefilm cameras. Today, more than 99% of photos worldwide are taken with
digital cameras, with an increasing share of digital images from smartphones.

Digital cameras use an electronic chip to record images. Thus, the image is
recorded as a collection of electronic data, not as a set of chemical changes on
the film. An important difference between digital and chemical photography is
that chemical photography, working with film and photographic paper, is
relatively difficult to manipulate, whereas digital images are commonly
manipulated. This makes it possible to manipulate the image to a extent that
would be difficult to achieve with film-based photography, which opens up
new communicative potential and use.

1.1.7. Czech lands

In the former Czechoslovakia, photography was a widespread domestic hobby
of ordinary people. Photographic goods were sold in Fotokino stores, which
were part of drugstores; there were also queues of 200-300 meters for the
desired goods . Western goods were very expensive in Czechoslovakia (it was
not uncommon for a used old camera to cost several months' salaries). There
was only one bazaar with photo goods in the whole of Prague. Therefore, high-
quality cameras of domestic production of the FLEXARET brand and cameras
PENTACON and PRAKTICA from the GDR with excellent optical properties
were expanded. The situation changed with the release of the market after
1989.

1.4. Technical aspects

Most often, the device for taking a photograph is a camera, the medium for
capturing an image is a photographic plate, photographic film or, in the case
of a digital camera, an electronic chip. The plate and film themselves can also
be used to store the image, while in the case of capture on a chip, digital
magnetic or electronic memory is used to store it. However, there are other
methods, such as photocopiers or xeroxy, that work on the principle of electric
charge.

Photographers control the camera body and lens to expose light-sensitive

material to the desired amount of light. This creates a latent image (in the
case of board or film) or a RAW file (in the case of digital cameras), which is
processed and then converted into a suitable file. Digital cameras contain an
electronic chip based on light-sensitive electronics, such as a CCD chip (using
bound charges) or a CMOS chip (an additional semiconductor based on metal
and oxide). The resulting digital image is stored in electronic form, but can
also be reproduced on paper.

A camera obscura is a dark room that prevents the passage of ambient light
inwards as much as possible, except for the light forming the image, which
usually passes through a small opening. Conversely, the subject must be
illuminated to create the image. Camera obscura can vary greatly in size, the
large ones can form an entire dark room, while the subject is in another room
where it is sufficiently illuminated.

When photographic materials became "fast" enough (i.e. sensitive) to allow

snapshots and images to be created without the subject's knowledge, small
"detective" cameras began to be produced. Some were even disguised as a
book, handbag or pocket watch (Tick's camera) or hid behind a wide tie or
scarf, when the tie clip was actually a lens.

A camcorder comes out of the camera, which is characterized by recording

sequences of photos in rapid succession. While the camera captures the image
one frame at a time, the camera captures entire series of images. Individual
frames are later played back at a certain rate of frames per second
(sometimes the English term "frame rate", abbreviated fps) is adopted. When
tracked, the human eyes and brain stitch these individual images together,
creating the illusion that we are watching real movement.

1.1.8. Camera controls

Certain settings must be made, either automatically or manually, to achieve
appropriate exposure. With their help, a clear, sharp and suitably lit image is
achieved. Typically, camera controls include the following:

Sharpening: Positioning the subject or adjusting the optical device so that the
final image is sharp.

Aperture: Aperture adjustment regulates the amount of light that passes

through the lens. Aperture also affects depth of field and diffraction. The
aperture openness is expressed as the value of the f-stop number (f), and the
higher this number is, the less light penetrates inwards and the depth of field
increases, but at the same time the diffraction increases. The diameter of the
input lens is given by the ratio between the focal length and the f-stop.

Exposure time: Shutter speed control (often expressed as fractions of a second

or, in the case of mechanical shutters, as the shutter angle) is used to set the
time that light-sensitive material is exposed to light. A "faster" shutter speed
(lasting less) reduces both the amount of light that penetrates and the amount
of motion blur caused by the movement of the subject or camera. A slower
shutter speed allows for longer exposures, which is useful when the aperture
is reduced, such as when taking pictures of the night sky.

White balance In digital cameras, it is an electronic

balancing of color temperature that
is tied to certain lighting conditions.
If white is recorded as white, the
other colors in the image will also
look natural. In the case of
mechanical film cameras, white
balance is achieved by selecting the
appropriate film for the lighting
conditions or by using a color filter.

Exposure metering Exposure is measured to make it

easier for the photographer to
 achieve optimal exposure relative to
the brightness and shadows of the
scene. Modern cameras today
routinely measure exposure
themselves and can also make
automatic adjustments for given
conditions. However, until this
technology was available, the correct
exposure was achieved using an
exposure meter, or the photographer
used his knowledge and experience
to estimate the correct setting. In
order to use the light knowledge to
adjust the aperture and exposure
time, it is necessary to consider the
sensitivity of the film or chip in the
camera.

Sensitivity In cameras, the sensitivity of the

film is indicated, in digital cameras
the variable sensitivity of the chip
(which can also be part of the
automatic exposure performed by the
camera itself). Sensitivity is usually
given using the ISO numerical
system. The higher the ISO, the more
sensitive the film or chip is to light,
while at lower numbers the
sensitivity is lower. Sensitivity, along
with aperture and exposure time,
make up the camera's exposure, thus
affecting the resulting brightness of
the photo.

Focus point With some cameras, you can choose

from focus points that symbolize the
places the camera will try to focus.
For example, many DSLRs offer a
number of autofocus points right in
the viewfinder.

Figure 1–1
Many other parts of the camera can also have a significant impact on the
quality or aesthetics of a photo, including:

Focal length and lens type (normal, telephoto, wide-angle, macro,

fisheye or zoom)
Used photo filters, attachments and other accessories
Sensitivity of the medium to light and color

Parameters of the material recording light – for example, in the case of film-
based cameras, the size of light-sensitive crystals of silver halides plays a role,
and in the case of digital cameras, among other things, the resolution
determined by the number of pixels.

1.1.9. Exposure and processing

The above aspects, such as aperture, exposure time and sensitivity, are
inextricably linked because they change the total amount of light incident on
the medium. Changing any of them will also change the resulting exposure.
Many cameras today are able to set these parameters automatically, e.g.
adjust the aperture to the set time.

Exposure length (also called "shutter speed" – even on cameras that don't
have a physical shutter) is most often measured in fractions of a second. It is
also possible to use exposure times of one or more seconds, most often for
photographs of non-living subjects or night photography, where exposure
times can be several hours. In the case of moving subjects, however, a short
exposure time is more often used to avoid blurring the contents of the photo
(although this may sometimes be desirable, e.g. to emphasize movement).

The effective aperture is expressed by a f-stop, which is given by the ratio of

the focal length and the diameter of the aperture aperture. With the same
aperture diameter, less light passes through a lens with a longer focal length
than with lenses with a shorter focal length, which is due to the different light
transmission. The smaller the f-stop, the larger the effective aperture. The
current f-stop system is called the British Standard (BS-1013) and was
standardized at an international meeting in 1963. During the 20th century,
however, other scales were used, such as the European Scale, the Medium
Scale or the Uniform Scale proposed in 1881 by the Royal Photographic
Society. However, all these scales are now largely outdated. Sometimes T-
numbers are also given, which take into account the light transmission of a
given lens and can be calculated by multiplying the f-stop number and the
square root of the transmittance.

If the f-stop is reduced by a multiple of ?2, the aperture diameter increases by

the same multiple, increasing the aperture area by a multiple of 2. Aperture
numbers that occur on a regular lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32.
When the f-stop is reduced by one value, the amount of light incident on the
film or chip doubles. If, on the other hand, we increase the aperture by one
number, only half the amount of light will fall on it compared to the original
value.

We can capture an image using different combinations of shutter, aperture

and sensitivity. Different aperture and exposure time settings can allow
images to be taken at certain sensitivity values, in different lighting
conditions, when the subject or camera is moving, and also to achieve the
desired depth of field. At lower sensitivity, there is less graininess in the case
of film, and less noise in the case of digital cameras. However, higher
sensitivity allows for a shorter exposure time, which can be used to reduce
motion blur, for example, and the use of a higher f-stop, which leads to an
increase in depth of field. A smaller aperture is often used if there is less light,
and a larger aperture if there is more light. If the subject is moving and we
want to avoid motion blur, we can "freeze" it due to the shorter exposure time.
To prevent motion blur, a tripod also helps, thanks to which the camera is not
directly in the hands of the photographer and the exposure can therefore be
longer without blurring the image.

For example, aperture f/8 (f-number 8) and time 1/125 (exposure time 8ms)
compared to f/5.6 and 1/250 achieve the same total incident light volume.
However, these two settings will not give the same result. The aperture and
focal length of the lens work together to form depth of field, which is the
range of distances that are sharp. A lens with a longer focal length and a more
open aperture produces an image with a shallow depth of field (only a small
part will be in focus). This is often used when there is a need to separate the
subject from the background, such as portrait or macro photography.
Conversely, using a wide-angle lens or a higher f-stop will lead to a greater
depth of field, which is often useful when photographing landscapes or groups
of people, for example, because more subjects (near and far) will be in focus
in the final image. With really large apertures, such as pinhole cameras, a
wide range of distances fall into the depth of field, but due to diffraction
caused by the very small light aperture, the overall sharpness of the image is
low. In general, the greatest sharpness is achieved around the mean aperture
range of the lens (e.g. for a lens with a range of f2.8-f/16, it is f/8). However,
due to technological advances, lenses have an increasingly improved ability to
achieve sharpness even when using a wide open aperture.

Image capture is only part of creating an image. Regardless of the material, it

is always necessary to take certain steps to convert the latent image captured
by the camera into a visible image. In the case of slides, the developed film is
placed in a slide projector from where it can be projected. To print the film, it
is necessary to print the film negative already developed on photographic
paper or slides. Before the advent of laser and inkjet printers, celluloid
negatives were put into an enlarger that projected an image onto light-
sensitive paper for a period of time (usually measured in seconds or fractions
of a second). This paper was then immersed in a developer (a chemical
solution used to visualize the latent image) and immediately afterwards in an
interrupt bath (which stops the developer's chemical processes and ensures
that the image does not change further in normal light). Finally, the picture
was hung and left to dry. Only after drying was it possible to handle it without
the risk of easy damage. This whole processing process allowed the
photographer to manipulate the final appearance of the photograph – it was
not completely bound by the appearance of the negative. He could adjust the
length of time the photograph was in the magnifier and in both chemical
solutions, influencing, among other things, the lightness and sharpness of the
image.

The processing and production of photographs is a sector of a rather

professional nature, as the means of production require high financial costs
and to operate them properly, it is necessary to have a certain education and
qualifications. Therefore, it is a frequent practice to order the processing and
production of photographs in the form of a service. Providers of these services
develop negatives and slides, scan and edit scans and other digital inputs, edit
the photographs themselves as well as archive or digitize archives (for
example, drum scanners are used in the professional field to digitize historical
photographic archives). Some professional and amateur photographers still
process and develop film themselves, but the advent of digital photography
has meant that the vast majority of photographs today are taken digitally, and
if processed through print, it is a print that is no longer dependent on
chemical reactions to light. Digital photos can be uploaded to Internet photo
galleries, viewed on TV, on a computer or in a digital photo frame. None of
these kinds of views affect the ability to print a photo on paper or special
photo paper using the printer.

The image can be modified in various ways before its final version. Some
image manipulation options are similar to those provided by the camera when
capturing an image, while others are unique to the processing process. Most
film manipulation options have their equivalent in the digital world, but
sometimes there are different effects, such as dodging and burning. The
resulting photo is influenced by, among others:

Chemicals used and film development processes

Length of press exposure
Contrast
Dodging – lightening certain parts of a photo
Burning – darkening certain parts of a photo
Paper structure – e.g. glossy, matte
Paper type – e.g. double-sided laminated paper (RC) or baritone (FB)
paper
Paper size
Image shape – print can be in different shapes, e.g. circle or oval
Toning – change the color of a black and white photo (e.g. by adding
warmer sepia colors)

1.5. Technical photography

Technical photography is a branch that deals with the technical aspects of
photography:

Photographic optics
Photographic mechanics
Photographic electronics
Photographic chemistry
digital photography
photographic software.

1.6. Photographic genres

1.1.10. Amateur photography
For an amateur photographer, photography is a hobby, not a gainful activity.
However, the quality of some amateur work is comparable to that of many
professionals, and amateur photography often plays an important role in areas
where there is little chance of commercial use or profit. The choice of subjects
can be both narrowly specialized and very diverse. Amateur photography
experienced a boom at the end of the 19th century thanks to the
popularization of cameras that could be held in the hand. Today, various
technologies and platforms are used to photograph and disseminate photos, of
which mobile phone cameras, which have made photography accessible to
more people, and social media, through which photos are disseminated, are
particularly influential.

1.1.11. Commercial photography

Commercial photography is any kind of photography for which the
photographer is paid and at the same time his photographs are not seen as a
work of art. The following categories are examples that commercial
photography may include:

Advertising photography is made with the aim of depicting and usually selling
a service or product, for example, a photograph of a product trying to show it
in the best possible light in various media, very often in advertising. These
images are usually made by advertising agencies, design firms or design
departments operating in individual companies.

Fashion photography and glamour are a kind of advertising photography,

which, as a rule, involves a model or model. Fashion photography, such as the
American magazine Harper's Bazaar, emphasizes clothing and accessories.
Glamour, on the other hand, emphasizes the model and their bodies,
sometimes including nudes. Both fashion photography and glamour are
popular in advertising.

Concert photography focuses on capturing unstaged images whose subject is

both the artist or the band, as well as the audience and the atmosphere of the
concert. Many concert photographers are freelancers and get commissions
directly from the artist or their manager to photograph a particular event. In
addition to promoting the concert venue, concert photography also serves to
promote the artist or group.

As a rule, still life photographs depict ordinary, inanimate objects that can be
both natural and man-made.

Food photography can be used in newspapers and magazines, on packaging or

in advertising. It is similar to a still life photograph.
Photojournalism is used to supplement news or articles. One of its
subcategories is paparazzi, which is a term for photographers who create
unstaged photos of athletes, celebrities, politicians and other important
people, often without their permission.

Conceptual photography is based on a certain idea or idea. Although it depicts

real objects, at its core it is abstract.

Macro photography is the photographing of details where the subject is

smaller than its image on film or sensor. Most often, macro photography is
used for images of small animals, such as butterflies or flies, or for
photographs of small plants.

Portrait and wedding photography are very popular nowadays and most
couples use the services of a professional photographer for this occasion.

Landscape photography captures a larger area from a distance.

Wildlife photography tries to capture the magic of untamed nature.

The market for photographic services embodies the aphorism that "a picture
often says more than a thousand words." Many people take pictures for
commercial purposes, and many magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies
or website companies pay for their images. Organisations that need and have
a budget for photos can choose from several options: they can employ the
photographer directly, they can organise a public tender, or they can acquire
the rights to the photos through stock photos. Traditional large stock photo
agencies include Getty Images and Corbys, smaller microbanks such as
Fotolia, but there are also online marketplaces such as Cutcaster.

1.1.12. Art photography

During the 20th century, both artistic and documentary photography were
adopted by the English-speaking art world and galleries. In the United States,
several photographers, such as Alfred Stiglitz, Edward Steichen, John
Szarkowski, F. Holland Day, and Edward Weston, have dedicated their lives to
fighting for the acceptance of photography in the art category. Art
photography was represented in its early days by pictorialism, a style that
seeks to imitate painting, often using a shallow depth of field, to create
a dreamy, romantic look. In response to pictorialism, Group f/64 was formed,
co-founded by Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. Group f/64 promoted "direct
photography", which is characterized by sharpness and the concept of
photography as a unique medium, without attempting to imitate other artistic
movements and crafts.

The aesthetics of photography remains, especially in artistic circles, a

regularly discussed topic. Many artists have previously held the view that
photography is a mechanical reproduction of an image, and if it is to be true
art, then it would have to be redefined in the context of art, for example, by
establishing the components that make photography beautiful for the
observer. This controversy has its roots in the very first photographs "written
by light". Nicéphore Niécpe, Louis Daguerre and another of the first
photographers met with recognition, but at the same time some questioned
whether their work fulfilled the definitions and goals of art.

Clive Bell argues in his essay Art that only a "form of meaning" distinguishes
art from what is not.

There must be one particular feature without which a work of art cannot do,
and at the same time, if the work has this feature, it is not completely
worthless. What is this feature? Which traits are shared by all objects that
evoke aesthetic emotions in us? What features does Hagia Sophia share with
the windows of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Mexican statue, Persian bowl, Chinese
carpets, Giotto's frescoes in Padua and masterpieces by Poussin, Piero della
Francesca and Cézanne? There seems to be only one possible answer: the
form of meaning. In each of these works, lines and colors have combined in a
specific way, and certain forms and relationships between them awaken our
aesthetic emotions.

1.1.13. Science and Forensic Photography

Photography has a long and significant history of recording scientific
phenomena. Its roots go back to Daguerre and Fox-Talbot's records of
astronomical events (e.g., eclipses), macro images of small creatures and
plants and, in the case of really small subjects, even microphotography, which
uses the camera to be mounted on a microscope. Photography has also proved
useful in recording the scene of a crime or accident, for example as early as
1861 when the Wooton Bridge collapsed. Today, forensic photography is used
to analyse photographs for legal purposes, with crime scene photographs
taken from at least three different locations and capturing both the overall
view and the narrower view, including detail. Black and white or infrared
photography is sometimes used to capture specific details.
In 1845, Francis Ronalds, honorary director of London's Kew Observatory,
invented the first camera capable of continuously recording meteorological
and geomagnetic parameters. Different machines produced 12- or 24-hour
photographic records of minute-by-minute changes in atmospheric pressure,
temperature, humidity, atmospheric electricity, and the three components of
magnetic forces. The cameras were supplied to many observatories around
the world and in some places remained in use for much of the 20th century.
Not long after Ronalds, Charles Brooke developed similar instruments for the
Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Science uses image technologies that are derived from the design of a pinhole
camera. Photography has become ubiquitous in the recording of events and
dates in science and engineering, as well as crime and accident sites. The use
has expanded considerably through the use of other wavelengths, such as
infrared photography, ultraviolet photography or spectroscopy. These
methods were first used in the Victorian period, but have since been
significantly improved.

1.7. Use a photo

Photography is one of the imaging technologies and has enjoyed great interest
from scientists and artists since its inception. Scientists use photography to
accurately and faithfully record reality, e.g. Eadweard Muybridge in his 1887
study of human and animal movements. Artists were equally interested in the
fidelity of photography, but they also explored other possibilities than just
capturing an image of the real world. Soon, the army, police and security
forces also began to use the photograph. Today, photography is unmistakably
represented in almost all media (newspapers, internet, TV), it is widely used in
marketing and advertising, and simple cameras in mobile phones may indicate
its further expansion.

1.8. Social and cultural impacts

There are a number of lingering questions that relate to different aspects of
photography. For example, Susan Sontag, in her study On Photography
(1977), addresses one of the much-discussed issues in the photographic
community, namely concerns about the objectivity of photography. Sontag
argues that, "To photograph is to appropriate the subject. He himself enters
into a certain relationship with the world, and this relationship gives him a
sense of knowledge and therefore of power." The photographer makes
decisions about what to photograph, which elements to exclude from the
image, or from what angle to capture the subjects. These elements may reflect
a certain socio-historical context. Thus, it is possible to argue that
photography is a subjective method of representation.

In her book On Photography, Sontag also discusses the connection between

voyeurism and photography, which she illustrates, among other things, on the
example of Alfred Hitchcock's film Courtyard Window (1954), where the
camera is depicted as an object supporting voyeurism. "Although the camera
is a place to observe, the process of shooting itself is more than just passive
observation. The camera does not rape or gain control, but it can interfere,
intrude without permission, distort, abuse, and, if we take the metaphor to the
extreme, kill. Unlike sexual penetration, however, all these activities can be
carried out from a distance and at a distance."

Digital technology has also brought with it photo manipulation, which is

relatively easy even for novice photographers and raises questions about the
ethics of processing digital photographs. Many photojournalists, whose genre
emphasizes the most objective depiction of reality, are therefore not allowed
to crop their photographs or combine elements from several photographs and
present the resulting photomontage as one authentic image. However, the
technology has also brought about changes in image processing, which takes
place directly in the camera, and it is now possible to determine whether
images have been manipulated; This is mainly used by forensic photography.

Digital photography is one of the new media that changes both our perception
and the structure of society. At the same time, however, it faces concerns that
the way it is currently used may lead to desensitisation. Photographs with
disturbing or graphic content, including war photos and pornography, are
available to society as a whole, including children. The discussion of the
desensitization caused by photographs is related to the debate about
censorship that Sontag joined in with the warning that the ability to censor
photographs gives the photographer the power to construct reality.

One of the photographic practices shaping society is tourism. Tourism and

photography work together to create a kind of "unflinching tourist gaze" in
which locals are characterized through the lens of a camera. However, some
argue that there is also an inverted view through which local people who are
the subjects of photography can themselves position photographing tourists in
the role of superficial photo consumers.

Photography has also become the subject of many songs in popular culture.

1.9. Legal regulation of photography

Because photography (and filming) allows much faster and more accurate
capture of the depicted reality compared to previous technologies, it comes
into conflict with traditionally or newly recognized rights to the protection of
security, industrial secrets, personal privacy or copyright. Strong and
extensive regulation is common in states and territories with unstable or
totalitarian political or security conditions, or with a strong emphasis on the
protection of personal privacy or copyright.

2, FINAL REFLECTION
Photography has undergone many changes since its development to the
present. Nowadays, it is an absolutely normal part of every person and helps
us in many ways to make life easier. However, due to its easy availability, it
often happens that we create a large number of photos, which we then store
in digital form and often do not return them in the future. This could not
happen to our great-grandmothers with their one album of rare photographs.