CHAPTER 11
BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY
How much does a Navy journalist need to know
about photography? Some JOs are expert
photographers, while others resort to asking imaging
facility personnel for photographic coverage of an
event.
The fact remains that you will be tested on your
knowledge of photography. At some point in your
career, your supervisor will expect you to know the
fundamentals of photography, to take news photographs
with good composition, to use standard Navy darkroom
equipment to process exposed film and to produce
contact and projection prints.
If you can do these things already, you have a very
important trait needed in the JO rating — versatility
However, if photography is not your strong suit, pay
particular attention to the information in this chapter and
the one that follows (“Basic Photojournalism,” Chapter
12). Also, there is nothing like hands-on experience. Ask
a senior JO for some on-the-job training or contact the
nearest Navy imaging facility for instruction.
NOTE: This chapter is intended to aquaint you
with the basic concepts of photography. For more
detailed information, consult the Photography (Basic)
and Photography (Advanced) TRAMANS.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the basic
process of photography.
The basic equipment required for the photographic
process, as shown in figure 11-1, includes the following
components:
A subject
Alight source
A camera
Photographic film
Chemicals for processing film
A printing device
Photographic paper
. Chemicals for processing paper
SUBJECT
The subject can be anything. If it can be seen, it can
be photographed. Just as there must be light to form an
image, there must be a subject from which to form the
image.
FILM
Film, as defined in this chapter, is a light-sensitive
emulsion of silver halides suspended in gelatin and
coated on a transparent and chemically neutral base,
usually cellulose or polymer plastic. The choice of film
type is determined by the size and the sensitivity
required by both the camera and the nature of the light
to be used. During the exposure, silver halide crystals in
the emulsion undergo anionic change forming a latent
image that can then be reduced to a visible and usable
image through a complex chemical process.
CAMERA
The camera is essentially a lighttight box with an
optical system at one end and an image support at the
other. Additions to the basic camera have been made to
improve focusing the image, viewing, controlling the
amount and duration of light entering the box, film
changing or rolling and range and exposure calculators.
While these improvements are valuable, they are not
absolutely essential to the photographic process. A
picture can be made with a coffee can if it has a pinhole
atone end and a support for film at the other.
FILM PROCESSING
The processing of film to convert the latent image
into a stable, visible image for use in printing requires
you to carry out the following four basic steps:
Developing or converting exposed silver halides
to metallic silver — the black or dark portions
of the visible image
Fixing or changing the silver halides unaffected
by the developing to soluble salts
11-1
