GTKYC - Taking Photos (Lesson)

Taking Photos

And now, what we’ve all been waiting for – TAKING PHOTOS!!!!

Now that you’ve have a 3” and 7” focal length camera, you’ve confirmed that it’s light-tight and functional, and you have a working darkroom, it’s time to use your camera to create photographs!

Choose a subject that interests you. Portraits, self-portraits, landscapes, almost anything you can think of is a good subject for this project. Take the EXACT SAME PHOTOGRAPH with the 3” and 7” focal lengths. You will have two photographs of the same subject. Here are some tips for success:

  1. Shoot outside in bright sunlight. Your silver gelatin paper does not have a high enough ISO to create a successful photograph inside. 
  2. Choose a subject that will remain still for at least 30 seconds. This means no wildlife, no little kids.
  3. Place your camera on the ground, table, chair, etc. You CANNOT hold it still for the exposure.  If you try to, the photograph will be blurry.
  4. Begin with a 30 second exposure. If the negative it very light, try again for 45 – 60 sec. If the negative is very dark, try again for 15 – 30 sec.

Please watch the following video to learn more about taking photos. Be sure your volume is turned on!

After you’ve exposed a negative, take it into your darkroom and process it. Once you have a successful negative at each focal length, create a positive. You can do this digitally, as you learned in Photo I, or in the darkroom.

Please watch the following video to learn more about how to create a positive in a darkroom. Be sure your volume is turned on!

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