Photography : An Introduction

This book is intended to provide a basic introduction to photography.

It is particularly aimed at those who wish to take the most popular modules in the highly successful City & Guilds 9231 Photography Scheme.

In addition it will provide a sound foundation for anyone wishing to proceed to study and produce photographs for the more advanced City & Guilds modules. The particular syllabuses of the City & Guilds 9231 Photography Course which are covered in detail comprise 9231-020 Starting Photography, 9231-030 Introduction to Black and White Photography, 9231-040 Introduction to Colour Photography, 9231-050 Portraiture and 9231-060 Photo Essay.

In the appendix the authors list the other presently available City & Guilds modules. The basic photography course provided by City & Guilds is the module 9231-020 Starting Photography.

This module assumes that the student is a beginner and knows nothing about photography.

The course, therefore starts from very basic first principles, covering how the photographic image is formed, how cameras work and how to compose good pictures. Because the subject is a very wide one, it covers a good deal of ground and so takes up the first eight chapters in this book.

At the end of Chapter 8 the reader will find details of the examination requirements for Starting Photography. The basic module 9231-030 Introduction to Black and White Photography requires the background provided in Chapters 1 - 8 and in addition Chapters 9 and 10 which deal respectively with film processing and printing and enlarging.

At the end of Chapter 10 will be found exam requirements for Introduction to Black and White Photography. The other basic module covered is 9231-040 Introduction to Colour Photography.

This too calls for the basic theory of Chapters 1 - 8 and the more specialist needs of the colour photographer appears in Chapter 11.

At the end of Chapter 11 are details of the examination submission for Introduction to Colour Photography. In Chapter 12 the authors cover the advanced module 9231-040 Portraiture and the examination requirements for this module.

In Chapter 13 the requirements of 9231-060 Photo Essay are discussed together with brief details of the closely related module Social Documentary Photography. This book should also be helpful to students taking other courses.

It covers virtually all the theory requirements for the GCSE examination.

GCE "A" Level students will also find much of the theory useful.

In particular they will find the Colour Chapter a great help in understanding the complexities of the photographic reproduction of colour. Lastly, for those not taking any specific course but who would like to improve their photography - or to learn how to take good pictures from scratch - this book is also for you.