Michael Langford's 35mm Handbook: The Problem-solving Book for Every Photographic Situation author: Michael Langford rating: asin: 0091778379 binding: Paperback list price: £12.99 GBP amazon price: £11.38 GBP

Michael Langford's 35mm Handbook is an excellent photography book for anyone who wants to learn photography.

It explains fundamental photographic techniques in plain english and uses real life examples. Michael Langford's 35mm Handbook is required reading with many photography courses, and there is no doubt why.

If you are beginning photography or an intermediate, you will find this book a useful and often indepensible resource. It is small enough to take on location, so you are sure to always have it to hand.

Sir Isaac Newton discovered colour in light in 1666 by passing light through a prism and creating a rainbow on his wall. Then in 1802, a physician called Thomas Young proved that these colours all have a specific frequency and wavelength. His theory proposed that light is made up of three primary colours: red, blue and green, and that all other colours are formed by a combination of these three. This is the fundamental principle for colour photography.
 

Colour temperature is a measure of the amount of various colours in a continuous spectrum of light. It is expressed in the Kelvin scale of temperature where 0°C is equivalent to 273 K.

Hue - By definition, hue is the term used to describe the shade of a colour. It is also the characteristic that gives a particular colour its place in the spectrum.

Saturation - The term saturation is used to describe the degree or intensity or richness of a colour. Therefore the less saturated a colour appears then the duller it is.

Lightness - Lightness is the indication of how light or dark a colour is.

Colour is present in our lives due to a range of wavelengths in the visible spectrum of light and the intensity of light determines the saturation and contrast of the colours that we see.

Red

Red is regarded as an intense colour and happens to have the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum and as a colour it generally catches our attention. Red objects often appear to be nearer than they are and have proved very effective in traffic light signals. Red is commonly associated with energy, warmth, vitality, love and aggression. It is reputed to generate a physical strong reaction.

Blue

Yellow

The colour yellow has a relatively long wavelength. It is considered to be the colour that has the greatest effect on the psychological state as it is highly stimulating. It is often associated with cowardliness. Yellow can also signify optimism, happiness, friendliness and creativity but has negative associations with fear, depression and anxiety.

For the purposes of this module, white, black and grey have not been included. White and black are often not considered to be colours. In accordance with the theory of light, white is actually a combination of all colours, black is the absence of all colours and grey is considered to be a tint of black. This does not prevent these colours having significant meanings:

White – Positive associations: purity, simplicity and sterility
    Negative associations: coldness, elitism, unfriendliness and sterility

Generally, film has three main formats (or sizes) and these are small, medium and large. The most common small format film size is 35mm and is also known as 135, where the diagonal length of the image is 35mm. All small format film is roll film, which means that it is a long strip of film rolled onto a spool and housed in a light tight cylinder. Other types of small format film include 110 (18mm) and APX films (28mm). The standard number of negatives to each roll is 12, 24 or 36.

Generally there are two types of film: negative and positive. Negative films record a negative image of the scene or subject that is photographed. Therefore light areas of the scene appear dark on the film and the colours themselves are seen as the opposite colour on the colour wheel. In order to produce a positive image it has to be transferred to photographic paper via contact or enlargement.