How Are Photographs Taken?

A camera takes photographs. The term “camera” derives from the Latin phrase “camera obscura,” which means “dark room.” As inventors worked out how to make these dark enclosures smaller and more portable into boxes, the name camera obscura was simplified to just camera.

When inventors created permanent photographic equipment in the 19th century, they kept the shortened name for the new device. Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce and Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of France adapted the earliest camera, the camera obscura, to make a permanent image in the 1820s and 1830s.

In the 19th century, innovators introduced many improvements, notably flexible film, which they developed and printed outside the camera. In the 20th century, engineers developed a variety of cameras for many different purposes, including aerial photography, document copying, and scientific research.

A camera belongs to the broad category of electronics, specifically consumer electronics or optical and photographic equipment, depending on the context (like tax, retail, or accounting).

Photographers use a camera as an optical device to take photographs. Light enters the camera through a lens. The lens concentrates the light, or focuses it, on a film at the back of the camera.

The film contains special light sensitive chemicals which can record images. To get a clear photograph, the right amount of light must enter the camera.

Most cameras use a shutter and aperture to control the amount of light. The shutter normally stops any light getting in. When a photograph is taken the shutter opens and closes.

The aperture is a hole through which the light has to pass. The photographer can change the amount of light going into the camera by changing the size of the aperture and by changing the length of time that the shutter stays open.

Content for this question contributed by Stephanie Tapia, resident of Hermiston, Umatilla County, Oregon, USA