Appendix 1

Quick Reference Photographic Trouble Shooting. SLR.
There are six main ways you'll get fuzzy images:

1. Your shutter remains open longer than you can hold your camera still.
2. Similarly, your subject can't keep still for the length of time that your shutter is open.
3. You have problems focusing the lens on the subject.
4. The aperture of the lens is wide open (a small number on the f-stop)
5. If you use a very fast film then any enlargements you make from negative can appear unsharp due to the course grain of the faster films. Speed is determined by the ASA/ISO value attributed to the film. A value of 50 is a very slow but very high quality emulsion. You'll need a longer shutter speed to accommodate such a slow film so it may be very difficult to use. A much faster film for example a 400 will give you shorter shutter speeds but will be far grainier in appearance.
6. A film that is badly processed, for example developed at too high a temperature, will give poor quality photos. The individual silver crystals in the emulsion clump together and give horrible grain and an unsharp poor quality photograph.

The solutions to these problems are:

1. Use a tripod, or a faster shutter speed, 1/60 is given as the slowest speed at which it is safe to hand hold a camera. With practise you may be able to improve on this, try holding your breath while shooting.
2. Make sure your model is comfortable, try to ensure their hand is supported so it will not get tired and shake.
3. Focus should be done carefully. If you are hurrying then you may miss the correct point. Try to keep the aperture small as this will increase the depth of the image that is sharply focused.
4. If you are using the aperture wide open you are using the poorest parts of the lens and this will reduce your image quality. The best quality is achieved using the centre of the lens where light is not distorted by the curvature of the lens.
5. Stop down the lens as far as possible without slowing the shutter to less than 1/60 if you are hand holding the camera.
6. Choose the best quality film at the slowest speed you can safely use in your lighting conditions. Store your film in a fridge, remember that artificial light is a different colour to daylight and the colours in your photograph will reflect this.
7. The faster your film is processed the hotter the dev. Find a lab you trust and stick with them.