Gary summer 2006
Photographed by son Andrew
Grace, Idaho
age 49

Gary Etchison age 4 or 5
Photo by James D. Etchison
Gary's Father
He passed away in 1973

35MM Photography Training

Let me introduce myself
My name is Gary Etchison, I am a native of Idaho
Photography has been a part of me all my life.
My dad had his own black and white darkroom before I was born.
Therefore I spent a lot of time with him and my mother taking photos, developing film and photographs and learning from them.
I took photography in High School, College and used it in the career I'm in for the past 30 years.

I'm the Detective Lieutenant at the Caribou County Sheriff's Offic in Soda Springs, Idaho and have been the past 28 years.

During those years I've had to photograph every type of crime scene and evidence one could imagine.

In 1996 I got a Federal Grant to attend the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, known as FLETC
I got to attend the top law enforcement Photograhic school in the nation and learned many things.

It takes a combinaton of learned skills and having the right equipment for the job, without either you maynot be successful in film photogrpahy.

They taught 9 people during my course, mostly Federal agents, IRS, Postal Inspector, Army Criminal Investigation Division, two law enforcmement officers from Indianapolis, Indiana who did mainly arson investigation, a man from California who did homicide photographs for a large department, his only job was to photography high profile cases, develop the film and testifiy in court to his photographs, he was a civilian.
We had three instructors, so it was intense training and we would go from 8am till sometimes 2am in the morning.

We did nighttime surveilence, evidence at a made up crime scene, daylight, low light and no light photogrpahy.
We shot 3,500 photographs between the 9 of us in 10 days.
We worked in the darkroom a couple days as well.

When we finished the head instructor named Sully, Sullivan told the class everyone of us were capable and had proven our skills to take a photograph in almost any situation given the time element and proper equipment.

We painted with light, did double exposures, used telephoto and closeup lenses, photos through windshileds, photos in bright sunlight of a building and when we finished we were able to see inside the building on campus and see clocks on the wall and people walking up stairs during bright daylight. We learned a host of things and ways to use the cameras.

I am going to teach some people 35mm photography, and this web site will assist me in doing so over the internet at work or here at home. I intend to teach the department use of the 35mm camera, I own a FM2 and so does the Sheriff's Office so most my material shows the FM2 Nikon

After using the Nikon in Georgia, I was convinced this was the best 35MM I'd ever used or had my hands on.

Hope any who read this can learn things about a 35mm SLR camera and if you have quesitons, email me and I'll do my best to help you with your particular quesiton.
Remember this is a class room assistant, and in the class I'll cover much much more, like film seleciton, Depth of field illistrations, and the use of and settings on the camera, some things are done better in person from within a class room.

Pentax MX manual SLR 35mm

This is like my first SLR, I still have it and it works well in spite of a few bumps and bruises.
Like my Nikon it is totally manual except for the internal light meter.
My son now uses it and he got great photos while on vacation in July in Washington, Oregon and Canada

 

Typical 35mm lens unknown focal length or mm

note the numbers near the back or bottom of this lens
they are F Stop settings or lens apature openings
this particular lens opens wide at 2.5 and shuts down to F22
so it is a good quality lens allowing low light photography with the wide open point being 2.5
remember the 2.5 is the large opening
the 22 is the small opening

for depth of field use the smaller opening F22
keeps all in focus from Camera to Infinity

Note the front ring has feet and milimeters, on the milimeters scale you see a figure 8 which is sideways, that symbol is infinity.
Infinity is beyond the eye.

Another tip
When you focus to infinity in other words as far out a focus as you can get, barely bump the lens back from infinity, you can actually over focus at infinity, just a hare though

 

 

Apature or F Stop of camera lens
larger number = smaller opening on left

smaller number = larger opening on right

The F Stop and Shutter settings have to work together to obtain the correct light exposure
your light meter can calculate this for you.
But the light meter may give you false readings in certain types of light
Bright days with snow for instance, cloudy conditons. people under canopys or in shade, so you have to be aware of what your photograhing and make changes to account for it.

Here is an example, your in bright sunlight and two people are sitting on a picnic table under an awning, you focus, and make changes to your apature F Stop and to your shutter speed till the light meter shows you your right on the dot...Wrong

The light meter just lied to you not knowing it did so, remember it is a machine, it is looking at the entire area of your photograph and sees bright light all about, but isn't taking into account the darker faces under the canopy, thus you get a photograph of their outline instead of their faces, bet you have done that before and didn't know the problem with a point and shoot camera, the SLR allows you to change it and make ajustment for a perfect photo.

In that case, simply walk up close I mean within say a foot and take your meter reading off on of their faces, do your settings according, then walk back out in the sun and take the photo, the meter will tell you that it is over exposed, and it is right you are, but the over exposure will allow the faces of the people to be burned in longer giving them the necessary detail and the rest of the photo will be just fine, try it, trust me you will now get that difficult photo using this tecnique!

However you could go bye a Gossen light meter which is accurate to 1 percent for $600 dollars and it will tell you the setting, my way is cheaper with the same results. I'd still love to have the German made meter, I've used one, it is wonderful you get every shot everytime no guess work.

 

Back of SLR lens shows the mount to the camera
for instance Nikon screws on one direction and Pentax the opposite direction
so when purchasing a lens, make sure the lens is compatible with the camera you have, makers of lenses which are not the manufacturers allow you to buy them with the mount you need, ie: Pentax, Nikon, Cannon, etc.

Although you can't see through this lens, there is an iris inside of the lens which can open as wide as the hole on the back or close small. This opening is called the F stop.

The larger the number on the lens say F22 the smaller, a larger opening is like F2
my particular lens goes from F16 to F2
so large number small opening, small number large opening.

The smaller the F stop the more depth of field you get.

Depth of field is the focus point from the camera to and beyond the subject matter.
if you use F22, everything from the camera past the subject will be in focus.
if you use say F 8, focus is lost some distance betweent the camera and subject and from infinity back toward the camera of the same distance.
Therefore if you want everything in perfect focus use the smaller opening or larger number.
You may wonder why not then just use F22
Two main reasons, sometimes you won't have enough light to expose the film and you may have to open the iris to let in more light for the exposure
second reason
If you were taking wedding photos and you want to have the background blured to bring attention to the bride and groom, you can open the lens up and create that special effect.
another reason is have you seen the photos which tend to make you believe the water on the falls or the creek is running even in a still photo?
Well there is a trick to that, first you have to shoot the photo in low light, either early morning or late evening for reduced light
Then you have to have the lens opened up farther and then set the shutter for a longer period of time so the exposure is long, thus creating the movement look, the film is actually recording the water movement because it isn't stop action on the film, so the spray and movement are being recorded over the top for a bit longer creating the movement look on the photo.
This is why an SLR allows you to do things other cameras simply won't allow you to do, it allows you to be very creative.

 

The Nikon FM2 in Chrome and Black
a lot of people prefer the chrome and black
but for some reason professionals prefer the solid black
they are identical other than color in operaton and durability.

Note on the left side of the lens mount area is a blade type switch with white on it, this is the timer, if you put this on a tri pod or other surface and have it focused and set the apature and shutter speed, you can pull down on the timer and get yourself into the photo it gives you time to do so. One other use is to use it and not hand hold it and it will not have photographer shake when you take the photograph.

the lever next to it on the left by the lens mount is the lens release, to change lenses or to take a lens off to clean it or the mirror, you need to move this switch to disengage the lens from the camera.

on the right side of the lens mount is a round button down low. This is the depth of field preview button. Before you take a photograph with this camera you can get your settings the way you want them for the shutter and F stop and while looking through the lens it will show you how your exposer is going to look. Very useful if your doing exacting work, like evidence photography, or anything where clarity and exposer are critical.

up higher on the right side you see a round plug, this is where your flash sync attaches to tell the flash when the camera is taking a flash photo to keep it in time with the camera.
if you use a flash on top of the camera on the flash mount, it will connect to the flash with the hotshoe, but if you use a seperate flash not mounted or you wish to put an angle to the flast, then you need to hook the sync cord to the camera via this plug in.

 

Nikon FM2 back

The back of the camera holds the film against the film plane and provides the camera interior with absolute darkness, no light. If there were any light entering the film place the film would become esposed and damage the film.
The square box on the back is to tear off the flap on the film box and to insert, this tells you the film ASA/ISO speed and the brand and kind of film, when you change film to another type or speed change this out also.

Film ASA/ISO

ASA and ISO basicly are the same thing
It is a standard all film makers follow for speed or sensitivity of film
Kodak is not the only brand of film made, there is Fuji, Ilford and others
there speeds differ and so dose their use.
The internet can provide you lots of details about 35mm film and what each film does best, worst, and what the film type was produced for

A friend of mine used to get Hollywood Film called 5247 which is what they used commerically and it could be used with different speeds on the same film.
He seemed to like it and got different results from it.

I purchased my first 35 SLR camera because of this friend, Alan Rich, he loaned me his Pentax MX camera for a trip I went on to Missouri, and the results I got were unreal.
I liked that camera so well I purchased one exactly like it, last summer my son used the camera and got great results still.

I got the Nikon because I like the large bright viewfinder and the faster 1/250 th of a second on the flash.
I purchased the Nikon for about $119 dollars on Ebay, so even a great camera can be had for a decen price.
Digital is the new way to do things, but so far none can match the brilliance, clarity and texture of the film.
Digital is coming a long ways now and the high end digitals are SLR's just like the film cameras. One day they will approach film and they are cheaper because of no film purchase or development.
However you still can't be as creative with a digital as you can be a film camera at this point.

 

The Nikon FM2 in Black
The prefered color for professionals
some say because it is not noticed as much
others say because the way it looks, there are many reasons, personal preference most likely.

 

Bottom of Nikon FM2

left see the motorwinder head where the motorwinder mounts to wind the film via an electric motor.
the button below that is pushed in after the roll of film has been exposed to allow you to rewind the film, it is a safety device to ensure the film stays advanced and dosen't slip backward.
The hole right of center is threaded to allow you to mount the camera on a tri pod to steady it for timed exposures or distances with telephoto lenses.

the screw to the right is for the two stacked batteries much like a watch battery, the batteries in the FM2 serve only one function for the on board light meter since it is a manual only camera.

the four contacts on the far right are to be used with the motorwinder for the electrical contacts to tell the winder when the shot was taken to advance the film correctly.

 

Top of Nikon FM2 controls

ASA/ISO dial shutter speed is on the oustide of the dial, it is set now to 125 which is 1/125 of a second which is how fast the shutter opens and shuts. On this camera it is highlighted in red, which means that speed is syncronized to the flash at that speed, so when using a flash with this camera you have to shoot at that speed to make it work properly with the flash attachment.
My FM2 uses 1/250 th of a second for flash giving it more capability to stop action with a flash shot.
My Pentax uses flash at 1/60 th of a second which limits it by not being able to stop action very well.

A rule to remember is if you have enough light to do so, use 125th or higher speed to stop action, to include movement from you the photographer!

The window inside the dial on the left is the film speed. Typically film can be purchased in 25, 64, 100, 200, 400, 1000, 1600, and 3200 ASA
These numbers are the film sensitivity to light. 25 ASA needs bright sunlight or powerful flash, but the grain is very small and produces the most beautiful photos you can imagine.
On the other end of the spectrum is 3200 ASA, it is very sensitive to light and can be used at night time and will produce photos in very low light but will be grainy and fuzzy at times.

I normally use 200ASA because it gives a good blend of low light and low grain, it is great for most things you photograph.

My father used 64 ASA Kodachrome slide film, his results were spectacular but again you have to use it in bright daylight or with a flash unit.

 

Nikon FM2 body without lens top of camera

back of camera down
left film winder, center viewfinder with flash mount on top
right of viewfinder is ASA/ISO and shutter speed dial
chrome button is exposure button, far right film advance
above film advance is exposure window telling you how many photos you have taken on that roll

 

Nikon 50MM Lens for 35MM cameras
50mm is the standard lens for all 35mm cameras
When I say standard, the 50mm lens sees closer to what the human eye sees with a 35mm camera

Therefore on a 35mm, the 50 is standard, anything under say a 28mm is wide angle, and anything over 50 becomes telephoto say a 300mm.

Wide angle is useful in taking shots of buildings or where room is limited where you can't put distance between you and the subject say inside a building where space is limited.
The wide angle will actualy take a much sharper photograph than the standard 50 but is not always like the human eye would see it.
The Telephoto brings the subject from far away to closeup, like when photographing wildlife, if the Bear isn't close then you can zoom in on him to get the photograph.
Also with the telephoto, you can keep your distance and often the animals won't know
your there and more natural shots can be made.
On a different format camera called the two and a quarter by two and a quarter
2.25x2.25 format, the standard lens is a 90mm to see what the human eye sees.
The 2.25x2.25 has a film size of 2.25 inches x 2.25 inches which gives it superior
quality because the film exposed is so much larger and when enlarged the grain is smaller on the same speed of film as the 35mm
2.25 x 2.25 cameras are the norm of Professionals and are quite expensive, there are several manufacutrers of these larger format cameras such as Rollieflex, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Bronica and Pentax.
The two most popular are Hasselblad and Mamiya
You can expect to pay from $1,500 up for only the body of a medium format camera.
Most medium format 2.25 and 35mm cameras are sold body only, lenses are extra!

There are even larger format cameras, one I own, called a 4 x 5 which produces a negative which measures 4 inches x 5 inches in size there again increasing the size of the negative and producing great blow ups because a 4 x 5 is only doubled once to produce an 8 x 10 photograph.
There are even 8 x 10 cameras so the negative can be made as a contact print with no enlarging to produce an 8 x 10 photograph. These cameras are expensive if bought new, but Ebay has great deals because so few use these cameras anymore.
If you wished to do portrait photography, medium and large format cameras are an excellent choice!

 

Nikon MD12 Motorwinder

 

Nikon FM2 with an MD 12 Motor Winder attached

This option will automatically wind the film as the photographs are taken, advancing the film across the film plane at an accellerated rate. Different models go different speeds such as 3 to 5 frames per second.
This would enable you to shoot really fast to stop action say at a raceway, basketball game or other sporting event with very fast action.

 

Nikon Data back

This data back is an option, it can be programed to record on the film when the photograph is taken, certain informaton, such as exposer, time and date and other information if you choose.

Discuss data back use vs not using it!

 

Nikon FM2 Film Plane back removed

Film Winder top left with stem down through camera
Used to hold film magazine, and keep film flat along film plane, also used to rewind film after exposers are taken.
This particular SLR requires you to engage a release to lift the winder upward to insert or remove film magazines, if you don't engage the release, you may break the winder lock.

Viewfinder center SLR means single lens reflex, what you see is what you get looking through whatever lens is attached to the 35MM camera flash mount on top of viewfinder
most modern slr's show the shutter speed and F stop in the viewfinder as well

Top right, Shutter speed dial, Film ASA/ISO dial ajusts for different film speeds and for different shutter speeds.
Also on top far right is the Film Advance lever, after each shot this must be wound to advance the film across the film plane for the next exposer.