Mees Science of Photography 1931

The Science of Photography
Author(s): C. E. Kenneth Mees

Source: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 32, No. 5 (May, 1931), pp. 407-421
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
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THE SCIENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY'
By Dr. C. E. KENNETH MEES
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, ROCHESTER, N. Y.
UNTIL quite recently, the scientific problems the pursuit of which brought
world has shown little interest in the them into contact rather closely with the
science of photography as distinguished development of photographic science.
from its practice. Even the references The science of photography deals with
to photographic theory in general text- the physics and chemistry of light-sensi-
books are brief and frequently mislead- tive substances and especially of the
ing. The introduction of sound into silver compounds used in the art of
motion pictures, however, has brought photography. It touches at many points
the subject to the attention of a new the fundamental sciences from which it
section of the scientific public. That is derived. Its physics is a branch of
introduction was brought about by phys- physical optics, and in chemistry it
icists and engineers trained primarily comes in contact principally with phys-
in the science of electricity, and when ical, colloid and organic chemistry. The
they started to apply the methods of apparatus and methods used in photo-
sound recording to motion pictures, they graphic research have, however, become
were, of course, faced with photographic very specialized; its experimental meth-
ods are in many respects quite different
1 Being the ninth annual Sigma Xi address,
delivered December 30, 1930, on the occasion
from those employed in other fields of
of the meeting of the American Association for scientific work.
the Advancement of Science, Cleveland, Ohio. The subject falls naturally into two
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S[NOS/6/t74'
AND
ANA47Z COWWWAW4PHY
FIG. 1. DIAGRAM OF RELATION OF SCIENCES.
407
408 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY
divisions: (1) the study of the light- phenomena of exposure and develop-
sensitive substance itself and the ment, comprise that part of the science
changes which it undergoes in its trans- of photography which deals with the
formation into an image; (2) the proper- nature of the photographic process itself.
ties of that image when obtained and 2. Further, the science of photography
their relation to the original distribution deals with the nature of the final image
of light and shade by which the image produced and its relation to the optical
was produced. image from which it was formed. This
1. The light-sensitive substance which also may be divided into sections:
is used in modern photography, and E. The relation between the bright-
which is known as the "emulsion," is ness of the various areas of the image
produced by precipitating silver bromide and that of the corresponding areas of
-usually containing some silver iodide the original, which is known as "the
-in the presence of gelatin, washing out theory of tone reproduction."
all the water soluble substances present, F. The structure of the image itself.
and drying it down into a thin film The sharpness which is obtained in a
coated on a support, which may be glass, photographic image is of importance
cellulose base film, or paper. The light- primarily in connection with the resolv-
selnsitive layer thus consists of a sheet of ing power of the photographic material.
gelatin which, in the case of materials Photographic images show a certain
used for making negatives, is about 40 amount of graininess, and in connection
microns thick, and in which are im- with their use as measuring instruments
bedded grains of silver bromide of an small distortions occur, the nature and
approximately triangular or hexagonal extent of which have been studied.
shape, varying in size from less than 1/2 G. The spectral sensitivity of the ma-
to 4 to 5 millimicrons in diameter. terials, both natural and after treatment
When these crystals are affected by with optical sensitizing dyes, occupies an
light, they undergo a change, as a result important place in the science of photog-
of which, when placed in a photographic raphy.
developer, which is an alkaline solution H. Finally, in order to apply photo-
of a weak reducing agent, the silver graphic materials in photometry, we
bromide of the grain is transformed into need a knowledge of the theory of tone
micro-crystalline metallic silver. reproduction, the characteristic curve,
The study of these phenomena can be the developing properties of the mate-
divided into four different sections: rial, and the spectral sensitivity; in fact,
A. The nature of the change which the we must be in a position to apply our
silver halide crystals undergo when they whole knowledge of the science of pho-
are affected by light. tography to the subject.
B. The nature of the product of that In the early history of photography,
change; that is, the material produced investigators were occupied chiefly in
which enables development to be effected. attempting to improve the processes
C. The physical chemistry of the de- themselves with a view to obtaining
velopment process itself. photographic results of better quality or
D. The relation of the size and sensi- taking photographs with a shorter time
tiveness of the different crystals to the of exposure. Whatever strictly scientific
effect produced after development; that investigation there was was concerned
is, to the curve showing the relation be- with theories of the action of light and
tween the exposure and the mass of the part played by it in the production
silver produced. of the image. Quantitative measure-
These four sections, dealing with the ments of the photographic process were
THE SCIENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY 409
0Id
0. - -4 - 1-0 1.3 l.6 j 9 Z 2S 2.6 3.1

LOG E
FIG. 2. CHARACTERISTIC CURVE.
not made until more than thirty years other workers, but it has recently been
after photography had been established shown that the relation is only approxi-
as a medium for the reproduction of mate and that there is a considerable
images, and modern photographic science departure from true proportionality
dates primarily from the publication in with variations of exposure and develop-
1820 by Ferdinand Hurter and V. C. ment. A deposit transmitting approxi-
Driffield of a paper entitled "Photo- mately one tenth of the incident light,
chemical Investigations," in which they that is, having a density of 1, contains
studied systematically the relation be- about 1/10 mg of silver per square
tween exposure and development and centimeter of the film.
the deposit of silver produced in the Basing their studies on their defini-
photographic process. tion of density, Hurter and Driffield
They first defined the photographic exposed photographic plates for definite
density, D, as being the logarithm of the times to a standard candle by means of
opacity, which was defined as the inverse a rotating wheel having cut-out sectors.
of the transparency. Thus, if we have a The plates were developed, fixed, washed,
light of intensity I incident upon a pho- dried, and the densities plotted on a
tographic deposit, and I' is transmitted, chart with the logarithm of the exposure
2T (the transparency) = I'l, as abscissae and the densities as ordi-
O (the opacity) = I/I' = i/T, nates, as is shown in Fig. 2. This shows
and
what is known as the characteristic curve
D = density = logarithm of I/l' or - log I'/I.
of an emulsion. There are three fairly
Hurter and Driffield showed experi- well-defined regions of the curve. Thus,
mentally that the density D of a given from A to B, we have the initial part,
silver deposit is proportional to the mass convex to the log E axis, which may be
of silver per unit area contained in the termed the "region of under-exposure";
deposit. This result was confirmed by between B and C, known as the "region
of correct exposure " (the increase of they had done in measuring the quan-
density is practically constant for each titative relations of the image, but in
increase of exposure, being arithmetical the course of time it has become clear
for each geometric increase of ex- that the nature of the action of light
posure); and in the third region, from upon the photographic material and of
C to D, this arithmetical increase fails, the product of that action must be
until the density becomes constant; this sought by a study of the individual
is the "region of over-exposure." By grains rather than by the measurement
prolongation of the straight-line portion of the total density.
of the curve, the log E axis is cut at a The study of the action of light on
point which Hurter and Driffield termed the individual crystal grains was com-
the "inertia," which, when divided into menced by Svedberg in Upsala in 1920.
a factor, gives the "speed" of the plate. Svedberg spread out the emulsion in a
Hurter and Driffield studied the effect very thin layer so that he could count
of the duration of development upon the number of grains occurring in a unit
this characteristic curve and found that area and classified these according to
within certain limits the curve rotates their size. Another portion of the layer
around the inertia point, the effect of was then exposed and developed and the
development being measured as an in- silver removed by means of a silver sol-
crease in the slope of the straight line vent, and the grains of silver bromide
portion, which they termed the " de- which had not been developed and re-
velopment factor," and to which they moved were then counted. In this way
assigned the Greek letter y. The in- Svedberg established the fact that the
crease of y with time of development is likelihood of a grain becoming exposed
exponential, a limit being reached with followed the laws of probability, and
prolonged development, which is gen- that the larger grains were more likely
erally known as gamma infinity (v oo). to become exposed than the smaller
Photographic materials therefore may grains. This work was followed up in
be classified by the values which they England by the staff of the British
give for the inertia, a measure of the Photographic Research Association and
insensitiveness of the material, and of in our laboratory by S. E. Sheppard,
YoO, which is a measure of the limiting A. P. II. Trivelli, E. P. Wightman, and
contrast which can be obtained, while others, and the sensitiveness relations of
the reproduction of tone values may be the individual grains of photographic
expressed as the shape of Hurter and emulsions were soon worked out. As an
Driffield's characteristic curve. Hurter explanation of the facts found, Svedberg
and Driffield thus established photo- suggested that the sensitivity is concen-
graphic science on a firm quantitative trated in certain specks on the surface of
basis, which the work of many other the grains, and Clark and Toy of the
investigators has expanded and modi- British Research Association considered
fied in details without affecting the that these specks must be composed of
foundation which they laid down. some material alien to silver bromide.
Like all photographic investigators, The nature of the specks has been eluci-
Hurter and Driffield were interested in dated as a result of the work by Shep-
the reaction which silver halide under- pard on gelatin. Sheppard and Punnett
goes when exposed to light and in the had found that in gelatin there is pres-
nature of the product of that reaction, ent some material which, when added to
on which development is based. They an emulsion during manufacture, would
thought that information as to this enhance the sensitivity, and this material
could be obtained from the work which was found to be dissolved out during the
POO
.5 Rate of development
l o dt K(y40
dy y)
c 20 40 bo 80 loo I2O
Time in mins. Curve calc.
FIG. 3. INCREASE OF y WITH TIME OF DEVELOPMENT.
acid wash which follows the liming of school holding that the latent image con-
the raw materials used in the manufac- sisted of a sub-halide of silver and the
ture of photographic gelatin. Sheppard other that it consisted of metallic silver.
concentrated the material from the acid There were various other suggestions,
wash liquors and after a great deal of such as that the latent image represented
work identified it as allyl mustard oil. merely a physical strain of some kind in
He showed that this, after being trans- the silver halide and not a definite chem-
formed into allyl thiocarbamide, reacts ical compound. At the present time,
with silver bromide and forms a crystal- however, almost all photographic work-
line addition product which breaks down ers are agreed that the latent image is
to give silver sulfide. The special sen- composed of metallic silver, which in
sitiveness of the silver bromide crystals development acts as a nucleus for the
occurring in high speed emulsions can deposition of further silver produced by
therefore be ascribed to the presence on the reduction of the silver halide by the
their surface of ultra-microscopic specks developer. A theory of the mechanism
of silver sulfide. This suggestion, ad- of exposure therefore has to account for
vanced in 1925, has met successfully the the reduction of silver halide or silver
criticism directed against it and the sulfide or both to metallic silver at the
theory is now generally accepted. points on a silver halide crystal where
Throughout the history of photog- specks of silver sulfide occur. A num-
raphy there has been much controversy ber of hypotheses have been offered to
as to the nature of the material produced elucidate this mechanism, among which
from light-sensitive materials by expos- should be mentioned the concentration
ure to light which permits their subse- speck theory of Sheppard, Trivelli and
quent development. The exposed ma- Wightman, according to which the en-
terial is generally said to contain a ergy falling on the whole crystal is con-
"latent image, " and there has been much centrated at a boundary between the sil-
speculation as to the nature of this latent ver sulfide specks and the silver bromide
image. Some thirty years ago there were and there effects liberation of metallic
two rival theories on this subject, one silver by the release of bromine atoms.
Recently Toy and Trivelli have called K2Fe (C204) 2 + K2Q004 +

attention to the importance of the photo- AgBr:? K.Fe (C0O4)3 + KBr + Ag.
conductivity effect; that is, the increase If the developed image is treated with
of the conductivity of silver halide when a solution of potassium ferri-oxalate and
exposed to light, which, linked with the potassium bromide, the silver bromide is
production of photopotential under the reformed and this is therefore a simple
influence of light, may possibly develop reversible reaction.
a complete mechanism for the exposure When we deal with organic reducing
of the photographic material. compounds, the development reaction is
The photoelectric phenomena associ- very much complicated because these
ated with exposure are also being studied compounds will not reduce silver bro-
by the use of layers of silver halide on mide when alone in solution, and their
silver plates free from gelatin. These oxidation products react with the other
when exposed to light produce a potential necessary components of the solution.
first in one direction and then in the op- Thus, in one of the simplest cases, the
posite, the explanation offered being that oxidation product of hydroquinone,
the first potential corresponds to the re- quinone, will react even with alkali,
lease of electrons from the silver bromide which must be present in order to permit
which reach the silver plate and charge hydroquinone to develop at all, while in
it negatively, these being followed by the the usual developer, containing both al-
slower moving bromine atoms which are kali and sulfite, the reactions are very
positively charged. complicated, the hydroquinone being
Turning from exposure to develop- eventually removed from activity by
ment, the idea that the latent image acts its transformation into hydroquinone
as a nucleus for development has for sulfonates. In the case of the other de-
many years been accepted as the basis veloping agents-pyrogallol, paramino-
for theories of photographic develop- phenol, and its substituted derivatives-
ment, and the development reaction itself the chemistry of the reaction and the
can be dealt with as a problem in chem- end products are not known at all.
ical dynamics, it being treated as a The velocity of development is usually
heterogeneous reaction involving the so- followed in photographic work as an in-
lution, reduction and deposition of the crease of the H and D development fac-
solid silver bromide by the developer. tor y; that is, the slope of the straight.
The chemical reactions which the de- line portion of the characteristic curve.
veloper itself undergoes are very com- This increases rapidly at first and then,
plicated in the case of the organic de- more slowly until it reaches a limit,
velopers. A very simple developmnent which is known as "z oo " corresponding
reaction is that which occurs with the of course to a limit of density which can
ferrous oxalate developer, and this may be developed for a single exposure, Doo.c
perhaps be taken as the prototype The relation between y and time of de-
for photographic development. Ferrous velopment is an exponential one and-
oxalate, which is insoluble in water, dis- can be represented approximately by-
solves in potassium oxalate to form a red the usual equation of the first order, so
solution of potassium ferro-oxalate. This that the progress of development can be-
reacts with silver bromide, reducing it stated in terms of two factors:
to metallic silver, and produces potas-
yt = X o (l- e-kt),
sium ferri-oxalate and potassium bro-
mide. The reaction can be represented z co the limit to which development can be-
by the following equation: carried, and K, the velocity constant of
FI 4. CYCLE O TONE P
FIG. 4. CYCLE OF TONE RIEPRODUCTION.
development. Thus with the practical this can conveniently be treated as the
developers used, this simple equation physical brightness modified and inter-
does not hold perfectly and various preted by the eye and brain, and since
closer approximations are employed to it can be shown that throughout a wide
represent the facts with the organic range the apparent brightness is propor-
developing agents. tional to the physical brightness, it is
Turning to the study of the final usually sufficient in photography for
image produced as a representation of tone reproduction to deal with the phys-
natural objects, when a photograph of ical tones in the original and the repro-
a natural object is made, the form can duction.
be represented only by differences in The cycle involved in tone reproduc-
brightness. The accuracy with which tion is illustrated in Fig. 4. In the
the form is represented depends upon right top corner, the object, in the
the precision with which the tones of form of a cross, is supposed to be illu-
the original subject are reproduced, and minated by sunlight and is viewed by
this subject, generally known as "the an eye the image in which is conveyed
theory of tone reproduction," is funda- to the brain and there produces a sub-
mental to every photographic applica- jective impression corresponding to the
tion. Psychologically, it is the apparent objective image on the retina. An image
brightness which is of importance, but of the object is projected by means of
0.?
LOG rYMPosURS
FIG. 5. CHARACTERISTIC CURVE OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING PAPER.
a lens on to the sensitive material which, darkest, is very low, and such a subject
after chemical treatment, gives a silver would be called flat; a contrast of 1 to
image (a negative), corresponding to 10 is a medium soft contrast; 1 to 20, a
the various degrees of brightness in the strong contrast; 1 to 40, very strong;
original object. This negative is then and 1 to 100 an extreme degree of con-
printed upon the positive material, trast. All these degrees of contrast, for
which, after similar treatment, gives a instance, occur in landscapes, street, and
positive which is viewed usually at a seashore scenes. (See pages 418, 419,
brightness level different from that by 420.)
which the original object was viewed When an image of a natural object is
and produces again a subjective im- produced in a camera, the relative bright-
pression. The whole cycle of tone re- nesses of the various tones will not be the
production is expressed by the relation same as those which were observed by
of the subjective impression produced by the eye because the light in traveling
the positive print to the subjective im- from the object to the sensitive material
pression produced by the original ob- in the camera will have suffered a cer-
ject, but in practice it is sufficient to tain degree of scattering which will
compare the objective print with the affect the distribution of brightness
objective original. among the various tones of the image.
There may be some scattering in the air,
The brightness differences which occur
in nature may be due to differences in and there will certainly be a good deal
either the reflecting power of the various of diffuse light produced by the lens
portions of the subject or the illumina- system. This will tend to lower the con-
tion. Since in natural scenes both the trast in the image as compared with that
reflecting power and the illumination of the original.
vary-some parts of a landscape con- In the making of the negative, the
sisting of clouds in sunlight and others reproduction of tone will depend upon
of dark rocks in the shade-the range the characteristic curve of the photo-
of contrast is often very considerable. graphic material, as shown in Fig. 2.
For photographic purposes a scale or If the exposure is so arranged that all
contrast of 1 to 4, in which the brightest tones of the original subject fall on
the
thing is only four times as bright as the the straight line portion of this curve,
the inverse reproduction in the negative lar in structure, and its sharpness de-
will be proportional, and if, in addition pends upon the structure both of the
to this, development is so arranged that developed image and also of the sensi-
the negative has a y, that is, slope of the tive emulsion. The sharpness of the
straight line, of unity, then the repro- image may be expressed as the "density
duction will be correct. In the print gradient at the edge." Suppose that a
also, it is necessary that y should be sharp knife edge be placed upon the
unity, or, if the y of the printing mate- emulsion and a collimated beam of light
rial is not unity, it is necessary that the be allowed to fall normally upon the
y of the negative should be modified emulsion surface. Then after develop-
suitably, so that y.eg. x YpOS. -1. ment the density at various distances
The last step in the making of a photo- from the edge may be measured with a
graph is the printing of the negative, microphotometer. If the density be
and where the print is to be viewed by then plotted as a function of the dis-
reflected light it is this step which intro- tance into the geometric shadow of the
duces the largest amount of distortion edge, the resultant curve may be termed
in the reproduction of the tones. As the "sharpness curve," the sharpness
is seen in Fig. 6 the straight line portion being the angle of the straight line por-
of a paper curve is usually short, and it tion of this curve. Two functions of the
is necessary in printing, moreover, to emulsion influence the form of this
utilize at least the under-exposure por- curve: one is the spreading of light into
tion of the paper curve. In making a the emulsion, which depends upon the
paper print, therefore, the tone values reflection and refraction by the crystals
are always distorted to some extent, es- of silver halide and on their absorption
pecially those in the highlights corre- of the light; the amount of this spread-
sponding to the under-exposure portion ing can be computed. This effect is
of the paper curve, only the portion of known as the "turbidity" of the emul-
the picture falling on the straight line sion, and it is measured by the increase
portion of the characteristic curve of the in the width of an image of a slit. The
paper being correctly rendered. increase of the width of such a slit is
The computation of the tone repro- proportional to the logarithm of the
duction in any photographic operation exposure, and the constant of propor-
is of great importance, especially in the tionality, termed by Ross the "astro-
applications of photography, such as gamma," is a measure of the turbidity.
processes of color photography or the The other factor in sharpness is the de-
reproduction of sound. This computa- velopment factor; that is, the slope of
tion can be performed by means of the characteristic curve, but the develop-
graphic diagrams incorporating the ment factor at the edge of an image is
characteristic curves of the negative not identical with that for a large area
and positive materials, and it is possible owing to the great variation in the de-
therefore to follow the whole process of velopment reaction in such a case over
the reproduction of tone in photography very short distances. Since the tur-
from the brightnesses of the original ob- bidity and absorption of an emulsion
ject to the distribution of light and vary with the wave-length, the sharp-
shade in the finished print. ness curve also varies with the wave-
In scientific work the physical nature length.
of the developed photographic image is Since the developed photographic im-
often of considerable importance. As age has a grain structure, it follows that
has been explained, the image is granu- under magnification any image must ap-
imperceptible, provided that all other

factors upon which depends the ability
of the eye to distinguish homogeneity
are constant. In order to avoid errors
due to differences in the criterion, the
distance at which the graininess to be
I measured disappears is compared with
the distance at which structures of
known periods disappear. Cross-line
screens are chosen as the fixed structures
with which the graininess is to be com-
pared, so that a given graininess may
be expressed by saying that it is equiva-
lent to a screen of 3,000 lines to an inch,
it being implied by this that a 3,000 line
to the inch screen and the graininess in
question would both just become visible
at the same magnification.
The resolving power of a photographic
material is a complex matter dependent
on the sharpness and on the graininess,
and as would be expected, the resolving
power is not a fixed constant for a pho-
5 10 15 A
tographic material but is dependent
FIG. 6. SHARPNESS CURVE.
both on exposure and on development, a
pear broken up to an extent range of resolving powers from 40 to 80
depending
on the size and arrangement of the being sometimes obtainable by modifica-
grains. There are three phases in the tion of development and exposure, which
inhomogeneity of a photographic de- affect all three factors: the penetration
posit: (1) graininess due to the exis- of the light, the development factor, and
tence of the individual particles of the graininess, which enter into the de-
silver; (2) graininess due to clumping termination of resolving power.
of these particles and (3) graininess due The resolving power is best deter-
to the agglomeration of the clumps. It mined practically by photographing
should be understood that these phases narrow lines close together and observ-
are not separated by any distinct line of ing the closeness of the lines which can
demarcation but merge by impercept- just be resolved. Laboratory tests of
ible gradations into each other. The photographic resolving power, however,
can not be applied directly without cor-
impression of graininess is the result not
only of the size of the grains of whichrection to physical measurements. In
laboratory tests the contrast between
the deposit is composed but also of their
distribution and arrangement in group- light and shade in the detail is very high
ings of various kinds. and the optical system is arranged to
The graininess may be measured and enable this high contrast to be obtained.
specified numerically, the method used In astronomical work the contrasts in
depending upon the assumption that the fine detail are not nearly so great, and
graininess of a deposit is directly pro- very often the resolving power of the
portional to the distance at which the optical system, including the atmos-
appearance of graininess becomes just phere, is of the same order as that of
TE[E SCIENCE OF PHOTOGRAPH-Y 417
the photographic material. Under these spectrum, in addition to their normal

conditions the resolving power of the sensitiveness for the shorter wave-
material is greatly diminished because lengths, obtained by the addition of
of the low contrast of the object photo- erythrosine to the emulsion. The intro-
graphed. In spectroscopy the theoret- duction of the polymethine dyes has
ical resolving powers are more likely to made it possible without difficulty to
be applicable for bright line emission prepare materials sensitive to the whole
spectra, but in absorption spectra and to of the visible spectrum, their sensitive-
solmie extent in emission spectra the re- niess to red and gree-n being only slightly
solving power must be measured for the inferior to the sensitiveness to the blue-
experimental conditions obtaining. The violet. Since the eye is very insensitive
resolving power is of course dependent to the blue-violet in comparison with its
on the wave-length. sensitivity for the green and orange, in
The light-sensitive compounds of silver order to get orthochromatic reproduc-
are sensitive primarily to radiation of tion it is necessary to use a yellow filter
wave-lengths less than 500 mp1, to diminish
and their the amount of the blue light
sensitiveness to the longer wave-lengths forming the image, and in this way col-
of the spectrum is exceedingly slight. ored objects may be reproduced so that
As early as 1873, however, it was dis- the relative intensities are directly com-
covered by Vogel that sensitivity to parable with those seen by the eye.
longer wave-lengths could be conferred The very high sensitiveness now avail-
by the treatment of the emulsion with able throughout the spectrum eliminates
certain dyes. Sinee that time the use any difficulty in making photographs by
of dyes for sensitizing photographic selected light corresponding to any spec-
materials has extended very greatly, so tral region, and a large number of light
that a large proportion of all photo- filters are employed for this puLrpose in
graphs are taken upon materials which photographic work. In color photog-
are sensitive in some degree to the whole raphy and in special work, such as pho-
of the visible spectrum, the use of "pan- tography from the air, it is quite fea-
chromatic" film, as it is termed, being sible to take exposures of very short
almost universal in the motion-picture duration by means of red or green light,
industry. and the photography of spectra, even of
Until recently, the so-called "ortho- stellar spectra, throughout the visible
chromatic" materials were sensitized spectrum presents no difficulties.
only for the yellow-green region of the There are a few dyes whose absorption
Visual and PWhodoraphic Spectra

A
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Visible.
Photographic4hru
Glass-before.1 5I
Photsraphic with Quar+z beFowr1904
Pho+ograph ic- 1904 -1919
Photographic-l919 -1925
Easily-Pho+ographed 1925
Pho-ographed with DiFFicutly-a. PresenTrirne
FliG. 7. EXTENSION OF SPECTRUM.
418 T1HE S(IlENTIFIC AIONTIILY
w~~~~~~~~~~~~~
44~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHED BY BLUjE LTIGHT.
banids and senisitizing pomwer lie in the with an exposure as sliort as 1/50 of a
extreiime red or eveni in the infra-red be- second from very highl levels; lhe obtain-ed
y onlcd tlhe visible spectrum. Krypto- a satisfactory photograplh of the peaks of
cy-an in e, a dye discovered by Adams and the Andes range at a distanice of oVer
Haller, in 1919, enables plhotography to 300 miles, the penetration of the atmos-
be (loile withont difficulty in the spectral plhere byr lioht beinol proportional to t
reoion between 700 ancd 800 mp, anid fouirtlh power of the Awave-lengTth and
very initeresting plhotograplfs lhave been ther efore very great for the extreme red.
ma(le b- its nise. In landscapes plhoto- For the infra-red beyond 800 mip,
graphled by liglht of this -wave-length, which is of great interest to spectro-
for instaniee, the bltue sky a-tppears almostscopists, neocyanine, a dye obtained
black, since verv little ra(liation of this orio inallv as a by-product in the syn-
wave-lenigth is scattered by- the sky, anld tlhesis of kryptoeyauine, has proved -very
the high reflectingcy power of chlorophy-ll valuable, its norimal spectral sensitive-
in this reg ion makes foliag e appear nless extending to 900 mlp, wlhile by
white. These plhenomeina were pointed hypersensitizing anid the use of lono
ont In- r. AV. \Vood more tlhani twenty- exposures, the infra-red ]ine of nmere
five years ago. W. H. Wrigrht anid at 1014 ilmK may be phlotographed( withl-
out
others lave nised kryptocvamnine indifficulty.
their TJsin-g this dye, 1abcock
studies of the snirface of the planiets, ancd
hias puishted the plhotograp)hy of the so
A. AV. Stevens, while on ani expedition spectrumn to 1163 miii[. The extenisi
for the .National GeogTraphic Society, h1as wh-]ichl hias been achlieved in the phiotog-
snieceeded ini m-aking alerial plhotog raplhs raplhy of the spectrumi is illustrated in
THE SCIENCE OF PHOTOGRAPIHY 419
_5- l . ; ................................................;......:.
' : ;' ; ' o } } .-f .
04,~ 4
.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . . .. . .
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHED BY INFRA-RED LIGHT USING A KRYPTO-

CYANINE PLATE.
tlle figure. New work in this field is of the spectrumii. For this purpose ex-
proceeding continually but is slow and posures are usually made through the
difficult. standard set of tricolor filters used for
The measuremenit of the color sensi- color photography, each of them trans-
tiveness of photograplhic materials can mitting approximately one third of the
be accomplished either sensitometrically visible spectruni, their colors being
or by meanis of a spectrograph. A sim- orange-red, oreen and blue-violet. The
ple grating spectrograplh using a tung- characteristic curves obtained through
sten lamp as the source and a wave- these filters are usually of slightly dif-
length scale held in front of the plate ferent shiapes and are rarely strictly
parallel to one another, so that the
so that it is impressed uponi it at the time
of photographing a speetrum is all that sensitomtietric clharacteristics of a photo-
is required, but it is convenient to have graphie miiaterial are dependent upon the
a sector or a neutral tinted wedge in wave-lenogth of the radiation producing
front of the slit by meails of which a an image. No general principles cani be
curve of the sensitiveiness of the mate- laid down as to the variation of grada-
rial is drawvn automatieally so that the tion with wave-length, tlle effect depend-
position of the sensitive bands can be ing upoIn tlle particular emulsion and
seen at a glance. For quantitative mea- sensitiziing dyes which have been em-
surements a more conveilient metlhod of ployed.
dletermininig the sensitiveness is to give One of the most important applica-
a graduated series of exposuLre through tions of photography in scienee is to
color filters transmittincg known regions photometry, ancd no account of the sci
420 THE SCIENTIFIC -MONTHLY
ence of photograplhy would be complete accuracy thirough a rangoe of exposures

without sonme mention of the photo- of one to several lhundred. Over the
graphic methods of photometry. very wide rang e of intensities used in
These methods can be divided into two stellar magniitude determinations, how-
classes: (1) those dependent on the in- ever, the astronomers have preferred to
crease in size of an image with increas- use the formiula
ing intensity or exposure time; (2) those
d = a + b log I
dependent upon the increase of the den-
sity produced in an area of some size. wlich fits the measuremenlts better for
The first method is that used by astrono- greater diameters of the image, though
mers in what is known as the " focal for images of the smallest diameters it
method of the photometry of stars," the does not fit so well as the first formula.
diameter of the star image being mea- The value of the constants a ahd b is
sured. determined on plates exposed to stars of
When an artificial star is photo- known magnitudes, the unknown stars
graphed in the laboratory with a series being interpolated upon the curve. This
of increasing exposures, it is found that method of photometry, which depends
the relation between the diameter of the upon the diameter of the image, is very
image d and the exposure is of the form valuable in astronomy but of little use
d=a+ b logE, in other branches of physics, its appli-
this formula applying with considerable cation even in spectroscopy being pre-
3/,/2 Oa mcc
LANDSCAPE PICTURE SHOWING THE BRIGHTNESS OF VARIOUS PORTIONS OF

THE SCENE AS MEASURED BY A PHOTOMETER AND RECORDED IN METER-
CANDLES.
vented by the varying width and sharp- exposure of the two scales (it is uot
ness of spectral lines. justifiable to assume that time and in-
For most physical pnrposes it is neces- tensity, the two components of exposure,
sary to use measnrements depending are reciprocally equivalent) ; (4) varia-
upon the density of the image produeed, tions owing to the quality of the light.
these densities being then interpolated The scale mriust be made by light of the
on a scale of densities produned by same wave-length as that which pro-
known exposures. It is obvious that duced the exposures to be measured.
the accuracy of photometric measure- Provided that these precautions are
m-ents made in this way will depend taken, the methods of photographic
upon the prodLction of the scale of photometry are capable of giving re-
densities by known exposures under con- sults of very satisfactory accuracy while
ditions which are exactly the same as the convenience of the method is un-
those under which the (lensities to be questionable.
measured are produeed. We must elim- The application of photographic meth-
inate (1) variations owing to the mate- ods in scientific research will undoubt-
rial; i.e., irregularities in sensitiveness, edly continue to increase and will be of
thickness of coating, et(c.; (2) varia- greater valutie if at the same time a
tions owing to the treatment; i.e., dif- knowledge of the science of photography
ferences in developing the intensity scale becomes more widely diffused, since only
and the densities to be mneasured; (3) by that kuowledge can photographic
variations in the intensity or time of methods be most efficiently applied.

Mees Science of Photography 1931

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Mees Science of Photography 1931

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The Science of Photography

Author(s): C. E. Kenneth Mees

American Association for the Advancement of Science is collaborating with JSTOR to

:RE L d2^RSEG tZzEt \ f~~~~~~~~&16Z'5M'Y

0. - -4 - 1-0 1.3 l.6 j 9 Z 2S 2.6 3.1

Recently Toy and Trivelli have called K2Fe (C204) 2 + K2Q004 +

FIG. 4. CYCLE OF TONE RIEPRODUCTION.

FIG. 5. CHARACTERISTIC CURVE OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING PAPER.

imperceptible, provided that all other

the photographic material. Under these spectrum, in addition to their normal

Visual and PWhodoraphic Spectra

Pho+ograph ic- 1904 -1919

FliG. 7. EXTENSION OF SPECTRUM.

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHED BY BLUjE LTIGHT.

' : ;' ; ' o } } .-f .

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHED BY INFRA-RED LIGHT USING A KRYPTO-

ence of photograplhy would be complete accuracy thirough a rangoe of exposures

LANDSCAPE PICTURE SHOWING THE BRIGHTNESS OF VARIOUS PORTIONS OF

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