Found my Kodak Master Photoguide

by Stanley LearyPhotography

Found this in the drawer today, and it took me down memory lane. What is it, you might ask?

Well, while this Kodak Master Photoguide has been gathering dust, the book’s insides are burned into my brain from years of using this book over and over to help me learn the principles of photography.

Here is what is on the first page of the book to tell you how to use it and what I did:

You can carry this Photoguide with you when you take pictures so it will be handy when you need it. It’s just the right size to fit in your pocket, purse, or camera bag. The Master Photoguide contains in compact form a great deal of information normally found in photo books. You’ll find it useful whether or not you have an exposure meter or an automatic camera. This Photoguide will help you set your camera for the correct exposure, select filters, use supplementary lenses for close-ups, determine depth of field and much more.
In addition, the Photoguide is especially helpful for planning purposes to show you in advance what the photographic requirements will be for the pictures you want to take.

The “Sunny 16 Rule” is on the Daylight Exposure Dial. I often used this dial because my earliest camera didn’t have a meter. You lined up your ISO with one of these:

  • Daylight or Hazy Sun
    • On light sand or snow
    • Average
  • Weak, Hazy Sun
  • Cloudy Bright
  • Heavy Overcast
  • Open Shade
On light sand or snow, dial your ISO, and the corresponding ƒ/16 would be the exposure, and the shutter speed would be the closest to 1/ISO.
 
 
I would often pull this little book out when planning a new adventure, find the tap, and then flip to the page. The text says, “the Photoguide is especially helpful for planning purposes.”
 
 
Click on the photo to see it larger.

Click on the photo above to see the existing light choices.

Click on the photo to see it larger.

The little book even helped you figure out your depth of field. Say you were to put a lens on the backboard in a basketball game. What ƒ-the number will you need to be sure the rim to the player’s faces is in focus. The calculator for depth of field would help you in planning. Back then, you would have to buy the proper ISO film for such a situation. The Kodak book helped you preplan.

Even planning on doing some macro work with extension tubes or bellows would help you figure out the proper exposure because we couldn’t take the photo and adjust immediately. Instead, you would have to go and process the film and then see the results.

For those of you starting, you need to know for most of us; we had to work at understanding the principles because the learning curve over time was longer with film. You didn’t click and look at an LCD to see your results. Sometimes it would be weeks after you got back from traveling for coverage for a month or so on the road.

While this book isn’t as necessary to the photographer’s bag, it is still relevant for those wanting to see principles of exposure on a dial. In addition, it is great for planning what you might need on your next assignment.

The best part is this book was like a cheat sheet for photography.