When a camera takes a picture, it captures the light that is reflected or emitted by objects in the scene. The camera's lens focuses the incoming light onto a photosensitive surface, such as a digital sensor or film, which records the intensity and color of the light at each point. However, it's important to note that a camera doesn't capture light from every possible direction simultaneously.
The camera's lens has a specific field of view, which determines the range of angles from which it can gather light. Only the light rays that enter the lens within its field of view are focused onto the sensor or film, forming the image. Light rays that don't enter the lens within this range are not captured by the camera.
In other words, the camera has a limited angle of view, and it can only capture light from the objects that fall within that angle. The lens and the camera's physical structure, including the size and shape of the aperture, determine the specific field of view.
Additionally, the camera's settings, such as the aperture size and the focal length of the lens, affect how much of the scene is in focus and how much light is captured. Adjusting these settings allows photographers to control the depth of field and exposure of the image.
So, while light does bounce from objects in all directions, a camera captures a specific portion of that light based on its field of view and the settings chosen by the photographer. The resulting image represents the objects and their illumination within the camera's limited perspective.