ComputerHunter.org |
|
|
|||
|
 |
Pinhole Photography: Right Back to Basics
Why Pinhole Photography? It's fun. It's creative. It's educative about the basics that photographers deal with whenever they do their thing. What is Pinhole Photography? At its simplest, a pinhole camera is just a light tight cardboard box with a piece of aluminium pie dish containing a pinhole to expose the film or photographic paper. Of course you need to design a shutter, (your thumb will do), some way to hold the film in place and a system to seal up the opening where you put the film in the pinhole camera. There is no viewfinder; you just point the pinhole camera in the right direction. You can draw some lines on top of the camera to indicate the field of view. Exposure times for pinhole photography are usually measured in minutes. Exposure Determination. Work out your exposure by the hit and miss method, also known as exposure determination by experimentation. This is where you say "Ooooh. I reckon about two minutes." Then if it turns out ok, well and good. But if it's not right, you either double it or halve it for the next exposure, depending on your assessment. Nothing wrong with that method for pinhole photography. Suitable Camera Size. Let's say you're using 4"x5" photographic paper. The diagonal of your paper is about 160mm. If you make the distance from the pinhole to the paper about 50mm to 80mm this will be ok. Length of about half the diagonal of the film. You could make the length 20mm to 50mm giving quite a wide angle. There's nothing to stop you building your pinhole camera around a four foot length of drainpipe giving you a 1200mm telephoto pinhole camera, except that the exposure time might be in the order of several hours or all day. My best pinhole cameras have used 8"x10" film and have a length of 50mm to 70mm. Everything is in focus from 250mm to infinity. Angle of view is around 135 degrees.The light runs off at the edges of the image. Note: 100mm = about 4" End of Technical Stuff. There is much more technical stuff that can be studied but that's all you really need to know to get started. So empty the breakfast cerial packet and build a pinhole camera. Practical Stuff. You can use pretty much anything light tight to make a pinhole camera: biscuit tin, breakfast cerial packet, 20 litre oil drum, golden syrup tin, jam tin, match box, black ice cream container etc. etc. Would you believe you can even use your mouth? Yes, in the darkroom put a short piece of 35mm film in your mouth and close it. Go outside and press the aluminium with the pinhole firmly against your lips, then open your lips for about 10 seconds keeping your head still. Reverse the procedure. You can work out the rest for yourself. Consider whether it will be better/easier to use the end or side of your tin/box. If you use a jam tin you can use alfoil and a rubber band for a lid. Use black paint inside a shiny tin if you have some handy. Invent a shutter. Black plastic and masking tape will do. If you decide on a jam tin or golden syrup tin with the pinhole in the side, consider using a baffle that springs tight against the sides of the tin to fasten your film too. A piece of plastic milk bottle will do. Handy items to have around are: breakfast cerial packet, masking tape, blue tack, plastic milk bottles, rubber bands, alfoil, scissors, knife, glue. Your pinhole camera will give a negative image on your photographic paper. In this modern, computer age it will be possible to scan, change to a positive and computer print. An SLR camera can be used for a pinhole camera simply by removing the lens and attaching a pinhole with black sticky tape. If you are making a pinhole, look for the smallest needle in the set. It's important to have a smooth, burr free pinhole for the sharpest possible image. Ideally, push the tapered section of the needle through in several stages, gently removing the burr with fine wet and dry paper between actions. Rest the foil on cardboard as you push the needle through so you don't stretch the foil. So Build a Pinhole Camera I think that every photographer needs to build at least one pinhole camera and experiment with it. There is so much to be learned from pinhole photography which is photography at its most basic. Laurie McArthur is a wilderness landscape photographer, based on the New South Wales Far South Coast, Australia. Laurie's images may be viewed at http://www.southimage.net/
Google News - Top Stories
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Easy Tips for Digital Photo Touchups Using a digital camera to take pictures is great. It's easy and quick. Just as easy and quick is touching up those digital photos. Is your image too dark? Is there a glare that is affecting the picture quality? Red eyes are often another problem with using a flash. Many of these things and others can be corrected with the use of digital photo touchups. Here are some quick tips to improving your photo quality. Digital Image Files ? Megapixels, Megabytes, or DPI? When I promised readers that I was going to do an article on this topic I was scared. For two reasons - firstly, it's a HUGE subject. I get lots of questions about it, and I see a fair bit of misunderstanding about it. Secondly, there are already a lot of good articles about it on the web, like this one on luminous-landscape.com. Why 1.5 Megapixels is Enough Dots Per Inch is a useful measure of relative resolution. But if you don't know the image size in inches or some other measure of size, then the amount of dots per inch doesn't mean much. That's why DPI is used in conjunction with scanner Specifications, because you know that the size is going to be 3.8 by 1.7 inches! Traveling to Europe with Your Digital Camera? The Vacation Season is fast approaching and naturally you will be taking your digital camera along for the journey. After all your vacations are far and few between and it is nice to look back on those memories as you slave away at your job. However, when you travel with a digital camera, it is a completely different experience from that of traveling with a film camera. This is a lesson that far too many travelers seem to be learning the hard way, especially if you're traveling to Europe. After a couples years of relying solely on digital camera for taking photos when I travel, there are things you should consider before you head off on your next trip. Choosing The Right Digital Camera Let's get something straight right out of the box. If you're looking to buy a new digital camera, you don't really have to be an expert in pixels and mega pixels and all that kind of stuff. If you expect to find that kind of deep technical discussion here, you're in the wrong place. The Beginner Buyers Guide To Digital Cameras, Or The Ins And Outs Of Megapixels The most important part of buying a digital camera is making sure that the one you select meets all of your needs. The Benefits of Underwater Digital Cameras Underwater digital cameras are fun and easy to use under the water and great above the water as well. Use your underwater digital camera in all kinds of weather, for many activities and in a variety of locations that could be either wet or wild. Modeling Portfolio Webites In the age of home phones and 8x10's we all wondered how anyone could ever afford to get into the modeling industry. Even after you invest a small fortune in professional training and other peripheral services, you still have to purchase all of the marketing materials to send to anyone with a mailing address. Tips for Purchasing a Digital Camera Lens Your lens is an essential element to good photographs. It's not just your camera. People spend thousands of dollars on a good camera and neglect the lens. The Truth About Pixels - Part I: Digital Cameras Most digital cameras today boast of greater resolution and picture quality. What does that mean to the amateur or occasional photographer? You hear of cameras with 3 megapixals up to 6 or 7 megapixals. What is that? The book that comes with the camera explains all the buttons, bells and whistles, but does not explain megapixels. Most people do not like to work with numbers much, but it is necessary to understand pixels. So here's my attempt to explain pixels. I'll try not to involve too many numbers. How to Create a Family History Video Memoir with Photos and Interviews of Your Loved Ones Here are examples of two basic videos you can create quickly on a great budget: Let Those Digital Photos Out! (You Don?t Have To Print Them Yourself) What have you done with the photos you've taken with your digital camera? Hands up if they are languishing on your hard drive waiting to be printed. If your hand is up you are not alone. Well I have my hand up too! But I've promised myself that two years worth of digital photography will see the light of day before Christmas. Making Money With Digital Photography And Live Events A few years ago I became interested in digital photography, mainly for web publishing and personal reasons. You know, how nice is it now to NOT have to deal with film, scanning pictures, and the costs of developing all of those "not great" photos that you didn't know were so bad until you paid to have them developed! Digital Cameras vs. Film Cameras- the debate goes on One of the biggest debates in the photography world is whether digital cameras are better or film cameras better? The answer to this question cannot be answered in a simple yes or no. There are several issues which need to be considered while answering this question. A Guide to Underwater Camera Cases If you are buying a new underwater camera or video camera, you will need an underwater camera case. And this case needs to be watertight, airtight, dustproof, crush resistant and designed to keep your valuable equipment safe from all the elements. It may also be rustproof, pest-proof, and chemical resistant to oils, fuels and solvents. It may have flame retardant included and be molded with a UV stabilizer, making it ultraviolet resistant. (This will prevent the plastic from becoming brittle if left in the sun for extended periods of time.) Digital SLR Camera versus a Compact Digital Camera Digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras are excellent cameras that produce clearer, sharper and more colourful images than most point and shoot digital cameras available. With prices falling rapidly, they are now more affordable then ever. With the price gap between an entry model digital SLR camera and the most expensive compact digital camera narrowing; the question is? do I spend the extra money and get a Digital SLR camera? or save a few hundred dollars and purchase the best digital compact camera. Underwater Digital Cameras Underwater photography's is primarily focused towards entertaining and informing the people and the users themselves about what is happening in the world of under water with the aid of photography. The advent of digital cameras has opened up new horizons for such ventures. These digital cameras are not only handy and sleek but also they offer a spectral range of features that helps the underwater photographers in their work a lot. In this discussion these special features of underwater digital cameras are necessarily been revealed and done justice to! How to Create a Great Video - a Simple Guide on How to Shoot Home Movies with a Camcorder So you have bought a camcorder and have shot some footage, but truthfully you don't much like the results. Maybe I can help. My advice is based on ten years of looking over people's shoulders at my business, the Video Kitchen in Louisville Kentucky, where people transfer old home movies, duplicate video tapes they've shot, and edit their raw footage. My staff and I see a lot of mistakes being made. Other times we see exciting footage shot by an amateur who claims to have no education in the art of videography. What makes the difference? Lots of things. I'll cover a few of the biggest issues here. Digital Camera Metering Looking at the most intricate details of the digital camera as a technologically advanced device a lot of functions come into play. Such s a point is that of the digital camera metering. This discussion focuses towards that intention of understanding and knowing the details of the component. Basically speaking the metering system in a digital camera measures the amount of light in the scene and calculates the best-fit exposure value based on the metering mode explained below. Automatic exposure is a standard feature in all the digital cameras. All that is requires to be done is select the metering mode, point the camera and press the shutter release. Most of the time, this will result in a correct exposure. The detailed explanation and analysis of the entire process is as follows in the next lines of this discussion. The Primer on Digital Camera Printers Once you have clicked photos through your digital camera, then the next step is to turn these 'virtual' images into real photos. One way is to send the memory card to a digital photo laboratory and get the images developed there. But if you click digital photos on a regular basis, then it is better that you buy yourself a digital camera printer, or more commonly known as a digital photo printer.
|
|
|
|
|
