Camera Explorations

Camera Explorations

Alyssa S  //  Five things about me:
1. I'm a senior at Holland Christian
2. I like peanut butter with ice cream
3. I read books like most people eat candy.
4. Astronomy fascinates me.
5. I like jazz music.

May 19 / 1:24pm

Special Effects

Today I developed and scanned some old pictures and I also worked on my special effect pictures. In the first one, I moved half way through the picture to create a "ghost" effect. The next one is and old picture that I tried to take of the piano in the choir room- it is a bit under exposed, but it turned out better than I though. For another special effect, I poked two more holes in my camera and reduced my exposure time to 10s per hole. It turned out really cool! I also made a curved camera and the next picture is one I developed a couple days ago at lunch. I tried using it today, but the pictures turned out black, so I need to find where the extra light is getting in. I also scanned in a picture of a tree in our backyard. The last picture is of Alex Mouw. We went outside and he played his guitar for me, changing the chord every 7s. It turned out nicely.

(download)

Filed under  //  special effect  
May 17 / 6:08pm

weekend

This weekend I worked on two things: building a new camera and a bit of research.

My dad helped me with the camera- we cut a butter tub in half. With the curved film plane, it will hopefully create a cylindrical view on the picture. My dad helped me create a plan for an interchangeable pinhole. He also helped me paint the entire thing black to keep it lightproof. I also researched on special effects of pinhole camera: what I want to try is a curved film plane (see above camera), a "ghost" image, and also a multiple image (created by poking several holes in the camera). One more thing I looked at is what effect the pinhole and the length of the camera have on exposure time, image clarity, and depth of field. What happens is correlated to the f/number of a camera. This is calculated by the length of the camera divided by the diameter of the pinhole. The first camera I built (Altoid box) has a length of 48mm and diameter of .29mm This creates a f/number of 166 My next camera has measurements of 143mm and .5mm with an f/number of 286 The one I made this weekend is 83mm and .38mm making it f218.

PINHOLE SIZE:
exposure:as the hole decreases in size, less light gets in, therefore, exposure time needs to be longer
depth of field: increases with f/number (smaller hole gives a larger f/number and larger depth of field)
image sharpness: with larger holes, the depth is smaller, so it only focus on nearby objects. high f/numbers also can have diffraction and low f/numbers can have possible blurring

LENGTH OF CAMERA:
exposure: as the f/number increases, time needs to be longer, so as the length increases, exposure time does as well
depth of field: increases with f/number (larger camera length)
image sharpness: see above (larger length give larger f/numbers)

Filed under  //  camera   f/number   research  
May 14 / 11:43am

here comes the sun....

Yeah! Today was sunny! I was able to take several outside today- of the tennis courts (which shook a little), the Pepsi truck, and a sweet Mustang in the parking lot. The one inside yesterday also turned out well. :) Next week I'll start working on the special effects.

(download)

Filed under  //  car   sun  
May 13 / 10:39am

rain, rain, go away...

Sorry I haven't updated in a while- last week was Tulip Time and I was gone for three of the days. The last couple days when we've been taking pictures has been cloudy- today it is raining. So Kristin and I have decided to take pictures indoors. They normally are underexposed, so we decided to turn on all the stage lights. Yesterday I tried to take two there, one for 2 min. and the other for 5. They were both VERY underexposed, so I currently have one going for 30 min. Hopefully this works.

(download)

Filed under  //  indoor   picture   rain  
May 6 / 11:41am

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill

I finally have been able to get good pictures! They are a bit over exposed, but they are visible. :) I've learned the exposure needs to be around 20 on a sunny day facing away from the sun

#1: 20s sunny bikes- the camera shook during the picture
#2: 20s sunny statue
#3: 20s sunny track
#4: 20s sunny downtown by the ferris wheel

(download)

Filed under  //  picture   success  
May 3 / 5:44pm

first pictures

Here are pictures I've taken over the last week.
#1: 16s sunny statue
#2: 4s sunny bikes
#3: 2s sunny tulips
#4: 16s cloudy Kristen and me

Today I also had a really good one turn out- thanks to Mr. Peterson!

(download)

Apr 28 / 6:22pm

Take Two...

Today, after taking several more failed pictures, I tried making a new camera. It is now bigger, has a larger focal length, has a bigger pinhole, and is painted black on the inside. Hopefully this works!
Here are the new specifications:

Picture_2

Filed under  //  camera   measurement   picture  
Apr 26 / 5:01pm

First Pictures

Friday and today were our first days of taking pictures. On Friday, my picture was over exposed and turned out nearly all black. Today went better- the first one wasn't all black, but still had splotches all over and no distinct picture. The second one turned out better- it was supposed to be of tulips near school, and they are somewhat recognizable. I'll scan them later this week and get them up as soon as possible.
Filed under  //  picture   pinhole   school   tulip  
Apr 21 / 12:04pm

cleanup and camera construction

Today we cleaned up darkroom so we could work in there. The counter was wiped down, trash thrown out, floor swept, and clutter moved. We also had to relabel the chemicals and re-paper the door so no light will get in.

We also started making the cameras. I cut a hole out of the bottom of my box (Altoid's) to put a piece of aluminum there (it is easier to poke a hole in). I pounded down the edges (after I got a cut :D) and taped it all down. Tomorrow I'm poking the hole and then starting to take pictures!

Calculations

the specifications for the camera I'll be making

(download)

the darkroom and my camera

Filed under  //  camera   construction   measurement   pinhole  
Apr 19 / 2:14pm

websites

So today we worked on figuring out where is a good place to start and also found some cool websites to help.

I decided that I would like to make a smaller camera (like an Altoid tin) and also a larger box. Perhaps a curved one as well...we'll see how the first ones go and then play around with that.

Some websites I found were:

Galleries:

http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/  and  http://www.pinhole.org/galleries/

also, The Pinhole Gallery, gives a great chart for exposures based on the weather and the size of the pinhole relative to the distance to the paper.

http://www.pinhole.org/exposure-guides/

 

Filed under  //  measurement   website