Evaluation on my pinhole
camera project Throughout this evaluation I will be discussing what I
have learnt throughout the project and how technology has changed. I will also include a paragraph on how the information has helped me get this far along with; what I would do differently if I was to do it again and my mistakes.
Within this project I learnt a wide range of things. I learnt how to make a
pinhole camera from scratch, how to use Photoshop, the scanner and the
photocopier. The above things were valuable to learn because it enabled
me to do things individually without asking my tutor for help throughout the lesson.
From being able to know how to use Photoshop I was then able to
experiment with different tools on the programme with my pinhole pictures, such as air brushing them, changing the colours and many more effects. The photocopier allowed me to
scan my pictures individually and send them to my email or print them.
On the other hand the scanner scanned them through to Photoshop via the computer. From being able to have the opportunity to produce our
own pinhole cameras along with the above, if I was given the chance
to do it again I would certainly participate in the task. I would do it again
because it gives me a chance to look back on my mistakes
from the first time round and do it correctly. Also, because I know the procedures of producing my own pinhole camera, developing my pictures as well as knowing how to scan and edit the developed ones it will give me more time to find better locations for my
pictures.
I encountered many mistakes whilst taking the pictures.
I found I had too much exposure, leaving me with mainly bright white pictures with the odd black detail. I gained one perfect picture which was
my first one; I had exposed the hole for 40 seconds outside, therefore leaving me with a detailed negative
picture. Seeing as I have experimented with pinhole cameras once I
would like to evaluate constructing the pinhole camera differently to gain
several comparisons of the pictures due to the sized boxes. I would also
attempt to get accurate exposures to improve the quality of the picture,
this would give me a wider range of better pictures to promote on my blog. Pinhole cameras were used many years ago before the use
of technology changed over the years. We are now able to take pictures
digitally with reduced exposure time enabling us to capture fast
moving objects within a few seconds. The picture quality is 100x better,
the images are extremely easy to edit, you are able to take many pictures
depending on the storage of the camera and it is less time consuming. Overall I have covered the above topics which are listed
in my first paragraph sufficiently. I encountered a few mistakes which are
noted within in the above paragraphs and I know how to overcome them next time.
Photography
. Photography comes from the greek
. It is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures
. The camera records radiation
. Light patterns are reflected or emitted from objects active a sensitive, chemical or electronic senors
Genres of photography
Aerial, black and white, commercial, documentry, fashion, fine art, forensic, glamour, high speed, illustration, landscape, nature, paparazzi, photojournalism, portrait, still life, stock, underwater and wedding.
The camera and shutter
. The camera itself records both still or moving images, also known as videos or movies
. The term camera comes from the camera obsucra which is latin for 'dark chamber'
. In photography a shutter device allows light to pass through for a determined period of time
. The shutter allows you to expose the photographic film
. There are many different speeds for the shutter
Health and safety
Dark room rules
. No eating or drinking
. No running or messing around
. No coats or bags on the floor
. Dry hands before using any of the electrics outside of the darkroom and in
. Use tongs when your handling with the paper
. Do not mix the wet and dry room together
Studio rules
. No running or messing around
. No eating or drinking
. No coats or bags on the floor
. Beware of cables on the floor
. Handle the flash heads with care ( they can get extremely hot)
. Do not look directly into the flash heads
. Be careful when using the paper background system
. Handle all equipment with care
Here are different examples of photography genres
Process in making the camera . To make the camera you need a box, preferably a cardboard one
. You then need to cut out a square hole where you want the lens to be
. The following step is to paint the inside of the box (including the lid) with a black matt paint, this is because the black paint will absorb the light in stead of reflecting it.
. We then got some foil and placed it over the hole, and sealed it with gaffa tape to secure it.
. The next step was to place a pin hole in the foil which was 0.8 mm
. I then placed some gaffa tape along the areas which could let light in.
. I produced a cardboard flap to cover the pinhole whilst it is not in use it was stopping the light from entering.
. To secure the photographic paper I created two double sided pieces of gaffa tape which will stop the paper from moving around.
. To calculate my F-STOP I measured the distance from the paper to the lens in 'mm'. My distance was 130mm and the pinhole diameter is 0.8mm. You then have to divide 130 by 0.8. In stead of getting the correct answer we estimated it. My estimate was 170, therefore if i was taking pictures outside I would only need to have the hole exposed for 40 seconds. On the other hand if I was inside it would be 4 minutes.
. We then went into the dark room and cut out some photographic paper to the correct size and placed it on the opposite side to the lens.
. To secure all openings to the camera with gaffa tape to reduce the amount of light entering the camera.
The process of taking the pictures and developing them
. For my first picture I went outside and placed the camera on the ground facing the college
. I opened my flap, revealing the hole and left it for 40 seconds; once my 40 seconds were up I closed the flap to stop any light getting in.
. I then went into the dark room and began to develop it, the developing process consists of three main steps.
. I took out my paper from the camera and placed it in the developing chemical using tongs which develops the picture for 30 seconds.
. I then placed it into the stop process which stops the picture from developing for 10 seconds.
. Finally I placed my picture into the fixing chemical which fixes the picture to the paper for 1 minute
. Then I came out of the dark room and placed the picture into the drier which secures and dries it all up. How the photocopier works . The photocopier works by placing your picture under the copier and doing several steps, you end up with the picture sent to your email.
These are the following steps; . You have to log onto the photocopier by swiping your student card
. Then you have to press send
. Clicking send to myself will send the image to your college email . Then select the JPEG format
. Then press the green button on the dash board
Using the flat board scanner To use the flat board scanner there are 7 different steps in using it correctly. Place your picture in the top left corner of the scanner
. Open Adobe Photoshop CS4
. Click on file and import, scanner
. A preview screen will appear, press preview
. Select the part you want to scan
. Once you are happy with it click scan
. Once the image has appeared in the drawing window, save your image onto your usb key in a JPG format.
Inverting changes the colour of your picture from negative to positive, vise verser
. There are three different ways to invert your picture. Below are the different ways;
. Click on layer, new adjustment layer, and invert . The second tool box down on the left, click on the little arrow on the right side of it, click invert
. Finally, whilst you are scanning there is an invert button at the top of the box.
Comparing the scanner and photocopier
The quality of the scanner and photocopier are very different. The scanner has a higher quality, whilst the photocopier has a lower quality. The photocopier is an easier and quicker way to copy the picture, although the process of it is more complex. On the other hand the scanner isn’t as quick to scan as it takes it's time warming the lamp up and loading the picture. I feel it is better to use the scanner as I would rather spend an extra couple of minutes for it to scan and have a better quality than have a lower quality in a short amount of time. Here is all three of my pinhole pictures used with the scanner both negative and positive;
Negatives Positives
My second picture was my strongest picture as the exposure is just how i needed it to show enough detail. In this picture It includes a fore ground, middle ground and a background to set the scene. The rest of my shots had too much exposure therefore I gained an all white picture with some black detail.
