photography and stuff: February 2011

what i learned about the history of photography is that Joseph Niepce made the first true photograph. it was called a heliograph. Thomas Wedgewood explored how to develop a photo using different chemicals. Louis Daguerre invented the daguerreotype, which was the first successful camera. Henry Fox Talbot wrote a photography book entitled "Pencil of Nature". Fedrick Scott Archer discovered the wet collodian process, which made the exposure time significantly shorter, to just a few seconds. Roger Fenton was the first photographer to actually photograoph a war, but he made the war seem like a picnic, because he was hired by the government. Mathew Brady actually took realistic was photos, but the government bought them and probably disposed of them so the public wouldn't know what the war was really like.

Photo of the Crimean War by Roger Fenton

daguerreotype

our project was to research one of these photographers and make a small presentation on them, and about why they were important to the history of photography.

heyhey. so, in photography class, we are making pinhole cameras out of Pringles cans :D it so fun. and we got to eat chips (haha alyda, are you jealous? >:]) so, here are the instructions to make your very own pringle can camera.

first, you need to gather your materials. here is the list:

1 pringles can, or you can use a oatmeal can or something (if you use a a pringles can, i suggest the pizza flavor. DELICOUS :D)
black spray paint (do not inhale, you will regret it later. trust me.)
cardboard cereal box (any type of strong paper will do though)
black tape
duct tape
pop can
scissors
sandpaper
tarp thing
plastic gloves
goggles
ruler
sewing pin

Now that you have all of your supplies, you need to eat your chips, then wash out the crumbs from inside.

Once it is clean and you have dried all the water off, go outside, lay down your tarp, put on your gloves and goggles, and spray the inside of the can with the black spray paint. make sure you get everywhere, even towards the top. you need to do this so that no excess light gets inside where your photographic paper will be, so it doesn't get to exposed.

Now, let that dry, and get your lid to the pringles can. cut out a circles that fits the lid and put it inside of the lid. now cover the edges with black tape.

After that, you need to get your pop can and make sure it is washed out. then, cut off the top part. you don't need it. now, cut out a piece of aluminum from the side of the can, about 2 by 3 inches. be careful, it can be sharp. use the sand paper to smooth out the edges, so they can't cut you.

Take your sewing pin, and use it to push a hole into the center of your aluminum. this is going to be the hole that lets the light into your camera, exposing the photographic paper. u should use your sand paper to smooth out the rough part that will be created when you make your hole.

Next, you should make a small square hole in your can, about halfway down from the top. for this you can use a pair of scissors, but it will probably be easier to use an exact-o-knife. if you use one of those, you should have adult supervision.

ok so now get your duct tape out, and put it on the edges of the aluminum, making sure not to cover the hole. place it inside the can, so the hole in the aluminum is inside the hole in the pringles can. press in place.

cut two 1 by 7 inch strips of cardboard out. tape them to the can vertically, one about .5 to 1 inch from the hole above the hole, and do the same thing below.

next, cut out a strip out of your box 1.5 by 4 inches long. fold it in half. then fold up one side of it to the top, turn it over, and do the same thing with that side. it should look like a very narrow v with the sides of the v bent vertically.

slip this in between eh t cardboard strips and the can, so you will be able to move it back in forth to cover the hole.

and that is it to making you pringle cam pinhole camera. look bellow to see how to take a picture with your new camera.

HOW TO TAKE A PHOTO WITH YOUR NEW PINHOLE CAMERA

first, you need to go into a darkroom where it is completely dark. take your photographic paper and slip it into the can , opposite the hole. put the lid onto the camera and hold down the shutter so no light gets in. go outside to a sunny place (you should do this on a sunny day, not when its overcast or raining) set your camera down on the ground, pointing to your subject. open the shutter up for about 20 seconds, depending on how sunny it is. you may have to experiment with how long you have to shutter open to get it right.

now you have to go back into the dark room and develop your photo using chemicals. have a teacher or adult help you with this. make sure to use gloves so you don't get chemicals on your skin. the photograph will turn out as a negative.

once it is developed, you should have a beautiful photograph. enjoy.