Photography and Cameras

[TheRealTMA]

The lecturer did this cute trick with a hole in the door and help up a transparent white sheet. On the sheet we could see outside but everything was upside down. And that is the simple method of the camera. Before mirrors were used.

Dutch painter Van Meeren would trace around such a picture then turn it over and paint it. Producing artwork that looks like a photo.
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Your comment about the aperture makes me think I really don’t need to get an SLR. My purpose is to enjoy the scope of the camera I have (and love) and not get a distinction in an assessment.

You don't need an SLR, a nice Sony F100... does all this nicely and you have full control over aperture, speed, F stops, ISO and etc. But, BUT, you need to learn on an SLR how to do it all. Much better easier.

We all did this years ago in the era of daguerreotype then the new fangled 128/35mm film, now onto digital.

 

[TheRealTMA]

The lecturer did this cute trick with a hole in the door and help up a transparent white sheet. On the sheet we could see outside but everything was upside down. And that is the simple method of the camera. Before mirrors were used.

Dutch painter Van Meeren would trace around such a picture then turn it over and paint it. Producing artwork that looks like a photo.
View attachment 108475

Your comment about the aperture makes me think I really don’t need to get an SLR. My purpose is to enjoy the scope of the camera I have (and love) and not get a distinction in an assessment.

Camera Obscura it's called. There are some very good books on the technique plus many suggestions that early painters used the technique. For example

Vermeer and the Camera Obscura, Part One

Vermeer was an authentic artistic genius – even if he did cheat | Simon Jenkins

There's also a tv documentary on the concept by an American Tim (forget other names)

 

[Steady]

This photography/camera discussion is interesting - maybe worth its own thread?

 

[Pushka]

You don't need an SLR, a nice Sony F100... does all this nicely and you have full control over aperture, speed, F stops, ISO and etc. But, BUT, you need to learn on an SLR how to do it all. Much better easier.

We all did this years ago in the era of daguerreotype then the new fangled 128/35mm film, now onto digital.

I have the latest Panasonic ultra zoom released a couple of months ago. I think the lecturer was surprised by the features and control - the only limitation being the aperture limitation which as pointed out isn’t such an issue. Has a Leica lens and probably the best lens in the class. The only thing I can’t do is add filters to the lens plus attach the sun shade thing. Or change lens obviously.

I was one of the few in the class who used film as the only medium a few years ago. But I was glad to move into digital while another person gave photography away at that point.

Maybe this ole duck is going to show just how good these amateur ‘point and shoots’ can be. MrP is very happy for me to buy an SLR but I just know - at the moment anyway - it will be too lumpy for me to use much. I’m keeping it simples in my life right now.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I have the latest Panasonic ultra zoom released a couple of months ago. I think the lecturer was surprised by the features and control - the only limitation being the aperture limitation which as pointed out isn’t such an issue. Has a Leica lens and probably the best lens in the class. The only thing I can’t do is add filters to the lens plus attach the sun shade thing. Or change lens obviously.

I was one of the few in the class who used film as the only medium a few years ago. But I was glad to move into digital while another person gave photography away at that point.

Actually, but I haven't checked, there are several companies that make clipon attachments for many cameras that can take a range of filters, such as polarised, coloured etc. I know there are for the F100s but can't be bothered these days. Still have many filters left from SLR days which I could use I suppose. I have a screw on set for my Fujifilm Finepix HS50 but rarely use them. Polarising filter can be fun tho.

GIYF.

 

[Pushka]

I read quite a lot of the books although need to catch up on the latest ones. I might need to give the series a try - I often find TV adaptations disappointing, but you make it sound good . I will need to talk Mr FM into watching....

Oh. I make sure I record it and watch it on my own with a nice glass of wine at my side without distraction.

The best episodes are the ones that have all the warnings of Sex and violence at the start. Then I bring over the bottle not just the glass and sit down and enjoy.

The episode next week is a 75 minute one. It’s a very speshul one but I won’t give away surprises. They didn’t show one this week much to every fans disgust so as to build up the anticipation. .

 

[TheRealTMA]

Your comment about the aperture makes me think I really don’t need to get an SLR. My purpose is to enjoy the scope of the camera I have (and love) and not get a distinction in an assessment.

An oldie but a goodie...

 

[Pushka]

An oldie but a goodie...

That is pretty gold. Love it. I have this 4X feature that takes rapid shots of moving objects, hence a shutter speed of 4000. So when you flick through the previews it ends up like a movie. I might download this YouTube and show it. It WILL end up in my journal. Thank you! It demonstrates everything about the lugging issue. That guy was actually puffing.

I think it’s getting into the purist versus practical discussion we had about design a few weeks ago.

 

[Denali]

Once my husband was doing the theory for a class (underwater photography) and he starts by talking about the progression of housings and cameras, held up old cameras and housings as samples, discussed photo processing blah blah blah. Lots of nods from the older crew, we've all been there, back in the days of having to drop our film off at the chemist and get your 24 or 36 photos back a week later.

When he finished he asked, "any questions" and a teenager was doing the class with her dad asked, "Whats film?

 

[Pushka]

Once my husband was doing the theory for a class (underwater photography) and he starts by talking about the progression of housings and cameras, held up old cameras and housings as samples, discussed photo processing blah blah blah. Lots of nods from the older crew, we've all been there, back in the days of having to drop our film off at the chemist and get your 24 or 36 photos back a week later.

When he finished he asked, "any questions" and a teenager was doing the class with her dad asked, "Whats film?

I remember the anticipation of waiting to get the films back, handing over the $$, only to find they were all carp!

 

[Pushka]

Oh lookie, I started a thread!

So let's start posting our favourite photos of absolutely anything!

 

[Denali]

Camera backpacks is always a good talk. My husband carries 7-8kgs in his backpack and also uses a camera roller bag sometimes.

And is anyone uploading their raw photos to a cloud or do they carry hardrives to copy images to? Because cards sometimes fail and the photo is lost.

 

[Pushka]

Camera backpacks is always a good talk. My husband carries 7-8kgs in his backpack and also uses a camera roller bag sometimes.

And is anyone uploading their raw photos to a cloud or do they carry hardrives to copy images to? Because cards sometimes fail and the photo is lost.

I have backups of all my photos on a portable drive plus all stored on my phone and some on the ipad. Can never have too many backups. In the old days we would burn a CD. Those were the days.

In the past I also create coffee table books of our travels.
This is one I did for when I took Mum on the QM2 and met love_the_life on the same trip. You can see it online.
Momento - for every memory
And Europe. Excuse the self photos Now you know what we look like.
Momento - for every memory

 

[phily]

She finds a challenge in getting a bird in flight in perfect focus. Her kit was not overly expensive - about $4 for camera and big lens. The killer of course is that it weighs a ton!

Daughter needs to use a function that allows focus tracking of moving objects. Better DSLRs have it. Generally called Servo focusing.

 

[Quickstatus]

The downside of DSLR and expensive glass is that you look like a tourist and are conspicuous.

I wonder how the X cameras are going to stack up

 

[love_the_life]

Once my husband was doing the theory for a class (underwater photography) and he starts by talking about the progression of housings and cameras, held up old cameras and housings as samples, discussed photo processing blah blah blah. Lots of nods from the older crew, we've all been there, back in the days of having to drop our film off at the chemist and get your 24 or 36 photos back a week later.

When he finished he asked, "any questions" and a teenager was doing the class with her dad asked, "Whats film?

I once had a student who asked how they got the film back to earth from the satellite images

 

[love_the_life]

When we were in the Arctic, Sue Flood (Sue Flood | Professional Wildlife and Travel Photographer) was one of the onboard lecturers. She told the story of filming whales in the Pacific with her partner Doug Allan when she was knocked almost senseless by a young calf. Doug's concern was that the film was still OK! I suppose it's important to get your priorities right.

 

[BAM1748]

Don't forget it's about the optics.

 

[RooFlyer]

Unless you really have the desire to produce largish (A3+ or A2) prints to adorn your walls and want to spend serious cash on camera and printer, and carry heavy gear around, its my conclusion that the cameras used by drron, and rooflyer to name a couple are capable of producing very acceptable results if used with a little thought and learned skill.

Its about knowing what your camera is capable of.

My camera for years has been a pocket Sony DSC HX 90V and its predecessor and I've produced A3 'photobooks' including many A3 sized images (eg cover) quite acceptably from it. I usually just point and shoot on auto mode.

I went on a trip to Russia with a friend who had a moderately fancy digital SLR camera, MUCH more expensive than mine; at the end of the trip we swapped images so we could both get the "best' shot (we were, after all, standing next to each other at most places). I can honestly say that I didn't choose any of their images over mine that were of the same thing.

 

[BAM1748]

I havent taken photography seriously since the demise of Kodachrome 25, but I hear 64 May be in the way back.