A Early History Of Photography
The camera obscura is a darkened box with a convex lens in one side that projects the view outside onto the opposite wall/side/screen of box. it was invented by an Arabian scientist called Alzahen in the 9th century and was used by Renaissance artist in the 17th century.
Johann Heinrich Schultz discovered silver nitrate which darkened when exposed to light. This helped the projections last for a while even after they moved away from the location in which the camera obscura which basically was the first film even though the picture would fade over time. This was huge because before pictures had to be hand drawn by artists from projected images and this obviously took a lot of skill and time, but when this was discovered people could have short lasting images without an artist. Joseph Nicephore Niepce was credited for the invention of the camera, he was a French pioneer of photography. He worked and helped create the worlds oldest photo (that has survived) which is called 'View from window at Le Gras' he use heliography that engraved photos onto a metal plate in 1826-1827. This makes him very important to historians today. |
Henry Fox Tablot was a British inventor who was known as a credited photographer and a significant figure in the early development of photography. He invented (although not singularly) the salted paper and calotype technique in the late 1840's which further influenced later, 19th and 20th century photography. this was a method of photochemical reproduction. The salted paper method was using 'sensitive paper' which was a wet piece of writing paper with table salt on it and drying for later use then brushing a side with silver nitrate which would produce silver chloride that darkened when exposed to light. after being exposed to light the print would be coated with a concentrated salt solution which would stabilize the photo. And the calotype process was paper sensitized with silver chloride which darkened when exposed to light. However the exposure was very long, an hour or even more! He helped develop the idea of photography as an art form and helped photography reach the public with his discovery of the salted paper and calotype process.
Louis Daguerre was known as the father of photography. He was a French photographer and artist, he invented the daguerreotype which was really the first publicly available photography. Daguerreotype was when a photographer shined a plate of silver-nitrate so much it would work as a mirror then fume it so it was light sensitive. Then the photograph was taken, the plate exposed for as short as a few seconds in good light. The last steps was to make the image clearer with mercury vapor and make it not light sensitive anymore, this was done with liquid chemicals.
George Eastman helped photography become a mainstream pass time by popularizing the use of photographic film. He patented the first practicable photography film and sold it first in 1889 and used the Kodak Black camera which was the first of its kind to use roll film. In 1871 Dr Richard L Maddox invented dry plate printing which was and improved photographic plate which was made in factories. this new type of plate also simplified the work of photographers. |
The Camera Obscura
To build the camera obscura we started off with a cardboard box, tape, a pen and a magnifying glass. to start off we folded and created the box, then cut out one of the side of the box to project an image on. We then drew a x on the opposite side of the box and cut a small square there. Then we used the tape to stick tracing paper on the side of the box with a large cut out so that when exposed to light it would have an image projected onto it. Lastly we attached the magnifying glass to the small square cut into the box with sellotape. this finished out camera obscura.
When this was done we went out in pairs to capture an image. We placed or held the box in a place with plenty of light and watched as the view was projected onto the make shift screen on the other side of the box (upside down). When we found the place/ image we wanted to capture we used a pen to sketch the image on the tracing paper, successfully creating a sketch of what we had just seen. I think artists from the 17th century had better drawing skills than us but we got a good idea of what they were used for.
When this was done we went out in pairs to capture an image. We placed or held the box in a place with plenty of light and watched as the view was projected onto the make shift screen on the other side of the box (upside down). When we found the place/ image we wanted to capture we used a pen to sketch the image on the tracing paper, successfully creating a sketch of what we had just seen. I think artists from the 17th century had better drawing skills than us but we got a good idea of what they were used for.
SLR Camera
SLR means single lens reflex and it is a camera that used a mirror and prism system which means the photographer can see through the lens what they are taking a photo of exactly. This is different to other cameras because it means the photo is exactly what you see through the lens, but in (for example) a twin lens reflex the image you see can be very different than the image you get.
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Shutter speed
Aputure
Philippe Halsman
Halsman was an American photographer who was born in Rigra (now Latvia) after a life that some may say would be crazy (including being a teacher, accused for murder, imprisoned, pardoned and almost dying), Philip started to work in the arts exploring the concept of suspension and surrealistic photos. He is famous for these and his suspension photo from 1984 called Dali Atomicus , which includes three cats, Dali and a thrown bucket of water. He is also famous for taking one of the most famous and most used photos of Albert Einstein.