During this lesson we were introduced to a large format camera. The size of the camera was 5x4 and these cameras were used by many photographers before technology advanced.
First we started off by learning the different parts of the camera. None of these images are mine, they were found on Google images.
When looking through the glass screen the subject that is standing in front of the camera is upside down. This makes you think even more about the photograph being taken such as lighting, what's in focus and the composition as every shot is valuable and crucial to get it perfect the first time. Whereas with today's camera's people take as many photographs as they can thinking it can all be fixed with some editing. Another reason why a large format camera is different from a 35 mm camera like today is that when you take a photograph you have to spend at least 15 minutes developing the film, then fixing the film for 5 minutes and leaving the film to dry in heat for 10 more minutes. After this then you have to make contact sheets then develop and fix that which seems to take forever whereas with a digital camera you just plug a lead from your camera into a computer and all your images pop up. Although it is faster its nice as well to go back to the old ways.
Another thing I didn't know about large format camera's is that their image quality is so much better than the camera we use because of the size of the camera itself but also how big the film holder is.
It was interesting using the 5x4 camera because its fascinating learning how photography has changed.
We didn't use film straight away we started with photographic paper which we loaded in the dark room. Then we took it in turns to use the camera and because we were in a bright room we had to put our coats over our heads in order to see what was on the screen. Then we went back to the darkroom to process the images we took.
Here are the images I took:
My images are quite blurred because it was hard for the model and all of us to stay still for longer than 5 seconds.
A photographer called Julia Margaret-Cameron received her first camera in December 1863 a gift from her daughter and son-in-law. Julia was 48 years old, a mother of 6 and a deeply religious person who was friends with many of the greatest people in Victorian England. Some of them are G. F. Watts a painter, Robert Browning who was a poet and Alfred Lord Tennyson who was her neighbour brought a lot of friends to her house to be photographed. Her photographic career only lasted 11 years but during it she documented each of her photographs by registering them with a copyright office where records were kept.
Her first photograph was taken on January the 29th 1864. Named 'Annie, My first success'
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"I began with no knowledge of the art, I did not know where to place my dark box, how to focus my sitter, and my first picture I effaced to my consternation by rubbing my hand over the filmy side of the glass." Her photographs developed with blur due to long exposures and the subjects moved and the lens being out of focus intentionally.
Her photographs were not liked by professional photographers at the time the Photographic Journal said "Mrs. Cameron exhibits her series of out-of-focus portraits of celebrities. We must give this lady credit for daring originality''. Her photographs were influenced by art and religious themes and her style was soft-focus which David Wilkie Wynfield had taught her. Julia Margaret Cameron wrote "to my feeling about his beautiful photography I owed all my attempts and indeed consequently all my success".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Margaret_Cameron
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/camr/hd_camr.htm
Another thing I didn't know about large format camera's is that their image quality is so much better than the camera we use because of the size of the camera itself but also how big the film holder is.
It was interesting using the 5x4 camera because its fascinating learning how photography has changed.
We didn't use film straight away we started with photographic paper which we loaded in the dark room. Then we took it in turns to use the camera and because we were in a bright room we had to put our coats over our heads in order to see what was on the screen. Then we went back to the darkroom to process the images we took.
Here are the images I took:
My images are quite blurred because it was hard for the model and all of us to stay still for longer than 5 seconds.
A photographer called Julia Margaret-Cameron received her first camera in December 1863 a gift from her daughter and son-in-law. Julia was 48 years old, a mother of 6 and a deeply religious person who was friends with many of the greatest people in Victorian England. Some of them are G. F. Watts a painter, Robert Browning who was a poet and Alfred Lord Tennyson who was her neighbour brought a lot of friends to her house to be photographed. Her photographic career only lasted 11 years but during it she documented each of her photographs by registering them with a copyright office where records were kept.
Her first photograph was taken on January the 29th 1864. Named 'Annie, My first success'
.jpg)
"I began with no knowledge of the art, I did not know where to place my dark box, how to focus my sitter, and my first picture I effaced to my consternation by rubbing my hand over the filmy side of the glass." Her photographs developed with blur due to long exposures and the subjects moved and the lens being out of focus intentionally.
Her photographs were not liked by professional photographers at the time the Photographic Journal said "Mrs. Cameron exhibits her series of out-of-focus portraits of celebrities. We must give this lady credit for daring originality''. Her photographs were influenced by art and religious themes and her style was soft-focus which David Wilkie Wynfield had taught her. Julia Margaret Cameron wrote "to my feeling about his beautiful photography I owed all my attempts and indeed consequently all my success".
Angel of the nativity
Mary Ann Hillierby - Mary Mother
Actress Ellen Terry aged 16
Sir John Herschel Zoe, Maid of Athens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Margaret_Cameron
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/camr/hd_camr.htm
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