Photo-A-Day – APRIL

Happy Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

What is the Worldwide Pinhole Photography day?

This is an international event created to promote and celebrate the art of pinhole photography.On this unique day, we encourage people throughout the world

• to take some time off from the increasingly technological world we live in and to participate in the simple act of making a pinhole photograph.
• to share their visions and help spread the unusual beauty of this historical photographic process.

for more information visit here

To make a camera like below visit here for a step by step guide

Photo a Day Challenge (365)

I like to search the internet for helpful tips, money saving tips and things do do with your camera.

I have taken up the 365 challenge. If you don’t know what this is, its a challenge to take a photo each day of the year (365 of them). to make it easier and more challenging i have found month lists of topics/words that the photos need to include.

Its never to late to start this, i find it fun and it gets you thinking of how to make your image different. I have been using my Iphone to take them and  Instagram to post my photos as i always have it and instagram is quick and easy and give you effects which can help enhance the image.

The rule of thirds

I like to search the internet for helpful tips, money saving tips and things do do with your camera.

This month i have found this great tip and how to.

What on earth is this ‘rule of thirds’ you speak of?
The rule of thirds is a technique used by photographers to create balance in photos. By using the rule of thirds it’s quite pleasing on the eye and makes the composition more interesting.

Let me simplify it for you. Imagine your photo is broken up into nine little squares {see the image below}. Ideally you want to try to avoid cutting a photo in two by putting the object right in the middle. If I’d moved the building up to sit right smack-bang in the middle of the photo, it wouldn’t be as effective. For the composition to work it’s magic it is best if the focus of the photo {in this case the building} sits at the bottom third {as it does} or at the top third.

Confused? Don’t be. Here’s another example {below}. See how I’ve put the focus of the photo {in this case Lacey on her scooter} in the very right third of the photo. If I’d put her in the centre it just wouldn’t look as great composition-wise.

Take these two photos I took of the sunset over the weekend. I wanted to show how if I’d put the horizontal line in the photo, which is the skyline, in the middle it wouldn’t be as interesting visually. In the right-hand photo I’ve moved the skyline down into the bottom third and ta-dah, it’s much more pleasing. It works better, don’t you think?

It can be hard to imagine that grid in your photos when you’re taking them, especially when you’ve got a moving subject {ie little people!}. If you’re using an iPhone {and it’s upgraded to iOS 5} then you’ll see the grid on your screen as you take your photos. You can try and put the rule into action as you take your photos. Start by taking pics of things that don’t move – food, skylines, buildings etc for practice.

On a final note, this is just a guide. Taking photos and breaking this rule doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a bad photo! Experiment, use this rule sometimes, and sometimes break it.

Article Sourced from “fatmumslim.com.au”

Photography Quote

new life in to old lenses.

Happy new year to you all. Thought I’d post this as it puts a modern camera and retro lens together. I have a sony nex c3 a great little camera with almost all the features of a DSLR. One great feature I have found is that there are loads of adaptors for the e-mount lens size which this camera takes. I have just received my first. A M42 (screw thread) to e-mount. This is a nice start as I can use some of the old lenses which I have in my collection.

The adaptor was off eBay and was a snip at £7.39.

If you have one of these cameras or adaptors are available to your camera I would say get one as they are cheap and good fun and breath new life in to old lenses.

My Modern Brownie

I have been collecting “Retro Cameras” for  about a year now. After remembering my love for good old film photography! The love for the while process of film and the “you don’t know what you’ll get until you see it” when developing. I found that the Box Brownie Cameras are such fun to play with and placing 35mm film in them gives them a new lease of life. Once i have taken my fun 35mm photos with my brownie i found a problem! how do you get the film back into the roll without exposing the film to light? I found a room with no windows and left the light off. This was not great as trying to wind it in the dark is not easy, so i had an idea of converting a brownie to take 35mm and so you can wind it back in the the container.

Retro Cameras are always a great find, and at car boot sales you can get a good bargain! At one of these sales i found my project peace. A 1920/30 Kodak Brownie no2a model B, this was in the best on conditions as the box outer was well worn and the shutter seem to stick.

I decided to make a complete new outer box for it so the only original parts would be where the film sat and the lens block and shutter mechanism. so i took it all apart taking photos along the way so i could refer to them when putting it back together.

I started by making the outer shell, mount board from your local craft store is good for this as its light and strong. I coved the inside with black paper to give it a bit more light proofing. An insert was needed to bridge the gap from the front to the main box, i also used mount board covered in black sugar paper.

once the front outer and the main box was complete and all windows cut out i purchased some sticky vinyl (you can get this from most craft or DIY stores). Carefully wrapping the mount board so you do not get creases and over lapping at the bottom of the camera so it will stay tight and stuck.

Most of the camera parts are unique so i cleaned them up and refitted to the new camera body.

A cool carry handle was added mostly for visuals purposes.

once most of the camera parts where added to the new shell, i made another hole in the inner film case so i could have two winders. The top one being for the the 35mm case so i can wind it back once the film was done. Two sponge mop clips where used for the winding handles (which matched the new box colour great).

The spindle winder i used a brass hook and crushed it to fit in the 120 film spindle slot. Then screwed it in to the mop clip. Also the holes for the clips where made round so making it possible to remove the clips when getting the film out of the casing.

The section which would hold the 35mm film would need a little modification. once the extra hole was created i measured the length the winding handle would need to go in to turn the film casing. A round peace of plastic and a peace made in to a fork was used to help turn the film casing.

The 120 film support came in handy to help keep the 35mm film in place. A plastic plug was used to also to help stop the film from moving out of position.

The front, i had this made from a scrap peace of aluminum, the holes where cut to the same as the original. being silver the light may bounce of the inside of the camera front so i sprayed it Mat Black to prevent this. I counter sank the screws so they would sit flush to the plate. Due to the Front being metal i had the problem of fixing the view finder lenses, so i used a small nut and bolt and counter sank the bolt head like i had done with the screws.

Once all the peaces where in place, i just added some stickers to give it the brownie look. and here is the finished camera!!

Now its done time to try it with a film in!! watch this space for the Photos.

If you do not want to re-create a brownie like above, i found a cool site which can give you ideas how to make your brownie look different – CLICK HERE