Science of the Arts With Stock | Camera Obscura

Science of the Arts With Stock | Camera Obscura

Aim : Find out about the camera obscura and improve my skills for the Arts Kete

• What is the camera obscura? 
• How does it work?
• Is there a way to make one at home or at school?

Fun Fact - The camera obscura is Dark Chamber in Latin.

How to make a Simple Camera Obscura

Equipment -

• Cardboard
• Marker
• Ruler
• Tracing Paper
• Cheap Magnifying Glass Lens
• Pen
• Craft Knife
• Strong Tape

Lens

Before you start making the actual camera, you will need to find out the focal length of your lens. Here is how to find that out -

1. Find a room that has light coming into a window, or a flashlight and a white wall opposite it.

2. Take your lens and put it a couple of centimetres away from the wall. If you go backwards and forwards, you will see the sharpness of the shadow change.

3. Adjust the sharpness of the shadow by moving it, and find the sharpest point.

5. Keep your hand still and measure with a ruler the length from the wall to the lens.

The distance is what your focal length is. Once you have found out your focal length, times that number by 2. This is how wide your box should be. For example, if the focal length is 30cm, Box = 60cm wide. The height of the box shouldn't matter too much, just as long as it is higher than the length of the lens.

Camera

1. Cut out the cardboard to size depending on your focal length.

2. Tape or Glue the cardboard pieces together to create a tube.

3. Trace the bottom of the tube onto another piece of cardboard to get a bottom piece.

4. Mark and cut out a hole for the lens on the bottom piece.

5. Tape the lens in place.

6. Tape or Glue the bottom piece to the tube.

7. Cut another tube that is half the length of the one you just made, and tape it together.

8.  Trace the bottom of the smaller tube onto tracing paper and cut it out.

9. Cut the corners out of the tracing paper you just cut, and tape it onto the small tube.

10. Place the smaller tube into the larger tube.

Trying it Out

1. Point the camera onto your subject.

2. Look into the tube.

You will see an upside down image that is being projected onto the tracing paper.

Tip : To focus, slide the smaller tube forwards and backwards to find the right spot.

There are other designs to do a camera obscura, but this one is a very simple one.

Video tutorial -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0wenfVfHuo

 The focal length of my lens - 15cm

Length of the box-  30cm

My experiment went very well, and better than I expected. While researching how to make this, I thought this would be a hard task, but managed to get it done.

Here are the results -

The Camera

The Paper / Viewfinder

The Lens

The Pictures I took -

The camera obscura makes the pictures turn upside down.

Here is what it looks like when it is turned upside down.

Here are some other pictures I took

What is the Camera Obscura?

The camera obscura is a simple but amazing camera. It is basically a box, or depending on how big you build it, a chamber, that is very dark. The box has a lens, or a pinhole, and light travels through it. When the light travels through, and reflects on the paper.

The Science behind the Camera Obscura -

How does it work? -
The camera works by using light. When you point the camera/lens at a subject, the lens picks it up, bends it, and reflects the light inside, onto the paper.

Why is the picture upside down?
Since the lens we use is super small, when light travels into it, the light rays get bent, turning the image upside down.

What I have found out -

To make the image clear and bright, before you make the camera, you will need to find the focal length of your lens. I have also found out that the box you use needs to be dark. If any light that gets in that is not needed, it will ruin the image.

Learning about the Camera Obscura has been amazing. It has made me understand the history of the camera even more better. To my surprise, I have also found out that this method is still used in DSLR camera lens. I got open my lens, and checked the inside of it. What I found was a pinhole, and a mirror to reflect the light. This is very similar to what the Camera Obscura is.

Before I did this experiment, I did not think it would work. If it could work, I figured that it would cost a lot of money to do. This experiment proved me wrong!

What I could work on next time is to get better measurements. The box was just a little too short, and it was difficult holding the whole thing. I would also try to add a mirror inside to reflect it up so that the image isn't upside down.

I definitely enjoyed this experiment / project. It taught me a lot of things, and it was very fun. It has definitely improved my understanding of Photography, and has taught me to appreciate the history of it.

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 9

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 9

Today in class we carried on with our slideshows. I managed to finish today. As I was looking through the slideshow, I noticed a few of the photos near the end were out of focus, so I guess I could work on that next time.

Festival of the Arts | Trisha's Photography Slide

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 8

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 8

Today, we carried on working on our slide, and adding the pictures onto it. We also took one more illusion picture which required a lot of editing too.

I have to admit, it was REALLY hard to edit this and required a lot of patience. We first took the picture of Deianira holding Xij. We then went to photopea.com and used the healing brush tool. We went over the body to erase it. It required A LOT of patience.

You can definitely see that it has been edited, but it still looks pretty cool.

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 7

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 7

Today in class we carried on with the illusion pictures, started editing, and looked at ways to improve on it. We also started compiling all the pictures we took into a slide. I added a few pictures I took at home too.

Here are a few pictures I have added into the slide

Note : All of the photos here are unedited!

"Don't shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like"

Festival of the Arts | Post 6

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 6

Today in class we carried on with what we did yesterday, illusion photography. There were many different illusions we took.  We took many photos to make sure that we took a good one, and picked out the good ones to use.

Here are some of the photos we took -

For this photo, I think we did alright with the illusion part, but there were a few mistakes in it. The photo is a bit blurry, and the hands cannot be seen, which kind of ruins the illusion.

One thing I like about this picture is not just the illusion, but the lights in the room kind of make a cool effect.

I definitely still have a lot to improve on, like putting things in the right place, lighting, and other things.I think my next step is to just make sure I have things in the right place. 

So far, I have loved doing illusion photography. It has been very fun.

"A picture paints a thousand words"

Cybersmart With Mark Maddren | Interactive Pick A Path Story!

The last 2 weeks that we had cybersmart with Mark Maddren, he taught us how to make pick a path stories using google forms. (Thanks Mr Maddren!) I was amazed that we could do this, and never knew that google forms could be used like this.

Above is a story I made, hope you enjoy it!

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 5

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 5

In class today, Mr Cain showed us a illusion pictures that looked pretty cool. We got sent outside to try do some of our own pictures. I have to admit, it was harder than I thought, but we got a few successful pictures.

While it may not be perfect, I think my group and I did pretty well for the first time.

Here are some of the fails we had -

This one was supposed to be a giant stepping on two humans. There are a few problems in this one. One of the main problems in this picture is that it is hard to see the two humans. There are a few mistakes like bag and pole in the background, and the horizon not being straight.With a few more tries, I think this photo could be improved and successful.

For this one, there are a few mistakes. The hands are not positioned in the correct place, as they were to high, and also needed to move to the right. It is also pretty hard to see the small people too. I think this could have easily been fixed though.

I learnt that even if a little small tiny detail is wrong, it can mess up the whole picture, and illusion. It is very important to get things in the right place. It also definitely helps to take more than one picture.

Next time, I would like to explore more about this style of photography, learn a bit more poses or illusions to do, and tips and tricks that help with it.

This style of photography is pretty fun. I'll admit, it's definitely harder than I thought it would be! It's definitely nice exploring and experimenting with different styles of photography. I'd definitely love to do this more.

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand"

Writing | My Brother, Jericko

Writing | My Brother, Jericko

For the past couple of weeks we have been learning how to write character portraits.

We used this guide to help us with our writing.

Here is what I wrote about my brother -

To me my brother, Jericko, is the best brother in the whole entire universe. Hes artistic, talented, and kind. It may sound cliche, but it's true!

Suave, stylish, and sophisticated. That's Jericko! His dark-brown hair is as slick as a whistle. The smile he has is so bright that it resembles a star on a pitch-black night. He stands at around 5’8, but compared to others, he’s pretty short. He likes to keep his fashion style up to date with the latest trends, but still adds his own style. I guess you can say he’s just above an average looking guy.

When you first meet Jericko, he’ll be friendly, helpful, and nice. Once you get to know him better, he will start to become silly and loud around you. He is an extrovert and loves to socialize with others. He is a very cheerful and tough guy on the outside, but can be sensitive at times. He takes his education seriously, but tends to get distracted and procrastinates. Although he is silly at times, he can be serious when needed to be serious. He is an inspirational person, and really deep. He is very caring, and is concerned for others around him.

Jericko is a popular person. His personality attracts others around him. Everyone knows that Jericko loves music. He is passionate about it, and absolutely enjoys it. He also loves to sing wherever, whenever. From inside the shower, to on a stage with a hectic crowd. He inspires many people through his music. He plays many sports, but focuses on basketball. He is a team player, and people know that he can be counted on to do the job. If you ever need someone to make you laugh or smile, go to Jericko - he is known for saying really lame jokes that are actually pretty funny... At school, the teachers adore him. He is one of the “good” kids. Sadly, he has now graduated high school, and it is a big loss for the teachers here. He is a role model to many people. He has many talents, which makes him a good person to ask for advice. He is a good person to be friends with, because he accepts anyone.

Jericko has a lot of things that are special to him. Jericko LOVES his hair. He never lets anyone touch his hair, and if you manage to do so, he gets annoyed. For emergencies, he always carries his black wide tooth comb, which I think is really unnecessary. Jericko loves music too. He has 2 guitars. An electric, and an acoustic. His music related things are very important to him. Another thing that is important to him is his camera. He is very into photography, and loves to take pictures whenever, wherever. He likes to inspire people through his music, and his photography. Something else that is important to him is his values and his beliefs. He is a very loyal person.

As cliche as it sounds, this is why I think my brother is the best brother in the whole universe. He is an inspiration to all and a great human being.

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 4

Festival of the Arts | Photography - Post 4

Today in class we carried on with the alphabet things and finished things off again. Here is the doc of all our pictures of the alphabet.

While I was doing this task, I learnt a few things to do to take a good picture -

• Experiment with your camera
• Take lots of photos
• Check your background
• Try to take the photo straight, and keep the horizon straight
• Check your lighting

I think I have done well on doing these things, but I definitely haven't perfected them.

I think what I can do next time to improve is find inspiration for my photos and put a story behind it. I also would like to learn more about photography to take my pictures to the next level, such as learning things like shutter speeds, exposure, aperture, and other fancy photography terms.

Photograph the Alphabet | Deianira & Trisha

  

Alarm	Ball	Clouds	Door	E2
Flower	Grass	Hand	Images	Jar
Keyhole	L	M	Number + letter	O
Paper	Quick	Rock	Sun	Tree Bark
Umbrella	Volleyball Net	Water	Xij	Yellow
Zipper

"Every picture has a story to tell"