My first Nikon SLR purchase was to celebrate a good year at IBM and to get plenty of photos of my new born first daughter, back in the mid 70's. The investments in hardware spurred the need to read some photography books and even to go to the Nikon Class that came to your local city once a year. This quickly became my favorite hobby.
The downside was the cost of film and developing. To counter this, I switched to slide film which bypassed the cost of printing everything. Of course this led to a need for a loupe, slide viewer, a light table, a projector and a screen to enjoy the slides - but these were "one time expenditures." I learned that the challenge of slide film was to get the photo right the first time because it was not as forgiving as print film. It was particularly sensitive to getting the exposure right.
The satisfaction of saving money on prints with slide film was just the tip of the iceberg. It was a small step to buy a little bit of equipment and chemicals to do my own slide film developing. One of the accessories was the changing bag. It looked like a black T-shirt, but with no opening for the head and a zipper / velcro closure at the bottom. This lets you put your exposed film canister, a developing reel, and a developing tank inside the changing bag. Remove the film from the canister, wrap it around the reel and insert the reel in the tank.
The developing could be done in a lighted room since the developing tank was light proof, but let you add and remove the chemicals. This was simpler and cheaper than building a dark room to develop your own film. The other advantage of developing in a lighted room allowed me to process the film while I watched Monday Night Football. After the slides were developed, I got to cut each slide and mount it. Even with some multitasking with TV viewing, I was trading my time for lower costs.
My hobby grew in importance and faster than my budget, so the next step was to purchase slide film in bulk and to load my own film cannisters. This required a bulk loader, the changing bag and re-usable film cannistes. By now I was taking an enormous number of photos, over 3,000 per year. I started buying slide mounts a few hundred at a time. All this made the cost per photo go down, although it required investment in equipment and time.
This approach worked for me for years.
More about the "Going Digital" journey next week.
1 comment:
One way to photograph fireworks. BROUGHT TO YOU BY: http://www.netprintz.net
In photography, as in life, there are always more than one route from here to there.
This is one route that works for me. This works for both film and digital.
Items suggested for this method:
1) A camera with manual exposure capability (both f-stop and shutter) and the ability to make long exposures. Manual focus setting is also necessary.
2) A tripod or other method of supporting the camera for ling time exposures. OK, you really need a good tripod for this.
3) A cable release or electronic release for the camera.
4) For a film camera, ISO 100 or 200 film. Probably two rolls or so.
5) For a digital camera, two or three memory cards. Maybe a spare battery.
6) A lens shade to eliminate extraneous light from outside the image area.
7) A flashlight so you can see to set the camera.
8) A folding chair-might as well be comfortable, it's going to be an hour or so.
9) Maybe some refreshments, it's going to be an hour or so.
10) Fresh batteries for the camera, or freshly charged batteries.
11) Don't forget the mosquito repellent.
12) Maybe an umbrella, if the weather is iffy.
13) Always carry a big zip-lock bag large enough to protect the camera, just in case.
Pick a good location. One that will let your camera see the fireworks without any obstructions in the foreground that will block the view. An area with s simple dark foreground is the best.
Try to set up before dark. Install your fresh batteries. (Making long exposures zaps the batteries pretty good, so start with fresh ones. You don't want to be changing them in the dark during the show.) Use your tripod to aim the camera at the sky where the displays will be. Adjust the lens to include the part of the sky where you think the fireworks will go off. Hook up your cable release or remote. Load the camera (memory card or film) and set the exposure.
Suggested settings:
For Film Cameras:
1)Set the focus at infinity and turn off any auto-focus function.
2)Turn off any flash NO FLASH!!
3)Set the shutter on B or T
4)Set the f-stop a) for ISO 100 film (slide film = f8.0)(print film = 5.6) b)for ISO 200 film (slide film = f11)(print film = 8.0)
When the fireworks start, open the shutter for thee to ten seconds and let several bursts go off then close the shutter.
For Digital Cameras:
1)Set the focus at infinity and torn off any auto-focus function.
2)Turn off any flash NO FLASH!!
3)Set the shutter on B or T
4)set the ISO speed at 100 or 200 (100 is better)
5)Set the resolution at the highest setting
6)Set the quality setting at the finest setting.
7)Set the color quality at Vivid color
8)Set the f stop at f11 for ISO 100 or f16 for ISO 200
Shoot the bursts one at a time, you can put them together later with a photo editing program. Open shutter burst goes off close shutter. Go again and again as long as the show lasts. Enjoy.
Things NOT to do:
1) Forget mosquito repellent.
2) Use auto exposure.
3) Use automatic focus.
4) Use flash.
5) Use high ISO speeds.
6) Hand hold the camera.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: http://www.netprintz.net
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