According to Wikipedia, Photography (derived from the Greek photos- for "light" and -graphos for "drawing") "is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film, or electronically by means of an image sensor."
Photographs have been around for over a hundred years now and have gone through many different changes and styles. From the wet collodion process where someone had to carry around numerous pieces of equipment, [1] chemicals etc.. to nowadays only needing to carry a tiny hand held cell phone with a built in camera, where your only concern is making sure the phones battery is charged.. but how did we get where we are today?
Photo below by, Jay Sanders (2013)
In the early1800's a man named Thomas Wedgwood (Image) made the first known attempt to capture an image by means of a camera. It was called an "obscura box" or "camera obscura" [1] [2] [3]. These boxes were usually used for drawings and used paper or white leather that had been treated with nitrate. It is said that, in 1802 the "the images formed by means of a camera obscura have been found too faint to produce, in any moderate time, an effect upon the nitrate of silver." The shadow images eventually darkened all over because "no attempts that have been made to prevent the uncolored part of the copy or profile from being acted upon by light have as yet been successful." - Wikipedia
The process called the wet collodion (video) was invented and introduced in the 1850's by a gentleman named Frederic S. Archer, (Image). This Style succeed other styles of photographer and was produced on glass plates to leave and make a detailed negative to print from. This process was very time consuming and can be broken down in equally critical steps. (Wikipedia).
Photo below by, Jay Sanders (2013)
Preparing the plate consists of cleaning, dusting the glass plate making sure nothing is left on the plate. Then the mixing of the chemicals to get ready for the photograph, this mixture of chemicals alone after being made had to sit for roughly a week before it could even been used. Sensitizing the plate or "flowing the plate" (video) is where the collodion (chemicals) are carefully poured on the glass plate and spread evenly. The next step of this process is called the "exposure Stage". At this part of the process the photographer is setting up the camera, getting his picture into focus and setting up the lighting etc.
After this step is set up it can not be changed without ruining the photo so attention to detail here is crucial. Developing the plate comes next in the wet collodion process. at this stage of the process the glass plats are removed from the camera cleaned, varnished, and finally preparations are made before going to print. This can give you a rough idea how long this process actually took just to take one single still photo. (GettyEdu), (Blog Post) [1] [2] [3]
All photography was originally monochrome, [1] or Black-and-White. [1] [2]. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its "classic" photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The cyanotype [1] process produces an image composed of blue tones. Besides lacking color another big thing that photos were lacking was the ability to freeze a picture that was in motion. Up until film was introduced objects etc. had to hold very still so that way the image would come out clear and would not be blurry. (Wikipedia)
Photo above by, Jay Sanders (2013)
Photo (left) by, Jay Sanders (2013)
The series of three picture on the left shows you an example of how photographs have progressed through the years.
The woman photographed in this photo is my Grandmother, Helen Perry (Wagener). The first photo was of her as a child in Binghamton, NY in 1912, the second (middle) black and white photo was taken in Sept, 1967 and the last colored photo was in 1994.
Another good example to see how photography has progressed are through looking at old baseball cards. Pictured below are two cards of Nolan Ryan sold by Topps manufacturing company the one on the left is from 1969 and the one on the right from 1994. Instantly you can see the difference in quality. The colors are drastically different and in the (69) card it shows no movement whereas, the (94) card you can see the baseball being thrown in the air, freezing movement. The quality of the image and being able to capture/freeze movement are two drastic changes in photography. Seeing these two examples leads us into the whole new era of color and movement.
Photo by, Jay Sanders (2013) personal collection
Photo by, Jay Sanders (2013) Personal collection
1969, 1994 Nolan Ryan, 1968 Mickey Mantle
1953 Jackie Robinson - 1934 Bill Hallahan
Black & White photo of
Lon Warneke, Aug 3rd, 1937
Photo created and pictured by, Jay Sanders(2013)
With the birth of Kodak came another great leap to photographer. The founder, George Eastman (Image) paved the way for use of photographic film and started manufacturing paper film in 1885. His first camera, which he called the "Kodak," was first offered for sale in 1888. It was a very simple box camera with a fixed-focus lens and single shutter speed.The Kodak came pre-loaded with enough film for 100 exposures and needed to be sent back to the factory for processing and reloading when the roll was finished.
Watch Out Film
Here Comes Digital
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Throw away the film, save your self the gas and pick up a digital camera. With the invention of the digital camera came a very time effective and easy way to take, share and store your photos. There was no longer a need to take photos, package them back up, drive to the store to ship them back to the manufacture to process then wait 2 weeks to get them back.
According to Wikipedia, "In 1981, Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the Sony Mavica [1]. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital. In 1991, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100 [1] [2], the first commercially available digital single lens reflex camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than photojournalism and professional photography, commercial digital photography was born."
According to Wikipedia, "In 1981, Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the Sony Mavica [1]. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital. In 1991, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100 [1] [2], the first commercially available digital single lens reflex camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than photojournalism and professional photography, commercial digital photography was born."
With today’s technology always changing it has made it possible for almost every person walking down the street to be able to snap off a piece of history by taking a photo. Anyone that has a cell phone nowadays most likely has a camera feature on the phone and can allow almost anyone to become an instant photojournalist. A cell phone camera allows an individual to take still photographs and some even video. According to Wikipedia, “Most camera phones are simpler than separate digital cameras however; their usual fixed focus lenses and smaller sensors limit their performance in poor lighting. Lacking a physical shutter, most have a long shutter lag. Flash, where present, is usually weak” but the convenience of having a cell phone with the added feature of a camera is a plus that you gain. Within seconds of capturing a photo you can have it uploading and shared over wireless transmission onto many social media sites like facebook, twitter, or blogger. Verizon wireless is now even offering a camera (Samsung Galaxy Camera) that is connected to their wireless service that can instantly upload your photos to instagram.
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