Pinhole Camera
Our task involved creating a pin hole camera, this would be used to create an image which would be developed in the dark room in photography. During the week I developed an understanding of what pin hole cameras are and their advantages and disadvantages. Due to their light weight and no cost they are easy to transport and can be used to take images at a considerably low budget. However, the images require long exposure times and if movement occurs it can potentially cause the image to become blurred or completely invisible. I have never produced a pin hole camera or developed photos within a dark room so this was incredibly exciting as I was widening my knowledge within the world of art and design. I was put in a group of 5 all of whom came from different disciplines, this was helpful as we were all able to use our strengths to collectively produce a successful project. As a team we produced a mind map of all our initial ideas, we all listened to everyone’s opinions which allowed us to quickly produce a variety of different ideas.
We were all particularly interested with the forms that we found within Llandaff cathedral, the pattern and curvatures found on the ceiling of the cathedral inspired how our pin hole camera would look. Its geometric forms were incredibly intriguing and we all agreed that this would be more interesting to use rather than a cylinder or a rectangular camera.
One of the girls within my group had previously created hexagonal nets for another project, we all collectively liked the shape of the 3d hexagonal models and agreed that this could easily represent the geometric forms we wanted to recreate. In order for the pin hole camera to work we had to make sure that the inside of the camera was completely black to stop any reflection that may take place, to do this we took the pin hole camera down to the spray room and spray painted the inside so that all the sides were black. Alongside this we also completely covered the outside of the pin hole camera with duct tape to block any additional light coming through which could damage the image. This has to be done as the photographic paper is light sensitive, therefore if exposed to any additional light it could jeopardise the exposure and quality of the image.
The next thing we needed to do was decorate the outside of the pin hole camera, we all decided on using shiny card on every other hexagonal shape this was to produce a contrast between futuristic and traditional cultural approaches (futuristic environment vs churchyard) Due to the weather we had to postpone taking the photographs until Friday however again due to the weather conditions the university was closed on Friday and the weekend, therefore we were unable to complete the pin hole task as we did not have access to the dark room and the materials required to do so. On Tuesday we all got together and took some photographs with the pin hole camera and used the dark room as the weather was considerably better. The pictures we produced were not the best as they were over exposed however we finally got one image which showed the outline of a tree, this was the best image we obtained.
I personally think that our group could have collaborated more efficiently to finish the project more successfully however I felt that we did not work well as a group.
Though my previous experiences within my field projects have been good I found that our group did not glue together as well as I had hoped. I felt as though the group dynamics were not satisfactory as many people completed the work individually and therefore it was hard to communicate to one another. If I was to do this project differently I would ensure that our group communicated more rather than having to produce all the work individually.
Augmented reality:
Alongside producing a pin-hole camera we had a lecture on augmented reality, this is the ability to insert and overlay digital and virtual information into the real world; google and ikea are among a few businesses of whom are using AR to their advantage. I learned that this technology helps to enable users to view the world in a completely different perspective and can even assist users with directions, general information such as the weather and can also recommend places to eat in relation to you location. During this lecture we were able to experiment with AR using the HP reveal app, this is a free app which can be downloaded onto any smart device. It enables me to produce my own augmented reality. I found this incredibly interesting as it allowed me to insert an overlay of different things into my current environment. This is a skill which I can use in the future if I want to present my projects in a unique and stylish way, therefore has helped me to develop a greater understanding into the different technologies which can be used to help me present and communicate my ideas.
Charlotte's blog 