Single Use Cameras 101: how to take Bad ass(MF) ph

[Phil]

travellingcameraclub.com/post/6022291582/single-use-cameras-101-how-to-take-bad-ass-mf-photos

Film is amazing and unpredictable and produces images that digital simply can’t but it’s also challenging: you have limited number photos, you can’t review them and you can’t delete them if you get it wrong and you’ve wasted a shot.

Disposable cameras are even more limited than most film cameras but understanding how they work is a sure fire way to help you get the best shot possible

So without further ado, the travelling camera club presents Disposable Cameras 101: how to take Bad ass(MF) photos every time.


Using the camera

Disposable camera were designed to be easy to use in a pre-digital age which meant that they tried to design it so that almost everything was done for you which as a result means that were using a very limited medium but if we learn more about the cameras then we can push those limits.

So what do we need to keep in mind?

A disposable camera uses a fixed focus lens, its focusing distances is roughly 4 or 5 feet away from you’re subject to infinity.

With a disposable camera you can’t change the focus which means that if you try to shoot any close up’s they will appear blurred but you’ll have no way of knowing because you can’t check the photos.

So what does this mean?

Well disposable cameras do tend to favour landscape shots but as long as your careful and keep the subject 4 or 5 feet away then you’ll be fine doing portrait shots.

Disposable cameras aren’t good at close ups!



Understanding film

Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive chemicals, when the emulsion is sufficiently exposed to light, it forms an image, made up of the visible light, meaning the thing you took a photo of.

Film speed is a measurement of how sensitive a film is to light. A film that is highly sensitive to light is called a fast film; a film with a low sensitivity is a slow film.

The most common way to quantify film speed is according to its ISO speed (international standards organisation) rating.

e.g ISO 100 or 200 aren’t very sensitive to light meaning it takes a very long time for the film to absorb the light and capture the image. The higher the film speed, e.g 400, 800, 1600 or 3200 the quicker it absorbs the light.

For example ISO 400 film is more sensitive to light than ISO 100, it will take 4 times more light to properly expose ISO 100 film as it will take to properly expose ISO 400 film.

Low ISO speeds are really great for using in conditions where there’s a lot of light (e.g a summers day) because you can still use a high shutter speed and capture images that aren’t over exposed (lots of white areas on a photo), but their bad in low light conditions such as night clubs, hell they'd probably struggle in a house at night with the lights on.

The higher the ISO speed the better the camera is at taking a photo in low light conditions, 1600 and 3200 being the best.


Things to consider:

ISO 400 tends to be the most common film speed we see in disposable cameras because it’s the most versatile; it’s good for dimly lit outdoor conditions and in doors.

If you’re doing night time photography be aware that you’d normally need to use at least a 1600 or even 3200 speed film to capture night shots without using a flash and when you do use a flash it only captures the object directly in front of the lenses.

Try to take photos during the day, in environments with a lot of light or use the flash, you don’t want your photos to look like this:



Understanding shutter speeds

Shutter speed is term used to define exposure time meaning how long a roll of film is allowed to absorb light, the longer the shutter is open the more light the camera lets in.

A fast shutter speed such as 1/1000 second is really good for taking action shots such as snowboarding because the photo is taken so quickly the person does not blur.

farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/3082106620_9086fa0f1a.jpg[/img]

However fast shutter speeds are really bad at capturing images in conditions where there’s not a whole lot of light, there are ways to work around this problem, such as using a higher ISO speed film but there are limits and it’s a balancing act.

Conversely slow shutter speeds are really great at taking photos in low light conditions because they give the film a lot more time to absorb the light but slight movements make the photos blurry so the subject and the camera have to stay perfectly still.

Disposable cameras shutter speeds are fixed at 1/25th of a second which is a fairly fast shutter speed, you won’t be able to do anything as extreme as an object falling but for general use it’s a fairly decent speed.

For reference this photo was taken at 1/25 of a second:

[brooksykes]

I found this very useful, not really for disposable cameras but still really useful.

www.wikihow.com/Take-Better-Photographs

[Phil]

Brook! thanks for the link, a lot of the advice isnt all that useful for disposable cameras (its really great for digital slr's and with a little re wording for film slrs) but I think the one piece of advice that can be really pulled out from that article is this:

Take your camera everywhere. When you have your camera with you all the time, you will start to see the world differently; you will look for and find opportunities to take great photographs. And, of course, you will end up taking more photographs; and the more you take, the better a photographer you will become.[1] Furthermore, if you're taking photographs of your friends and family, they will get used to you having your camera with you all the time. Thus, they will feel less awkward or intimidated when you get your camera out; this will lead to more natural-looking, less "posed" photographs. Also, remember to bring batteries or charge it if you are using a digital camera.

oh and this:

Compose your shot thoughtfully. Frame the photo in your mind before framing it in the viewfinder. Consider the following rules, but especially the last one:

Use the Rule of Thirds, where the primary points of interest in your scene sits along "third" lines. Try not to let any horizon or other lines "cut the picture in half."


Get rid of distracting backgrounds and clutter. If this means you and your friend have to move a little so that a tree does not appear to be growing out of her head, then do so. If glare is coming off the windows of the house across the street, change your angle a bit to avoid it. If you're taking vacation photographs, take a moment to get your family to put down all the junk they may be carrying around with them and to remove backpacks or hip packs as well. Keep that mess well out of the frame of the picture, and you will end up with much nicer, less cluttered photos. If you can blur the background in a portrait, then do so. And so on.

Thanks Brook!

[Phil]

Just wanted to add this as well:

Try an interesting angle. Instead of shooting the object straight on, try looking down to the object, or crouching and looking up. Pick an angle that shows maximum color and minimum shadow. To make things appear longer or taller, a low angle can help. If you want a bold photo, it is best to be even with the object. You may also want to make the object look smaller or make it look like you're hovering over; to get the effect you should put the camera above the object. An uncommon angle makes for a more interesting shot.