I was on the CBS news website this morning and saw some photo albums on their page that were of some interest to me. I thought I'd send along the links for you to all look at.
The first one is a group of portraits taken of child delinquents in the 1870s. I thought they were interesting historically. They were likely taken with a glass negative (am I remembering my photo history correctly, Phil?) and developed on spot. Here's a short description of photographic film in the mid 1800s
Wet Plate Negatives
In 1851, Frederick Scoff Archer, an English sculptor, invented the wet plate negative. Using a viscous solution of collodion, he coated glass with light-sensitive silver salts. Because it was glass and not paper, this wet plate created a more stable and detailed negative. Photography advanced considerably when sensitized materials could be coated on plate glass. However, wet plates had to be developed quickly before the emulsion dried. In the field this meant carrying along a portable darkroom. (http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/stilphotography.htm)
Portraits then:
The second set of photos are portraits of the Olympians for the US team as taken recently. I thought the stark contrast in 150 years of photography history was incredible.
Portraits now:
Lastly, here are some photos documenting the storms that tore through the midwest and Mid-atlantic states on Sunday. Notice how the photographers used simple techniques that Phil teaches to document the damage. Notice things like asymmetrical balance, depth of field (short or deep depending on the composition), use of line in the photo to guide your eye through the photo. What other basic techniques that Phil teaches about composition and photo techniques did you notice as you browsed? July photo class, take special notice of the techniques used in preparation for the upcoming class. (Note the subtle foreshadowing).
Documentary
If you are out there taking photos, please post some for all of us to see!
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