Showing posts with label digital cameras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital cameras. Show all posts

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Photography


Over the past few years I have become more and more interested in the world of photography. The tool of the trade is obviously a camera and throughout time it has changed in some very drastic ways. Cameras allow us to capture a moment in time. The style or quality of a camera can show certain times in history. This is shown best when watching the history channel. You can easily see how old a video clip is simple by looking to see if it has color. The camera has shaped the way we look at history.


In 1822 a french man named Nicèphore Nièpce took the first photography of an engraving of the Pope Pius VII. Before this a camera obscura was used to capture images. This camera of sorts would project the image you wanted on to a piece of paper and then the image would be traced by the camera operator. In the 1850's an English inventor came up with the first positive/negative process and this is considered to be the precursor to the modern way of developing film. This allowed for the use of one negative to make multiple positives. The ability to reproduce the same exact picture is a big advantage and allows you to reproduce the picture for more then one person.


In 1861 James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish man, showed off his color picture at a Royal institution lecture. The picture, seen above, was taken with three different color filters. The red, green, and blue filters were each used to take three pictures of the tartan ribbon. The three images were projected on to a screen and when focused properly a color image appears. In 1877 over a bet the first fast motion pictures were taken. The bet that a horse doesn't fully leave the ground when galloping was settled after Eadweard Muybridge took a picture of a horse while in gallop. The picture showed that before the hind legs hit the front legs had left the ground. The pictures taken would be used in a simple version of stop motion. These advances all lead up to what we see to day in the world of photography.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Input Technologies


Input Technologies have really shaped they way of the future. Some types of Input Technologies are touch screens, digital cameras, and the magnetic strip on credit cards. It is amazing to me that 50 years ago, none of these things existed. One of my favorite new things is the touch screen. The picture is a picture of a touch screen. In the late 1960s, the idea of touch screens really came into thought. But it wasn't until the 70s, and 80s, that they took off and really made the first ones. Over the years, the improvements in the touch screen have been amazing. Before, touch screens could only sense on point of touch, but now, something called multi-touch technology is improving on that. Some good examples are the i-pod touch, and the iPhone. Something I never knew before is that touch screens are used in airplanes. I never really gave it much thought, but I guess it makes sense.
Another type of input technology are digital cameras. Thinking back, it is hard to remember the time when you couldn't just look at the picture you took right after you took it. Digital cameras have made taking pictures so much easier. Now, if you take a picture and you don't like it, then you know right away. Also, you are able to tell if the picture actually came out, or if its just a picture of shadow. One of my personal favorite things about a digital camera is that there are no more random purse or bag shots, and if there are, then you can just delete them. Digital cameras are a great improvement in technology.
A different type of input technology is the magnetic strip on credit cards. Along with this magnetic strip, there is also the MICR, which is the numbers at the bottom of the check. Both of these technology improvements are two things that most people take for granted. I never really think about it when I am using my credit card, but not that long ago, this simple transaction would have taken a lot longer, and probably would have been done with cash. It is just amazing to me how something so little as the magnetic strip on a credit card can have such an impact on my everyday life.