franchesca & rashawn

Franchesca & Rashawn

Rashawn decided to take a picture in front of the church, so we did. We made a simple mistake, he got into the picture 15 seconds late so he came out like this, which I think was a good mistake. I'm blurry because I moved too much but I don't really care because it looks awesome and love it.

Pinky and I

I chose to take this picture because it shows me and my crazy friend Franchesca. This picture is black and white because we used pin hole cameras. This is like back in the day technology but now cameras are mostly digital and advanced. The real deal to this is easy, the light goes in through a little hole in the pin hole camera and the picture goes on the special photo paper (like film) and depending on how much light goes in is how dark or light your picture comes out. So that's how come it's black and white. The picture is a little blurry because Franchesca moved too much during the picture while taking. Hope you like my picture, Enjoy.

Pinhole Cameras Part Deux

Now the student's cameras are ready to be loaded with a piece of photographic paper in the darkroom which serves as the "film." The students then take their cameras outside and remove the paper and tape covering their openings and let the light expose their paper for 2-5 minutes, depending on how bright a day it is and how large their pinhole was made. Then the students return to the darkroom, open their cameras, and develop their pinhole images. The images they get are actually negatives and are upside down and backwards, see illustration of the concept below.

The students should be posting their first images in the next few days, please give them some feedback!

Making Pinhole Cameras

Our first project this year is making pinhole cameras. These can be made out of pretty much any used household container that has a removable top.  The students learn how they can make a basic camera by making the container light tight (blocking light entry with black tape and painting it black inside to minimize light reflections). Then they make a hole in the box using a pin or small drill bit. The opening is covered up with a piece of black paper held onto the camera with tape.

Below is a pict of 5th grade Stetson Shutterbug Rashawn Pittman with his pinhole camera and first image.

Darkroom Video!

Here is a special treat, my students' first time in the darkroom developing their photograms. Those people who have been in a darkroom before know the magical experience of watching your first print appear in the developer. Now, thanks to our new night vision-equiped video camera, you can experience it along with them. You also get to see the entire development process from start to finish.

Darkroom Up and Running!

After what seems like an eternity, our darkroom is finally operational! For our first lesson the kids created photograms using objects they found lying around our unused 4th floor. The kids were very excited about their experiences and look forward to posting their first images next week. Stay tuned!

Thank You / Gracias!!!!

Here is a video of my students writing thank you notes to all those who have helped us. In their own words they show their appreciation.

Donations!!!

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to Karen Miller, Joanne Elliot (and family), and David DiDonato for their wonderful generosity of darkroom equipment and cameras. Because of them we are well on our way to having the necessary equipment we need for our students. We still need more, however. If you have any photo or darkroom equipment you are not using we will put it to good use!

Painting with the Whole Group

We are finally making a dent in the painting now that the whole group met today for the first time.

Paint it Black

Yesterday we started painting our darkroom. Our first day it was just the boys. Guess what color we picked?

Ready to Paint

Here is part of the group in our completely cleaned out space. We are now ready to Paint!

Cameras and Darkroom Equipment Needed!

This darkroom hasn't been used in over 10 years.

The Stetson Shutterbugs of Stetson Middle School are in need of cameras and darkroom equipment. We are rehabbing an ancient and closed up darkroom in our school and will be offering classes on traditional B/W photography, digital photography, and film making to our students. We would greatly appreciate the donation of ANY photo equipment, but are particularly looking for manual film cameras, enlargers, trays, tongs, chemistry, and other miscellaneous darkroom equipment. So if you have some old (or not so old) cameras or photography equipment you are not using we could definitely use it! Please contact Tony Rocco at chicodecali@yahoo.com.

Keep checking in on our blog for progress reports on the rehab of our darkroom and for photos from the students.