Jamie: Week One

I.

Portrait of Madeleine

II. 

Zoom lenses have a specific assembly of the lens elements so that the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens. Early forms of zoom lenses were used in optical telescopes. They are often described by the ratio of their longest to shortest focal lengths (i.e. a zoom lens with focal lengths ranging from 100 mm to 400 mm may be described as a 4:1 or 4x zoom). These lenses are most commonly used with still, video, motion picture cameras, projectors, binoculars, microscopes, telescopes, telescopic sights, and other optical instruments. A "true" zoom lens is a parfocal lens, which means it maintains focus when its focal length changes. A lens that loses focus during zooming is called a varifocal lens. 

III.

The first photograph taken by a pinhole camera was in 1850 AD by the Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster. The camera can be very simple, consisting of a box with a small hold in one side that serves as the aperture. Light from a scene passes through this point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box. The shutter is usually manually operated, so the photographer can decide how long the exposure should be. Typical exposures range from 5 seconds to several hours. These can be handmade by photographers, all one needs is a light-tight box with a pinhole in one end and a piece of film or photographic paper wedged or taped into the other end. 

-Jamie Solomon