View allAll Photos Tagged reciprocity
Twisting Light #3. The next experimental shot exploring the patterns formed by light passing through shaped and formed plastics. These are analog images taken direct onto 35mm film.
I'd be interested to see what they remind you of.
Rollie RPX25
Ebony 45SU
Nikkor 300mm f9
Mid Tone LV = just over 12
Yellow Filter (Just under 1 stop required)
f30
1sec (no time required for reciprocity)
Developed in R09 for 11mins @ 20C in Stearman SP445
In the East of France near to Switzerland is the lakeside town of Annecy. The steep road or the steps to the top of the hill brings you to a view of the rooftops of the old part of the town.
View large for extra detail.
archive of Casa Cuseni, an original newspaper article, preserved by Daphne Phelps, who hosted Danilo Dolci in Taormina.
archivio di Casa Cuseni, un articolo di giornale originale, conservato da Daphne Phelps, che ospitò a Taormina Danilo Dolci.
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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A story of Sicily: the Sicilian Gandhi (but he was not Sicilian ...).
This photographic story is connected, at least in part, with the previous one, whose link is represented by the nephew of the painter Robert Kitson, Miss Daphne Phelps: in life she was a psychiatric social worker (she collaborated with Anna Freud, daughter by Sigmund Freud), on the death of his uncle in 1948 he moved to Sicily to take care of Casa Cuseni, having inherited it: initially he wanted to sell it and then return to England, instead he ended up falling in love with Taormina and Sicily, deciding to stay there for the rest of his life. Daphne ran Casa Cuseni welcoming paying guests, there are many illustrious names of artists, writers, well-known personalities who have stayed there: Danilo Dolci was one of these guests, and it is precisely about him that I wish to speak. He was born in 1924 in Sesana (Trieste), after a somewhat eventful life, in 1952 he moved to Trappeto (between Palermo and Trapani), a country among the poorest and most disadvantaged in Italy: that same year the first of numerous fasts, going to bed and fasting in the bed of a child who died of malnutrition, a protest that will end only when the authorities undertake to build a sewer. Danilo Dolci continues with numerous initiatives, from the publication of a book ("Banditi a Partinico", which makes public opinion aware of the poor living conditions of western Sicily, to this book and many others will follow), to the "strike at reverses ”, when the workers went on strike, hundreds of unemployed began to work to reactivate an abandoned municipal road, an initiative that was then stopped by the police; Dolci also initiates an activity of denunciation of the mafia phenomenon and its relations with politics. There are numerous certificates of esteem and solidarity that he receives from important personalities from Italy and abroad, but despite this, for others Danilo Dolci is a dangerous subversive, to be hindered, denigrated, locked up in prison. Yet Dolci does not pose as a guru, boss, or teacher, his working method is based on the conviction that change is based on the involvement and direct participation of those concerned, his idea of progress enhances local culture and skills; he tries, working closely with the people and the most disadvantaged and oppressed groups of western Sicily, to free the dormant creativity in every person, calling this research "maieutic", a term coming from philosophy, precisely from Socratic maieutics: it is "the 'art of the midwife ", every educational act is to bring to light all the inner potentialities of the one who wants to learn, like a mother who wants to give birth to her own child from her womb, so no to notions imparted a priori, yes to help the student to bring their knowledge to light, using dialogue as a tool; however, Socratic maieutics is unidirectional, while in Danilo Dolci's "reciprocal maieutics", knowledge comes out of experience and its sharing, therefore it presupposes the reciprocity of communication. During meetings with farmers and fishermen, the idea was born to build the dam on the Jato River, which is important for the economic development of the area, but also to remove a powerful weapon in the hands of the mafia, an instrument of power which controlled the few available water resources; however the request for "water for all" will be heavily hindered, popular mobilizations and long fasts will be necessary to finally see the project realized: now the dam exists, and others have been built, thus modifying the lives of thousands of people, with the development of numerous companies and cooperatives. Among the many activities of Dolci, thanks to the contribution of international experts, the experience of the Mirto Educational Center, attended by hundreds of children, should be mentioned. Returning to Daphne Phelps and Casa Cuseni, here is a lithograph by Tono Zancanaro, dedicated to the birth of one of Danilo Dolci's daughters, but, among the most important, there is a correspondence between the pacifist philosopher Bertrand Russel and Daphne Phelps, in which the English thinker invited Robert Kitson's niece to participate in the gatherings of progressive intellectuals and literary and scientific personalities of the time, among them, besides Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Carlo Levi, there was Danilo Dolci, sociologist, educator, still recognized today as one of the most important figures of nonviolence worldwide.
post Scriptum:
- the images with Danilo Dolci come from the Casa Cuseni archive: they are cuttings from original periodicals, often full pages, from English newspapers, carefully preserved by Miss Daphne Phelp; these images were also taken by photographing some pages of James McNeish's book, "Fire under the ashes - The life of Danilo Dolci";
- the photographs taken in various countries of Sicily, are prior to the covid-19 pandemic;
- thanks to the surgeon colleague dr. Franco Spadaro and his kind wife, Mrs. Mimma Cundari, owners of Casa Cuseni (declared in 1998, Italian National Monument), for their hospitality and availability, having made the Danilo Dolci archive available to me.
Una storia di Sicilia: il Gandhi siciliano (ma siciliano non era…).
Questo racconto fotografico, è connesso, almeno in parte, con quello precedente, il cui anello di congiunzione è rappresentato dalla nipote del pittore Robert Kitson, la signorina Daphne Phelps: lei nella vita era una assistente sociale psichiatrica (lei collaborava con Anna Freud, figlia di Sigmund Freud), alla morte dello zio nel 1948 si trasferì in Sicilia per occuparsi di Casa Cuseni, avendola ereditata: inizialmente la voleva vendere per poi ritornarsene in Inghilterra, invece finì con l’innamorarsi di Taormina e della Sicilia, decidendo di restarvi per il resto della sua vita. Daphne gestiva Casa Cuseni accogliendo ospiti paganti, numerosi sono i nomi illustri di artisti, scrittori, note personalità che vi hanno alloggiato: Danilo Dolci è stato uno di questi ospiti, ed è proprio di lui che desidero parlare. Egli nasce nel 1924 a Sesana (Trieste), dopo una vita un po’ movimentata, nel 1952 si trasferisce a Trappeto (tra Palermo e Trapani), un paese tra i più poveri e disagiati d’Italia: quello stesso anno inizia il primo di numerosi digiuni, coricandosi e digiunando nel letto di un bimbo morto per denutrizione, protesta che terminerà solo quando le autorità si impegneranno a costruire una fogna. Danilo Dolci prosegue con numerose iniziative, dalla pubblicazione di un libro (“Banditi a Partinico”, che mette a conoscenza dell’opinione pubblica delle misere condizioni di vita della Sicilia occidentale, a questo libro poi ne seguiranno molti altri), allo “sciopero alla rovescia”, quando i lavoratori fecero sciopero, centinaia di disoccupati si misero a lavorare per riattivare una strada comunale abbandonata, iniziativa però poi fermata dalla polizia; Dolci avvia anche una attività di denuncia del fenomeno mafioso e dei suoi rapporti con la politica. Numerosi sono gli attestati di stima e solidarietà che egli riceve da importanti personalità provenienti dall’Italia e dall’estero, ma nonostante ciò per altri Danilo Dolci è un pericoloso sovversivo, da ostacolare, denigrare, chiudere in prigione. Eppure Dolci non si atteggia né a santone, capo, od un maestro, il suo metodo di lavoro è basato sulla convinzione che il cambiamento è basato sul coinvolgimento e diretta partecipazione degli interessati, la sua idea di progresso valorizza la cultura e le competenze locali; egli cerca, lavorando a stretto contatto con la gente e le fasce più disagiate ed oppresse della Sicilia occidentale, di liberare la creatività sopita in ogni persona, chiamando tale ricerca “maieutica”, termine proveniente dalla filosofia, precisamente dalla maieutica socratica: è “l’arte della levatrice”, ogni atto educativo è far venire alla luce tutte le potenzialità interiori di colui che vuole imparare, al pari di una madre che vuol far nascere la propria creatura dal suo grembo, quindi no a nozioni impartite a priori, si ad aiutare lo studente a portare alla luce la propria conoscenza, usando il dialogo come strumento; però, la maieutica socratica è unidirezionale, mentre nella “maieutica reciproca” di Danilo Dolci, la conoscenza viene fuori dall’esperienza e dalla sua condivisione, quindi presuppone la reciprocità della comunicazione. Nel corso di riunioni con contadini e pescatori, nasce l’idea di costruire la diga sul fiume Jato, importante per lo sviluppo economico della zona, ma anche togliere un’arma potente in mano alla mafia, che faceva del controllo delle poche risorse idriche disponibili uno strumento di potere, però la richiesta di “acqua per tutti” verrà pesantemente ostacolata, saranno necessarie le mobilitazioni popolari, lunghi digiuni, per vedere infine realizzato il progetto: ora la diga esiste, ed altre sono state poi realizzate, modificando in tal modo la vita di migliaia di persone, con lo svilupparsi di numerose aziende e cooperative. Da menzionare, tra le tante attività di Dolci, grazie al contributo di esperti internazionali, l’esperienza del Centro Educativo di Mirto, frequentato da centinaia di bambini. Ritornando a Daphne Phelps e Casa Cuseni, qui è presente una litografia di Tono Zancanaro, dedicata alla nascita di una delle figlie di Danilo Dolci, ma, cosa tra le più importanti, esiste un carteggio tra il filosofo pacifista Bertrand Russel e Daphne Phelps, nel quale il pensatore inglese invitava la nipote di Robert Kitson a partecipare ai raduni di intellettuali progressisti e personalità letterarie e scientifiche dell’epoca, tra di loro, oltre Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre e Carlo Levi, c’era Danilo Dolci, sociologo, educatore, ancora oggi riconosciuto tra le figure di massimo rilievo della nonviolenza a livello mondiale.
post scriptum:
- le immagini con Danilo Dolci provengono dall'archivio di Casa Cuseni: sono ritagli di giornali originali dell'epoca, spesso pagine intere, provenienti da quotidiani inglesi, accuratamente conservati dalla signorina Daphne Phelp; tali immagini sono state realizzate fotografando anche alcune pagine del libro di James McNeish, "Fire under the ashes - The life of Danilo Dolci";
- le fotografie realizzate in diversi paesi della Sicilia, sono antecedenti alla pandemia da covid-19;
- si ringrazia il collega chirurgo dott. Franco Spadaro e la sua gentile consorte, signora Mimma Cundari, proprietari di Casa Cuseni (dichiarata nel 1998, Monumento Nazionale Italiano), per la loro ospitalità e disponibilità, avendo messo a mia disposizione l'archivio relativo a Danilo Dolci.
Yashica Mat 124, Yashinon Wide Angle Lens Attachment + 55mm IR720 & CPL filters, Rollei Superpan 200
Metered ISO 6
Kodak XTOL 1+1, 9:30 mins @ 24C (14 mins @ 20C)
Not the best lighting for infrared but a good idea of this film's IR capabilities. Exposures 1 second or longer were doubled for reciprocity failure.
The wide angle attachment gives a vignette at the edges I quite like on B&W film but I don't think it would look quite as good on color film. Funny the OEM auxiliary lens is of such poor quality while the other aftermarket lenses I have produce no vignette and only minor distortion. Oh, Yashica.
Lyukkamera, Pinhole Camera, Appareil à sténopé , Cámara escura, Camera obscura, Estenopeica, Foro stenopeico, Hålkamera, Kамера опскура, Lochkamera, Otworek, Pinhole fotoğraf makinesi, Stenopeica, φωτογραφία, Пинхол Фотография
Author : © IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Csobánka,
Hungary,
Central-Europe
Time of shoot :
04.08.12.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Fuji FP-100C Color Instant (expired)
Format: 3.25 x 4.25 in. (8.5 x 10.8 cm) "Regular Size" pack film
Image Area: 2.88 x 3.75 in. (7.3 x 9.5 cm)
Filter : no
Metered expo.:
Calculated expo.: 5.5 Ev - 460 second
Shooting : 16 x 460 = 7360 second
(2:02:40)
I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Fuji Color Instant film.
Dev.: 120 sec. (25° C)
The camera :
Body is a Film Back Adapter Plate from a Polaroid 203 camera
- focus : 33 mm
- pinhole : 0,25 mm (Lenox Laser)
- diaphragm : 132
Film back from my Polaroid 600se camera.
Shutter and Pinhole holder is a "pu(s)h" from Dr. Kai Fuhrmann with filter thread (homemade).
Picture from the camera :
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2837193476/in/set-72...
The parameters of camera :
(when I use 95x73 mm format instant film)
- Angle of view : 90°
- Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 1,8
- Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 959
Post work : (02.11.2012)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (400 dpi)
File Size : MB (TIF)
Pixel :
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
Variation on the previous composition.
This is a redo of yesterday's test of RPX100, with a more light-handed approach to reciprocity adjustments (far less exposure) and less time in the developer (I still used PMK, standard dilution)
I'm much happier with these negatives. Exposure/density is perfect and PMK delivered good density and a controlled tonal scale with excellent acutance. I'm pretty sure this is Kentmere 100 rebranded for Rollei, or a modified Kentmere variation. The film base is identical (as I can see) and the emulsion behaves very similarly. Maybe I oughtta do one roll of each and treat them the same, to see?
Made with the Hasselblad 500C/M, standard Planar lens. 8 seconds exposure at f16.
Taken with a homemade pinhole camera.
Shoot to Polaroid Color instant film.
Colored with Tiffen lens filters.
AUTHOR : IMRE BECSI
Location of shoot : Isle of Szentendre, Szigetmonostor, Hungary, Central-Europe
Time of shoot : 29.04.2007.
PICTURE MADE WITH :
( Home-made assembled pinhole camera be composed of
few original photography equipments )
Camera body : IKEA plant pot
Film back : 450 (Pack film holder to 4x5 back)
Film back holder : Cambo Revolving Back Assembly
Grip : IKEA handle
Viewfinder : I made it myself from Super 8 mm Titel maker and HAMA flash holder
Focus : 85 mm
Pinhole : 0.35 mm (from Lenox laser)
Diaphragm : 243
Shutter : Compal Polaroid MP4
Matte Box : Arriflex 3X4 (from my Eclair s16 movie camera set)
Tripod & Head : Velbon
Quick release plates : Manfrotto
Film : Polaroid 679 (Expired : 01/02)
Filter : Enhancing, Circular Polar, Light Yellow, Nd6 Soft Gradual
Light : Hard afthernon sun
Metered exposure : 14,25 EV (Minolta Light Meter III with diffusor)
Calculated exposure : 10 EV / 58 sec.
( I use my reciprocity compensation value chart )
Dev. : 120 sec. ( normal )
POST WORK :
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (600 dpi)
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
If interesting for you my other work please see my all pictures on one page :
www.flickrleech.net/user/jonespointfilm
Thanks for looking !
Lyukkamera, Pinhole Camera, Appareil à sténopé , Cámara escura, Camera obscura, Estenopeica, Foro stenopeico, Hålkamera, Kамера опскура, Lochkamera, Otworek, Pinhole fotoğraf makinesi, Stenopeica, φωτογραφία, Пинхол Фотография
Author : © IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Italy
Central-Europe
Time of shoot :
2014. 06.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Fuji FP-100C Color Instant
Format: 3.25 x 4.25 in. (8.5 x 10.8 cm) "Regular Size" pack film
Image Area: 2.88 x 3.75 in. (7.3 x 9.5 cm)
Filter : Orange (Tiffen)+Polar (Chromatec)
Shooting : 15 second (III.zone)
(I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Fuji Color Instant film)
Dev.: 120 sec. (25° C)
The camera :
Body is a Film Back Adapter Plate from a Polaroid 203 camera
- focus : 33 mm
- pinhole : 0,25 mm (Lenox Laser)
- diaphragm : 132
Film back from my Polaroid 600se camera.
Shutter and Pinhole holder is a "pu(s)h" from Dr. Kai Fuhrmann with filter thread (homemade).
Picture from the camera :
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2837193476/in/set-72...
The parameters of camera :
(when I use 95x73 mm format instant film)
- Angle of view : 110°
- Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 1,8
- Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 959
Post work : (17-19.07.2014)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (50x40 cm/400 dpi)
File Size : 168744 KB (TIF)
Pixel : 8504 X 6772
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
Bending Light #31
A series of refraction patterns of light through various objects. This one is through glass.
This reminds me of a twentieth century abstract painting of a figure. You may have other ideas.
Taken with a homemade pinhole camera
AUTHOR : IMRE BECSI
Location of shoot : Pomáz, Hungary, Central-Europe
Time of shoot : 16.03.2007.
PICTURE MADE WITH :
( Home-made assembled pinhole camera be composed of
few original photography equipments )
Camera body : IKEA plant pot
Film back : 450 (Pack film holder to 4x5 back)
Film back holder : Cambo Revolving Back Assembly
Grip : IKEA handle
Viewfinder : I made it myself from Super 8 mm Titel maker and HAMA flash holder
Focus : 85 mm
Pinhole : 0.35 mm (from Lenox laser)
Diaphragm : 243
Shutter : Compal Polaroid MP4
Matte Box : Arriflex 3X4 (from my Eclair s16 movie camera set)
Tripod & Head : Velbon
Quick release plates : Manfrotto
Film : Fuji Fp 100c 45 (Expired !)
Filters : Circ.Polar, Enhancing, Ultra Contrast 1/2, Light yellow
Light : Late afthernon hard sun
Metered exposure : 11 EV (Minolta Light Meter III with diffusor)
Calculated exposure : 58 sec.
( I use my reciprocity compensation value chart )
Dev. : normal
POST WORK :
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (900 dpi)
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
If interesting for you my other work please see my all pictures on one page :
www.flickrleech.net/user/jonespointfilm
Comments very much welcome !
Thanks for looking !
Macro detail from Studio Glass vase made by Sam Herman in his London studio in 1982. For a view of the whole vase see here.
Lyukkamera, Pinhole Camera, Appareil à sténopé , Cámara escura, Camera obscura, Estenopeica, Foro stenopeico, Hålkamera, Kамера опскура, Lochkamera, Otworek, Pinhole fotoğraf makinesi, Stenopeica, φωτογραφία, Пинхол Фотография
Author : © IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Dunabogdány
Hungary,
Central-Europe
Time of shoot :
14.07.14.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Fuji FP-100C Color Instant
Format: 3.25 x 4.25 in. (8.5 x 10.8 cm) "Regular Size" pack film
Image Area: 2.88 x 3.75 in. (7.3 x 9.5 cm)
Filter : Orange (Tiffen)+Polar (Chromatec)
Shooting : 15 second (III.zone)
(I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Fuji Color Instant film)
Dev.: 120 sec. (25° C)
The camera :
Body is a Film Back Adapter Plate from a Polaroid 203 camera
- focus : 33 mm
- pinhole : 0,25 mm (Lenox Laser)
- diaphragm : 132
Film back from my Polaroid 600se camera.
Shutter and Pinhole holder is a "pu(s)h" from Dr. Kai Fuhrmann with filter thread (homemade).
Picture from the camera :
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2837193476/in/set-72...
The parameters of camera :
(when I use 95x73 mm format instant film)
- Angle of view : 110°
- Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 1,8
- Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 959
Post work : (16-17.07.2014)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (50x40 cm/400 dpi)
File Size : 168744 KB (TIF)
Pixel : 8504 X 6772
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
Lyukkamera, Pinhole Camera, Appareil à sténopé , Cámara escura, Camera obscura, Estenopeica, Foro stenopeico, Hålkamera, Kамера опскура, Lochkamera, Otworek, Pinhole fotoğraf makinesi, Stenopeica, φωτογραφία, Пинхол Фотография
Author : © IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Budapest,
Hungary,
Central-Europe
Time of shoot :
08.03.14.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Fuji FP-100C Color Instant
Format: 3.25 x 4.25 in. (8.5 x 10.8 cm) "Regular Size" pack film
Image Area: 2.88 x 3.75 in. (7.3 x 9.5 cm)
Filter : Wratten 85b & Soft contrast 2 (Tiffen)
Metered expo.: 13,5 ev (green water)
(Metered with Minolta Spotmeter)
Calculated expo.: 20 second
Shooting : 10 second (III.zone)
(I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Fuji Color Instant film)
Dev.: 120 sec. (18° C)
The camera :
Body is a Film Back Adapter Plate from a Polaroid 203 camera
- focus : 33 mm
- pinhole : 0,25 mm (Lenox Laser)
- diaphragm : 132
Film back from my Polaroid 600se camera.
Shutter and Pinhole holder is a "pu(s)h" from Dr. Kai Fuhrmann with filter thread (homemade).
Picture from the camera :
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2837193476/in/set-72...
The parameters of camera :
(when I use 95x73 mm format instant film)
- Angle of view : 120°
- Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 1,8
- Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 959
Post work : (15.03.2014)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (50x40 cm/400 dpi)
File Size : 168744 KB (TIF)
Pixel : 8504 X 6772
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
A little table I've worked up in Excel. I *think* it's accurate, following the formulae available online for bellows factor, bellows extension, and total working distance.
B = total bellows extension
W = working distance
T = total distance from subject to film plane
dimensions in inches at top are subject size dimensions.
I've already used this successfully once so it's pretty good I think.
Why is this useful? Because working out lens choice and setup for large-format closeup work can be tricky, especially if you don't have a tape-measure with you (but no self-respecting large-format photographer should be without one of those, surely??). Depending on whether a given camera front focuses or back focuses or both, setup can be time-consuming.
Using this table, I first figure out roughly what the subject dimensions are, then figure out roughly where I am in terms of magnification and which vertical part of the column I'm on. Depending on how much working distance I want or have available, I would then work down the list of lenses and select the lens I need (or indeed have) and set up the camera roughly according to the total distance indicated. Some adjustment is required for in-between magnifications, but that's much better than wasting half an hour guessing and getting frustrated.
Measurements with underlines are amounts of bellows extension where I would need to use the extension board for my Chamonix 810V (without extension, bellows is limited to 680mm; with extension board, this extends to 850mm). I haven't therefore included bellows lengths that would exceed 850mm.
Having a reasonably long QR plate on the camera also helps. I use a Wimberley P50 on both 8x10 and 5x4, which is 167mm in length.
For time to add, I use the reciprocity timer app for consistency with bellows extension calculations. It automatically calculates reciprocity time and adds this too, according to its own formulae.
This is the very first photo taken with my new syrup tin camera. Had I known it would turn out this well, I'd have chosen a more interesting subject, rather than just plonking it in the back garden. It took a lot of work to get a shot this dull :-D
I noticed that a Tate & Lyle 2lb (907g) Golden Syrup tin is the perfect size to take 5" x 4" film, being almost exactly 4" deep.
Being a nerd, I used an online calculator to determine that the best size hole for the tin's focal length was 0.4mm, equating to F225. The hole was made in a piece of thin steel shim, using a small drill bit (yes, tiny drills are easily obtainable; just put in a pin vice and twiddle by hand).
The tin is lined with black paper to cut out reflections and I made a rudimentary film holder with another piece of black card, simply so I could get the film out again without a fight.
Using another online source, I compiled a chart so I could easily convert light readings taken at F8 to F225. Finally, I had to factor in the reciprocity failure of the film (helpfully provided by yet another online hero) which meant much longer exposure than the theoretical figure. To my amazement, I got an image! Yay for theory!
My final problem is that my scanner can't cope with 5x4... doh! This is taken with my dSLR.
49 second exposure; Fomapan 100; Fomadon R09 1:50 8 minutes
137/366
Sunday Monday Film
Bending Light #14
Back to black and white (mostly).
Continuing the study of light refraction patterns formed by glass objects.
Any other views on what you see?
Lyukkamera, Pinhole Camera, Appareil à sténopé , Cámara escura, Camera obscura, Estenopeica, Foro stenopeico, Hålkamera, Kамера опскура, Lochkamera, Otworek, Pinhole fotoğraf makinesi, Stenopeica, φωτογραφία, Пинхол Фотография
Author : © IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Dömör-kapu,
Szentendre,
Hungary,
Europe
Time of shoot :
2016.06.16
Info of Shooting :
Film : Fuji FP-100C Color Instant (expired)
Format: 3.25 x 4.25 in. (8.5 x 10.8 cm) "Regular Size" pack film
Image Area: 2.88 x 3.75 in. (7.3 x 9.5 cm)
Filter : no
Metered expo.: 7,5 EV
(Metered with Minolta Spotmeter)
Calculated expo.: 35 minute
Shooting : 25 minute
(I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Fuji Color Instant film)
Dev.:
The camera :
Body is a Film Back Adapter Plate from a Polaroid 203 camera
- focus : 33 mm
- pinhole : 0,25 mm (Lenox Laser)
- diaphragm : 132
Film back from my Polaroid 600se camera.
Shutter and Pinhole holder is a "pu(s)h" from Dr. Kai Fuhrmann with filter thread (homemade).
Picture from the camera :
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2837193476/in/set-72...
The parameters of camera :
(when I use 95x73 mm format instant film)
- Angle of view : 90°
- Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 1,8
- Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 959
Post work : (14-15.08.2017)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (300 dpi)
File Size : MB (TIF)
Pixel :
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
29-Jul-2022 16:40 - Rollei Retro 80S @ EI 50
Developed in Rodinal 1+50 (N-1/3) 10 mins @ 20C
Bronica SQAi + 50mm
Highlight = 11
Shadow = 3
Midpoint = 5
No Filters
Final EV = 5
15 sec goes to 60 seconds (reciprocity) @ f22
Pinhole/Camera Obscura /Lensfree/Loch camera/Lensless / Without Lens/Sténope/Estenopeica/Lyukkamera Photography
Author : IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Model : Blanka & Kinga
Location of shoot :
Csobánka,
Hungary,
Europe
Time of shoot :
2014.10.31.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Fuji Fp-100c (new)
Light : 800W Redhead
Metered expo.: 11 EV (peak)
Calculated expo.: 300 second
( I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Fuji Color Instant film)
Dev.: 120 sec. (23° C)
PICTURE MADE WITH :
Home-made assembled pinhole camera be composed of
few original photography equipments.
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/15342162107/in/photo...
Camera body (the base) : Polaroid 600se camera back spacer no.1
(from my Polaroid 600se camera set, made by Mamiya)
Film back : Instant pack film holder (made by Polaroid)
Shutter : Polaroid MP4 (made by Compal)
Pinhole socket : Homemade (fit to filter holder)
Filter holder (82mm) : Homemade (fit to shutter)
Grip : I made it myself
Viewfinder : Door peeping (from OBI store) calibrated to the 3x4 format instant pack film size (I made it myself)
Cable releasers : Nikon
Matte Box : Old bellows style Arriflex 3X4 (from my Eclair s16 movie camera set)
Rods mount : Homemade
Rods : Homemade
Tripod & Head : Velbon
Quick release plates : Manfrotto
Focus : 55 mm
Pinhole : 0.3 mm (from Lenox laser)
Diaphragm : f 183
Angular field (horizontal) : 83°
Angular field (vertical) : 67°
Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 2,5
Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 799
Post work : (2015.01.24)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (400 dpi)
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected. No reproduction in any way,
no copies, no editing, no publishing, no screenshots, no posting,
no blogging, no transmitting downloading or uploading
without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
This wall speaks about gender equality, considering the concept of gender from a wider and more plural place. It downplays the biological condition of the individual, respecting the choice that each person makes about their condition as man, woman or a non-binary gender. It speaks of subverting the manichean logic that always favors one part over the other one, trying to speak from inside and outside the system and not only investing the traditional asymmetry to continue speaking from the same system that is criticized.
Many special thanks to Diana Prieto and Guillermo de la Madrid for all the love and care, to George Zolschoe for his help and company and extra thanks to adorable Matteo.
(Thanks to Guillermo de la Madrid from Madrid Street Art Project for the photos) more images www.hyuro.es
The young shoots and buds of Pulsatilla Vulgaris also known as the Pasque Flower because of its flowering time around Easter or Passover.
The hairs help insulation and prevent frost damage in the sub freezing nights which are common around this time of the year. They also help the plant to retain water creating a little micro-climate around itself.
28-Jul-2022 12:40
Ilford FP4+ ISO125 rated @ EI 100 (Expired Nov 2012)
Tachihara Hope 10x8 two-rail
Rodenstock 240mm f5.6
Developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 10 mins (N minus 2/3) @ 20C
Water Stop Bath
Tetenal Neutral Fixer (1+4) for 4 mins
Front Swing : 15 deg right
Back swing : 5 deg right
Mid tone LV = 5 far chair shadow
Highlight = 11 window
Shadow = 3 coal skuttle
Filters : None
LV=5
Shutter speed 1 minute goes to 3 minutes (reciprocity) @ f45
Bending Light #5.
Light refraction patterns found in another region of the same glass jug as #4. These refraction patterns have an extremely wide brightness range from black to high intensity white. The eye can hardly cope with it never mind the film. The very bright areas are where the rays come to a focus like a magnifying glass. I'll keep experimenting, trying to get better exposures.
Prints | tumblr | Capture Minnesota | 500px | Facebook
Holga 120 Pan Panoramic | Fuji Acros | B+W 10-stop | XTOL (1:1)
I like panoramas and I like the dreamy images a Holga. In the past, I've experimented with in-camera panoramas using a Holga and with stitching two images (or more) together in the computer. Both have their charms, but I was really excited when I heard last year that Holga was coming out with a 6x12 (actually closer to a 1:2.35 cinematic aspect ratio) panoramic camera. It was initially priced at above $90, but recently the prices came down to the $50 range---a steal for so much camera! I bought one for myself as a little gift for taking the bar exam. Anyway, it's a perfect landscape camera, especially after a few modifications:
1. Velcro-ed half of a clothespin to the top for use as a long exposure trigger. There is no screw-in bulb shutter on the 120 Pan, but it's pretty easy to shove a clothespin into the little space between the shutter lever (Holgas have a little lever on the side of the lens that you press down to activate the shutter, pretty simple).
2. Sprayed Plasti-Dip onto the shutter lever to provide added grip for the clothespin so that it wouldn't slip out of place during a long exposure. Holga lenses are really easy to take off of the body (thinking about putting on on a 4x5 camera for a dreamy wide-angle; I think the image circle will be just large enough for 4x5 since it's wide enough for 12cm film already). I just removed the shutter lever from the lens, sprayed it, and re-installed it.
3. Fit a 46-52cm step-up ring into the end of the lens so I can use my filters, especially my 10-stop B+W used in this image. The lens has no threads, but it's plastic, so a step-up ring can be forced into the lens as a semi-permanent modification. This also allows use of a screw-in lens hood. I used a 28mm Nikon hood and there were no signs that it obstructed the image---I think the field of view on the wide end is roughly 32mm (it's a 90mm lens). I think the ability to use filters is really important for Holgas because of the one-speed shutter when not in bulb mode. Using the normal shutter gives you limited options as you are stuck with 1 film (give or take a stop or two depending on the film and the lighting), 1 shutter speed (about 1/100th), and 2 apertures (relatively small at f/13 and f/20). Use of heavy filters allows you to stretch out exposure time to seconds or minutes which expands the flexibility of the camera since you just need a tripod and some time for almost any lighting situation. Bright, bright sun is about 15 seconds with a 10-stop filter and ISO 100 film at f/22. The cool thing is is that you can shoot at high-noon and at dusk with the same film---all you need to do is be a little thoughtful about filter use and have a tripod and be in bulb mode.
4. Created a chart with exposure values for situations I'm likely to encounter that I pasted onto the back of the camera. I measured the aperture opening and found aperture values of roughly f/20 and f/13 for the 'sunny' and 'cloudy' settings the Holga generously gives the user. I added shutter speeds for f/22 to my chart corresponding to the EV as well as the shutter speeds with a 10-stop filter. Now, I can keep the filter on the camera at all times (the viewfinder is separate) and don't need a digital camera to meter or a light meter. For the above shot, I think I used an EV of 12 or so (cloudy) and had a corresponding exposure of 2 minutes. Fuji Acros has almost no reciprocity failure, so no need to account for that here.
This was a really fun camera to add to my arsenal. The images keep that dreamy Holga look, especially at the edges, but retain the detail and tonality inherent in a 6x12cm slice of film. More to come...
A dark pattern is "a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills." The neologism dark pattern was coined by Harry Brignull on July 28, 2010 with the registration of darkpatterns.org, a "pattern library with the specific goal of naming and shaming deceptive user interfaces.Bait-and-switch patterns advertise a free (or greatly reduced) product or service which is wholly unavailable or stocked in small quantities. After it is apparent the product is no longer available, they are exposed to other priced products similar to the one advertised. This is common in software installers, where a button will be presented in the fashion of a typical continuation button. It is common that one has to accept the program's terms of service, so a dark pattern would show a prominent "I accept these terms" button on a page where the user is asked to accept the terms of a program unrelated to the program they are trying to install. Since the user will typically accept the terms by force of habit, the unrelated program can subsequently be installed. The installer's authors do this because they are paid by the authors of the unrelated program for each install that they procure. The alternative route in the installer, allowing the user to skip installing the unrelated program, is much less prominently displayed or seems counter-intuitive (such as declining the terms of service).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern
This pattern is also used by some websites, where the user is shown a page where information is asked that is not required. For example, one would fill out a username and password on one page, and after clicking the "next" button the user is asked for their email address with another "next" button as the only option. It is not apparent that the step can be skipped. When simply pressing "next" without entering their personal information, however, the website will just continue. In some cases, a method to skip the step is visible but not shown as a button (instead, usually, as a small and greyed-out link) so that it does not stand out to the user. Other examples that often use this pattern are inviting friends by entering someone else's email address, uploading a profile picture, or selecting interests.
”This is a civilizational moment in a way I’m not sure we’re all reckoning with,” Harris said on stage. “It’s a historical moment when a species that is intelligent builds technology that ... can simulate a puppet version of its creator, and the puppet can control the master. That’s an unprecedented situation to be in. That could be the end of human agency, when you can perfectly simulate not just the strengths of people but their weaknesses.”
Where does technology exploit our minds weaknesses?
I learned to think this way when I was a magician. Magicians start by looking for blind spots, edges, vulnerabilities and limits of people’s perception, so they can influence what people do without them even realizing it. Once you know how to push people’s buttons, you can play them like a piano.
That’s me performing sleight of hand magic at my mother’s birthday party
And this is exactly what product designers do to your mind. They play your psychological vulnerabilities (consciously and unconsciously) against you in the race to grab your attention.
I want to show you how they do it.
Hijack #1: If You Control the Menu, You Control the Choices
1-kW01thCZaWQyq0A08hSj5Q (1)
Western Culture is built around ideals of individual choice and freedom. Millions of us fiercely defend our right to make “free” choices, while we ignore how we’re manipulated upstream by limited menus we didn’t choose.
This is exactly what magicians do. They give people the illusion of free choice while architecting the menu so that they win, no matter what you choose. I can’t emphasize how deep this insight is.
When people are given a menu of choices, they rarely ask:
“what’s not on the menu?”
“why am I being given these options and not others?”
“do I know the menu provider’s goals?”
“is this menu empowering for my original need, or are the choices actually a distraction?” (e.g. an overwhelmingly array of toothpastes)
Photo by Kevin McShane
How empowering is this menu of choices for the need, “I ran out of toothpaste”?
For example, imagine you’re out with friends on a Tuesday night and want to keep the conversation going. You open Yelp to find nearby recommendations and see a list of bars. The group turns into a huddle of faces staring down at their phones comparing bars. They scrutinize the photos of each, comparing cocktail drinks. Is this menu still relevant to the original desire of the group?
It’s not that bars aren’t a good choice, it’s that Yelp substituted the group’s original question (“where can we go to keep talking?”) with a different question (“what’s a bar with good photos of cocktails?”) all by shaping the menu.
Moreover, the group falls for the illusion that Yelp’s menu represents acomplete set of choices for where to go. While looking down at their phones, they don’t see the park across the street with a band playing live music. They miss the pop-up gallery on the other side of the street serving crepes and coffee. Neither of those show up on Yelp’s menu.
Yelp subtly reframes the group’s need “where can we go to keep talking?” in terms of photos of cocktails served.
The more choices technology gives us in nearly every domain of our lives (information, events, places to go, friends, dating, jobs) — the more we assume that our phone is always the most empowering and useful menu to pick from. Is it?
The “most empowering” menu is different than the menu that has the most choices. But when we blindly surrender to the menus we’re given, it’s easy to lose track of the difference:
“Who’s free tonight to hang out?” becomes a menu of most recent people who texted us (who we could ping).
“What’s happening in the world?” becomes a menu of news feed stories.
“Who’s single to go on a date?” becomes a menu of faces to swipe on Tinder (instead of local events with friends, or urban adventures nearby).
“I have to respond to this email.” becomes a menu of keys to type a response (instead of empowering ways to communicate with a person).
1-LsgYHAM-xhnkYGSkocOmew
All user interfaces are menus. What if your email client gave you empowering choices of ways to respond, instead of “what message do you want to type back?” (Design by Tristan Harris)
When we wake up in the morning and turn our phone over to see a list of notifications — it frames the experience of “waking up in the morning” around a menu of “all the things I’ve missed since yesterday.”
A list of notifications when we wake up in the morning — how empowering is this menu of choices when we wake up? Does it reflect what we care about? (credit to Joe Edelman)
By shaping the menus we pick from, technology hijacks the way we perceive our choices and replaces them new ones. But the closer we pay attention to the options we’re given, the more we’ll notice when they don’t actually align with our true needs.
Hijack #2: Put a Slot Machine In a Billion Pockets
If you’re an app, how do you keep people hooked? Turn yourself into a slot machine.
The average person checks their phone 150 times a day. Why do we do this? Are we making 150 conscious choices?
How often do you check your email per day?
One major reason why is the #1 psychological ingredient in slot machines:intermittent variable rewards.
If you want to maximize addictiveness, all tech designers need to do is link a user’s action (like pulling a lever) with a variable reward. You pull a lever and immediately receive either an enticing reward (a match, a prize!) or nothing. Addictiveness is maximized when the rate of reward is most variable.
Does this effect really work on people? Yes. Slot machines make more money in the United States than baseball, movies, and theme parkscombined. Relative to other kinds of gambling, people get ‘problematically involved’ with slot machines 3–4x faster according to NYU professor Natasha Dow Shull, author of Addiction by Design.
But here’s the unfortunate truth — several billion people have a slot machine their pocket:
When we pull our phone out of our pocket, we’re playing a slot machineto see what notifications we got.
When we pull to refresh our email, we’re playing a slot machine to see what new email we got.
When we swipe down our finger to scroll the Instagram feed, we’replaying a slot machine to see what photo comes next.
When we swipe faces left/right on dating apps like Tinder, we’re playing a slot machine to see if we got a match.
When we tap the # of red notifications, we’re playing a slot machine to what’s underneath.
Apps and websites sprinkle intermittent variable rewards all over their products because it’s good for business.
But in other cases, slot machines emerge by accident. For example, there is no malicious corporation behind all of email who consciously chose to make it a slot machine. No one profits when millions check their email and nothing’s there. Neither did Apple and Google’s designers want phones to work like slot machines. It emerged by accident.
But now companies like Apple and Google have a responsibility to reduce these effects by converting intermittent variable rewards into less addictive, more predictable ones with better design. For example, they could empower people to set predictable times during the day or week for when they want to check “slot machine” apps, and correspondingly adjust when new messages are delivered to align with those times.
Hijack #3: Fear of Missing Something Important (FOMSI)
Another way apps and websites hijack people’s minds is by inducing a “1% chance you could be missing something important.”
If I convince you that I’m a channel for important information, messages, friendships, or potential sexual opportunities — it will be hard for you to turn me off, unsubscribe, or remove your account — because (aha, I win) you might miss something important:
This keeps us subscribed to newsletters even after they haven’t delivered recent benefits (“what if I miss a future announcement?”)
This keeps us “friended” to people with whom we haven’t spoke in ages (“what if I miss something important from them?”)
This keeps us swiping faces on dating apps, even when we haven’t even met up with anyone in a while (“what if I miss that one hot match who likes me?”)
This keeps us using social media (“what if I miss that important news story or fall behind what my friends are talking about?”)
But if we zoom into that fear, we’ll discover that it’s unbounded: we’ll always miss something important at any point when we stop using something.
There are magic moments on Facebook we’ll miss by not using it for the 6th hour (e.g. an old friend who’s visiting town right now).
There are magic moments we’ll miss on Tinder (e.g. our dream romantic partner) by not swiping our 700th match.
There are emergency phone calls we’ll miss if we’re not connected 24/7.
But living moment to moment with the fear of missing something isn’t how we’re built to live.
And it’s amazing how quickly, once we let go of that fear, we wake up from the illusion. When we unplug for more than a day, unsubscribe from those notifications, or go to Camp Grounded — the concerns we thought we’d have don’t actually happen.
We don’t miss what we don’t see.
The thought, “what if I miss something important?” is generated in advance of unplugging, unsubscribing, or turning off — not after. Imagine if tech companies recognized that, and helped us proactively tune our relationships with friends and businesses in terms of what we define as “time well spent” for our lives, instead of in terms of what we might miss.
Hijack #4: Social Approval
Easily one of the most persuasive things a human being can receive.
We’re all vulnerable to social approval. The need to belong, to be approved or appreciated by our peers is among the highest human motivations. But now our social approval is in the hands of tech companies (like when we’re tagged in a photo).
When I get tagged by my friend Marc (above), I imagine him making aconscious choice to tag me. But I don’t see how a company like Facebook orchestrated him doing that in the first place.
Facebook, Instagram or SnapChat can manipulate how often people get tagged in photos by automatically suggesting all the faces people should tag (e.g. by showing a box with a 1-click confirmation, “Tag Tristan in this photo?”).
So when Marc tags me, he’s actually responding to Facebook’s suggestion, not making an independent choice. But through design choices like this,Facebook controls the multiplier for how often millions of people experience their social approval on the line.
Facebook uses automatic suggestions like this to get people to tag more people, creating more social externalities and interruptions.
The same happens when we change our main profile photo — Facebook knows that’s a moment when we’re vulnerable to social approval: “what do my friends think of my new pic?” Facebook can rank this higher in the news feed, so it sticks around for longer and more friends will like or comment on it. Each time they like or comment on it, I’ll get pulled right back.
Everyone innately responds to social approval, but some demographics (teenagers) are more vulnerable to it than others. That’s why it’s so important to recognize how powerful designers are when they exploit this vulnerability.
Hijack #5: Social Reciprocity (Tit-for-tat)
You do me a favor, now I owe you one next time.
You say, “thank you”— I have to say “you’re welcome.”
You send me an email— it’s rude not to get back to you.
You follow me — it’s rude not to follow you back. (especially for teenagers)
We are vulnerable to needing to reciprocate others’ gestures. But as with Social Approval, tech companies now manipulate how often we experience it.
In some cases, it’s by accident. Email, texting and messaging apps are social reciprocity factories. But in other cases, companies exploit this vulnerability on purpose.
LinkedIn is the most obvious offender. LinkedIn wants as many people creating social obligations for each other as possible, because each time they reciprocate (by accepting a connection, responding to a message, or endorsing someone back for a skill) they have to come back through linkedin.com where they can get people to spend more time.
Like Facebook, LinkedIn exploits an asymmetry in perception. When you receive an invitation from someone to connect, you imagine that person making a conscious choice to invite you, when in reality, they likely unconsciously responded to LinkedIn’s list of suggested contacts. In other words, LinkedIn turns your unconscious impulses (to “add” a person) into new social obligations that millions of people feel obligated to repay. All while they profit from the time people spend doing it.
Imagine millions of people getting interrupted like this throughout their day, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, reciprocating each other — all designed by companies who profit from it.
Welcome to social media.
After accepting an endorsement, LinkedIn takes advantage of your bias to reciprocate by offering *four* additional people for you to endorse in return.
Imagine if technology companies had a responsibility to minimize social reciprocity. Or if there was an “FDA for Tech” that monitored when technology companies abused these biases?
Hijack #6: Bottomless bowls, Infinite Feeds, and Autoplay
YouTube autoplays the next video after a countdown
Another way to hijack people is to keep them consuming things, even when they aren’t hungry anymore.
How? Easy. Take an experience that was bounded and finite, and turn it into a bottomless flow that keeps going.
Cornell professor Brian Wansink demonstrated this in his study showing you can trick people into keep eating soup by giving them a bottomless bowl that automatically refills as they eat. With bottomless bowls, people eat 73% more calories than those with normal bowls and underestimate how many calories they ate by 140 calories.
Tech companies exploit the same principle. News feeds are purposely designed to auto-refill with reasons to keep you scrolling, and purposely eliminate any reason for you to pause, reconsider or leave.
It’s also why video and social media sites like Netflix, YouTube or Facebookautoplay the next video after a countdown instead of waiting for you to make a conscious choice (in case you won’t). A huge portion of traffic on these websites is driven by autoplaying the next thing.
Facebook autoplays the next video after a countdown
Tech companies often claim that “we’re just making it easier for users to see the video they want to watch” when they are actually serving their business interests. And you can’t blame them, because increasing “time spent” is the currency they compete for.
Instead, imagine if technology companies empowered you to consciously bound your experience to align with what would be “time well spent” for you. Not just bounding the quantity of time you spend, but the qualities of what would be “time well spent.”
Hijack #7: Instant Interruption vs. “Respectful” Delivery
Companies know that messages that interrupt people immediately are more persuasive at getting people to respond than messages delivered asynchronously (like email or any deferred inbox).
Given the choice, Facebook Messenger (or WhatsApp, WeChat or SnapChat for that matter) would prefer to design their messaging system to interrupt recipients immediately (and show a chat box) instead of helping users respect each other’s attention.
In other words, interruption is good for business.
It’s also in their interest to heighten the feeling of urgency and social reciprocity. For example, Facebook automatically tells the sender when you “saw” their message, instead of letting you avoid disclosing whether you read it(“now that you know I’ve seen the message, I feel even more obligated to respond.”) By contrast, Apple more respectfully lets users toggle “Read Receipts” on or off.
The problem is, while messaging apps maximize interruptions in the name of business, it creates a tragedy of the commons that ruins global attention spans and causes billions of interruptions every day. This is a huge problem we need to fix with shared design standards (potentially, as part of Time Well Spent).
Hijack #8: Bundling Your Reasons with Their Reasons
Another way apps hijack you is by taking your reasons for visiting the app (to perform a task) and make them inseparable from the app’s business reasons(maximizing how much we consume once we’re there).
For example, in the physical world of grocery stories, the #1 and #2 most popular reasons to visit are pharmacy refills and buying milk. But grocery stores want to maximize how much people buy, so they put the pharmacy and the milk at the back of the store.
In other words, they make the thing customers want (milk, pharmacy) inseparable from what the business wants. If stores were truly organized to support people, they would put the most popular items in the front.
Tech companies design their websites the same way. For example, when you you want to look up a Facebook event happening tonight (your reason) the Facebook app doesn’t allow you to access it without first landing on the news feed (their reasons), and that’s on purpose. Facebook wants to convert every reason you have for using Facebook, into their reason which is to maximize the time you spend consuming things.
In an ideal world, apps would always give you a direct way to get what you want separately from what they want.
Imagine a digital “bill of rights” outlining design standards that forced the products that billions of people used to support empowering ways to navigate towards their goals.
Hijack #9: Inconvenient Choices
We’re told that it’s enough for businesses to “make choices available.”
“If you don’t like it you can always use a different product.”
“If you don’t like it, you can always unsubscribe.”
“If you’re addicted to our app, you can always uninstall it from your phone.”
Businesses naturally want to make the choices they want you to make easier, and the choices they don’t want you to make harder. Magicians do the same thing. You make it easier for a spectator to pick the thing you want them to pick, and harder to pick the thing you don’t.
For example, NYTimes.com let’s you “make a free choice” to cancel your digital subscription. But instead of just doing it when you hit “Cancel Subscription,” they force you to call a phone number that’s only open at certain times.
NYTimes claims it’s giving a free choice to cancel your account
Instead of viewing the world in terms of choice availability of choices, we should view the world in terms of friction required to enact choices.
Imagine a world where choices were labeled with how difficult they were to fulfill (like coefficients of friction) and there was an FDA for Tech that labeled these difficulties and set standards for how easy navigation should be.
Hijack #10: Forecasting Errors, “Foot in the Door” strategies
Facebook promises an easy choice to “See Photo.” Would we still click if it gave the true price tag?
People don’t intuitively forecast the true cost of a click when it’s presented to them. Sales people use “foot in the door” techniques by asking for a small innocuous request to begin with (“just one click”), and escalating from there (“why don’t you stay awhile?”). Virtually all engagement websites use this trick.
Imagine if web browsers and smartphones, the gateways through which people make these choices, were truly watching out for people and helped them forecast the consequences of clicks (based on real data about what it actually costs most people?).
That’s why I add “Estimated reading time” to the top of my posts. When you put the “true cost” of a choice in front of people, you’re treating your users or audience with dignity and respect.
In a Time Well Spent internet, choices would be framed in terms of projected cost and benefit, so people were empowered to make informed choices.
TripAdvisor uses a “foot in the door” technique by asking for a single click review (“How many stars?”) while hiding the three page form behind the click.
Summary And How We Can Fix This
Are you upset that technology is hijacking your agency? I am too. I’ve listed a few techniques but there are literally thousands. Imagine whole bookshelves, seminars, workshops and trainings that teach aspiring tech entrepreneurs techniques like this. They exist.
The ultimate freedom is a free mind, and we need technology to be on our team to help us live, feel, think and act freely.
We need our smartphones, notifications screens and web browsers to be exoskeletons for our minds and interpersonal relationships that put our values, not our impulses, first. People’s time is valuable. And we should protect it with the same rigor as privacy and other digital rights.
Tristan Harris was Product Philosopher at Google until 2016 where he studied how technology affects a billion people’s attention, wellbeing and behavior.
For more information and get involved, check out timewellspent.io. This piece is cross-posted on Medium.
MARCH 7, 2016 by TRISTAN HARRIS
Tech Companies Design Your Life, Here’s Why You Should Care
UNCATEGORIZED
5 COMMENTS
Four years ago, I sold my company to Google and joined the ranks there. I spent my last three years there as Product Philosopher, looking at the profound ways the design of screens shape billions of human lives – and asking what it means for them to do so ethically and responsibly.
What I came away with is that something’s not right with how our screens are designed, and I’m writing this to help you understand why you should care, and what you can do about it.
I shouldn’t have to cite statistics about the central role screens play in our lives. Billions of us turn to smartphones every day. We wake up with them. We fall asleep with them. You’re looking at one right now.
Of course, new technologies always reshape society, and it’s always tempting to worry about them solely for this reason. Socrates worried that the technology of writing would “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they [would] not use their memories.” We worried that newspapers would make people stop talking to each other on the subway. We worried that we would use television to “amuse ourselves to death.”
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“And see!” people say. “Nothing bad happened!” Isn’t humanity more prosperous, more technically sophisticated, and better connected than ever? Is it really that big of a problem that people spend so much time staring at their smartphones? Isn’t it just another cultural shift, like all the others? Won’t we just adapt?
Invisibility of the New Normal
I don’t think so. What’s missing from this perspective is that all these technologies (books, television, radio, newspapers) did change everything about society, we just don’t see it. They replaced our old menus of choices with new ones. Each new menu eventually became the new normal – “the way things are” – and, after our memories of old menus had faded into the past, the new menus became “the way things have always been.”
gold-fish-in-waterASK A FISH ABOUT WATER AND THEY’LL RESPOND, “WHAT’S WATER?”
Consider that the average American now watches more than 5.5 hours of television per day. Regardless of whether you think TV is good or bad, hundreds of millions of people spend 30% of their waking hours watching it. It’s hard to overstate the vast consequences of this shift– for the blood flows of millions of people, for our understanding of reality, for the relational habits of families, for the strategies and outcomes of political campaigns. Yet for those who live with them day-to-day, they are invisible.
So what best describes the nature of what smart phones are “doing” to us?
A New “Perfect” Choice on Life’s Menu
If I had to summarize it, it’s this: Our phone puts a new choice on life’s menu, in any moment, that’s “sweeter” than reality.
If, at any moment, reality gets dull or boring, our phone offers something more pleasurable, more productive and even more educational than whatever reality gives us.
And this new choice fits into any moment. Our phone offers 5-second choices like “checking email” that feel better than waiting in line. And it offers 30-minute choices like a podcast that will teach you that thing you’ve been dying to learn, which feels better than a 30-minute walk in silence.
Once you see your phone this way, wouldn’t you turn to it more often? It always happens this way: when new things fill our needs better than the old, we switch:
When cheaper, faster to prepare food appears, we switch: Packaged foods.
When more accurate search engines appear, we switch: Google.
When cheaper, faster forms of transportation appear, we switch: Uber.
756612-b6f6919a-555a-11e3-b451-c2835887c2f5
So it goes with phones.
But it also changes us on the inside. We grow less and less patient for reality as it is, especially when it’s boring or uncomfortable. We come to expect more from the world, more rapidly. And because reality can’t live up to our expectations, it reinforces how often we want to turn to our screens. A self-reinforcing feedback loop.
And because of the attention economy, every product will only get more persuasive over time. Facebook must become more persuasive if it wants to compete with YouTube and survive. YouTube must become more persuasive if it wants to compete with Facebook. And we’re not just talking about ‘cheap’ amusement (aka cat videos). These products will only get better at giving us choices that make every bone in our body say, “yeah I want that!”
So what’s wrong about this? If the entire attention economy is working to fill us up with more perfect-feeling things to spend time on, which outcompete being with the discomfort of ourselves or our surroundings, shouldn’t that be fantastic?
wall-e
Clearly something is missing from this picture. But what is it?
Maybe it’s that “filling people up,” even with incredible choices on screens somehow doesn’t add up to a life well lived. Or that those choices weren’t what we wished we’d been persuaded to do in the bigger sense of our lives.
With design as it is today, screens threaten our fundamental agency. Maybe we are “choosing,” but we are choosing from persuasive menus driven by companies who have different goals than ours.
And that begs us to ask, “what are our goals?” or how do we want to spend our time? There are as many “good lives” as there are people, but our technology (and the attention economy) don’t really seem on our team to give us the agency to live according to them.
A Whole New Persuasive World
And it’s about to get a lot worse. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will offer whole new immersive realities that are even more persuasive than physical reality.
zuck-virtual-reality
When you could have sex with the person of your dreams, or fly through jungles in the Amazon rainforest while looking over at your best friend flying next to you, who would want to stick with reality?
By the way, this isn’t your usual “look, VR is coming!” prediction. This is the real deal. Facebook recently spent $2 billion to buy Oculus Rift, and hopes to put them in every home for this holiday season. Just like the late 1980’s when suddenly everyone you knew had a Nintendo.
Acknowledging the Problem
So we have a fundamental misalignment– between what the attention economy is competing to produce (more perfect, persuasive choices that fit into any moment), the design of our phones, and the aspirations people have for their lives (their definition of “the good life”).
AttentionEconomyMisalignment
So what’s missing from the design of our phones? I like to use the metaphor of ergonomics. When you think of ergonomics, you might think of boring things like how a cup fits into someone’s hand, but it’s way more than that.
If regular design is about how we want things to work, ergonomics is concerned with failure modes and extremes: how things break under repetition, stress or other limits. And the goal of ergonomics is to create an alignment between those limits, and the goals people have for how they want to use it.
10 Handle diameter
For example, an ergonomically designed coffee mug aligns the natural fatigue of forearm muscles during use (as a person “lifts” it to sip) with how frequently people want to use it, so they still can lift it successfully with repetition.
What does this have to do with phones?
Our minds urgently need a new “ergonomics,” based on the mind’s limited capacities, biases, fatigue curves and the ways it forms habits. The attention economy tears our minds apart. With its onslaught of never-ending choices, never-ending supply of relationships and obligations, the attention economy bulldozes the natural shape of our physical and psychological limits and turns impulses into bad habits.
Just like the food industry manipulates our innate biases for salt, sugar and fat with perfectly engineered combinations, the tech industry bulldozes our innate biases for Social Reciprocity (we’re built to get back to others), Social Approval (we’re built to care what others think of us), Social Comparison (how we’re doing with respect to our peers) and Novelty-seeking (we’re built to seek surprises over the predictable).
Millions of years of evolution did a great job giving us genes to care about how others perceive us. But Facebook bulldozes those biases, by forcing us to deal with how thousands of people perceive us.
This isn’t to say that phones today aren’t designed ergonomically, they are just ergonomic to a narrow scope of goals:
for a single user (holding the phone)
for single tasks (opening an app)
for individual choices
And a narrow scope of human physical limits:
how far our thumb has to reach to tap an app
how loud the phone must vibrate for our ear to hear it
So what if we expanded the scope of ergonomics for a more holistic set of human goals:
a holistic sense of a person
a holistic sense of how they want to spend their time (and goals)
a holistic sense of their relationships (interpersonal & social choices)
an ability to make holistic choices (including opportunity costs & externalities)
an ability to reflect, before and after
…and what if we aligned these goals with a more holistic set of our mental, social and emotional limits?
A New Kind of Ergonomics
Let’s call this new kind of ergonomics “Holistic Ergonomics”. Holistic Ergonomics recognizes our holistic mental and emotional limits [vulnerabilities, fatigue and ways our minds form habits] and aligns them with the holistic goals we have for our lives (not just the single tasks). Holistic Ergonomics is built to give us back agency in an increasingly persuasive attention economy.
Joe Edelman and I have taught design workshops on this, calling it EmpoweringDesign.org, or designing to empower people’s agency.
It includes an interpersonal ergonomics, to “align” our social psychological instincts with how and when we want to make ourselves available to others (like in my TED talk), so that we can reclaim agency over how we want to relate to others.
Just like an ergonomic coffee mug is safe to live by, even under repetition, over and over again, without causing harm to ourselves or others, in a Time Well Spent world our phones would be designed with Holistic Ergonomics, so that even under repetition, over and over again, our phones do not cause harm to ourselves or others — our phones become safe to live by. They support our Agency.
How to Change the Game
Android.Apple_.001
Right now, two companies are responsible for the primary screens that a billion people live by. Apple and Google make the two dominant smartphone platforms. Facebook and Microsoft make leading Virtual and Augmented Reality platforms, Oculus and Hololens.
You might think that it’s against the business models of Apple and Google to facilitate people’s agency, which might include making it easier to spend time off the screen, and use apps less. But it’s not.
Apple and Google, like all companies, respond to what consumers demand.
When Privacy became important to you, they responded. They developed new privacy and security features, and it sparked a whole new public conversation and debate. It’s now the most popular concern about technology discussed in media.
When Organic food became important to you, they responded too. Walmart added it to their stores.
We need to do the same thing with this issue. Until now, with this experience of distraction, social media, and this vague sense that we don’t feel good when we use our phones for too long, there’s been nothing to rally behind. It’s too diffuse. We receive so many incredible benefits from tech, but we’ve also been feeling like we’ve been losing ourselves, and our humanity?
But we’re naming it now.
What’s at stake is our Agency. Our ability to live the lives we want to live, choose the way we want to choose, and relate to others the way we want to relate to them – through technology. This is a design problem, not just a personal responsibility problem.
If you want your Agency, you need to tell these companies that that’s what you want from them– not just another shiny new phone that overloads our psychological vulnerabilities. Tell them you want your Agency back, and to help you spend your time the way you want to, and they will respond.
I hope this helps spark that bigger conversation.
Taken : 11:12 07-Jan-2018
Ebony 45SU + Rodenstock 210-S
Front Shift : 3cm down
Sunny 16 Rule (ISO 100, 1/125 @ f16 = LV 15)
Mid Tone : 12 2/3 Heather in Sun
Highlight : 16 1/3 - mountain snow
Shadows : 11 2/3 - Darkest shadow
Sky : 15 2/3
Water reflection : 14 2/3
Back of rock in trees 11 2/3
Filters : Orange (-1)
2 stops HG : sky
Final EV : 12 1/3 - 1 = 11 1/3
Reciprocity : None
Exposure
1 sec @ f24
Developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 11 minutes @ 20C
26-Mar-2024 13:10
Ilford Delta 100 rated @ EI 80
Ebony 45SU
Rodenstock 150mm f/5.6 Apo-Sironar-S
DaYi 6x17 film back set to 6x12
510 Pyro 1+100 9 mins (N) @ 20C
Pre-Wash 5 mins
Inversions first 30 sec then two every 30 sec
Two water Stop Baths - 1 min each
John Finch Alkali Fixer (1+4)
Clearing time 2 minutes. Total fix time 4 minutes
Initial wash to remove fixer : 1 min
Washing : 10 mins with frequent water changes
Ilfotol : 1 ml in 600ml for 2 minutes
Back Tilt 3 deg
Mid tone LV = 9 1/3
Highlight = 10 2/3
Shadow = 8 1/3
Filters : None
Final LV=9 1/3
Reciprocity : 1 sec goes to 2 sec
2 sec @ f22
Pinhole/Camera Obscura /Lensfree/Loch camera/Lensless / Without Lens/Sténope/Estenopeica/Lyukkamera Photography
Author : IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Europe
Time of shoot :
2011.06.21.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Polaroid 690 Color Instant (expired)
Filter : Wratten 85b Nd6(3x3 Tiffen), ND6 Soft Grad (3x4 Tiffen) & Red Enhancing (82mm Tiffen)
Metered expo.:
Calculated expo.: 9,5 ev - 50 second
( I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Polaroid Color Instant film)
Dev.: 120 sec. (30° C)
PICTURE MADE WITH :
Home-made assembled pinhole camera be composed of
few original photography equipments.
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2704150673/in/set-72...
Camera body (the base) : Polaroid 600se camera back spacer no.1
(from my Polaroid 600se camera set, made by Mamiya)
Film back : Instant pack film holder (made by Cambo)
Shutter : Precision Self-Cocking Copal Shutter (from Polaroid MP4 camera)
Pinhole socket : Homemade (fit to filter holder)
Filter holder (82mm) : Homemade (fit to shutter)
Grip : I made it myself
Viewfinder : Door peeping (from OBI store) calibrated to the 3x4 format instant pack film size (I made it myself)
Cable releasers : Nikon
Matte Box : Old bellows style Arriflex 3X4 (from my Eclair s16 movie camera set)
Rods mount : Homemade
Rods : Homemade
Tripod & Head : Velbon
Quick release plates : Manfrotto
Focus : 55 mm
Pinhole : 0.3 mm (from Lenox laser)
Diaphragm : f183
Angular field (horiz) : 86°
Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 2,5
Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 799
Post work : (14-15.07.201)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (1200 dpi)
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
One minute exposure with no reciprocity compensation
- Mamiya RB67 Pro SD with K/L 90mm f/3.5
- Fujichrome 64T Slide Film (Expired 1990)
- Home developed with Unicolor Rapid E-6
- Scanned with Epson V600 and Vuescan
Richmond / San Rafael Bridge - San Rafael California
I recently met up with Albert for a early morning sunrise out around the Richmond / San Rafael Bridge. We scouted out a few spots, and tried a few compositions, but nothing really seemed to be working that morning. I went home and developed my roll from the day, but I wasn't all that excited about what I had. After rethinking the composition, and the tricky curves of the bridge, I ended up with this image. Not exactly what I'd like to see from this spot, but I do think this shows the potential of the spot.
The Richmond / San Rafael Bridge, otherwise known as The Roller Coaster is a very unique piece of architecture. With it's twin support structures, flat section ( seen here), and double inclines, the bridge still sits in the lonely shadows of it's cabled siblings to the south. I have always found this bridge to be an interesting subject, but the surrounding areas seem to make it very difficult to isolate, and compose it's points of interest. I am sure I will be back here many times as the Winter months bring storm clouds, and increased fog.
As always... Thanks for visiting.
Hasselblad 500 C/M
Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 @ f/11
120 second Exposure
Lee Big Stopper and .6 hard edge ND grad
Developed with HC-110 (H) 12 minutes
Part 1 of a 3 part series...
I spot metered the highlight on the bricks as my midtone. This gave me a 20 second exposure time. I added one stop for reciprocity. Really happy with how this turned out. Love the detail in the sky.
Film: Fuji Superia 400 Xtra
Camera: Nikon FM2
Exposure: 40 seconds at F16
A small British studio glass bowl by Rachael Woodman in collaboration with Neil Wilkin from her "Bevelled Bowl" series. This was made in 1995. Diameter 12cm.
Rachel and Neil set up their first studio together in Bath, England in 1984 until 1987 and have worked in association together since then. In 1986 Rachel became designer for Dartington Crystal, Devon, England. She still produces work for exhibition.
This type of bowl brought Rachel into prominence in the studio glass world in the 1980's. It uses a combination of opaque and transparent glass and over the years she has tried out different colour combinations. There are four layers of glass, a central transparent orange and an opaque white core,then a thick clear glass layer and finally an opaque white outer surface which,on this example, she has etched (by sand blasting) a fine surface texture. This construction of layers uses the 'overfang' technique which involves two people blowing different coloured bubbles of glass. These two bubbles are then joined at one end and one bubble is folded over the other. When the top surface is polished the final piece then has the appearance of one bowl floating inside the other. This shot, however , is to try to show the delicate surface texture so the 'floating' effect is not as apparent. I will try to post a shot showing this soon. As with most glass photography different lighting shows different effects and therein lies the beauty of glass for me.
Lyukkamera,
Pinhole Camera,
Appareil à sténopé ,
Cámara escura,
Camera obscura,
Estenopeica,
Foro stenopeico,
Hålkamera,
Kамера опскура,
Lochkamera,
Otworek,
Pinhole fotoğraf makinesi,
Stenopeica,
φωτογραφία,
Пинхол Фотография
Author : © IMRE BECSI
© All rights reserved
Location of shoot :
Pilismarót,
Hungary,
Europe
Time of shoot :
2008.05.01.
Info of Shooting :
Film : Polaroid 125i Color Instant (expired)
Format: 3.25 x 4.25 in. (8.5 x 10.8 cm) "Regular Size" pack film
Image Area: 2.88 x 3.75 in. (7.3 x 9.5 cm)
Filter : Polar (Tiffen 4 1/2 round)
Calculated expo.: 27 sec.
(I use my reciprocity compensation value chart to Polaroid Color Instant film)
Dev.: 90 sec.
The camera :
Body is a Film Back Adapter Plate from a Polaroid 203 camera
- focus : 33 mm
- pinhole : 0,25 mm (Lenox Laser)
- diaphragm : 132
Film back from my Polaroid 600se camera.
Shutter and Pinhole holder is a "pu(s)h" from Dr. Kai Fuhrmann with filter thread (homemade).
Picture from the camera :
www.flickr.com/photos/jonespointfilm/2837193476/in/set-72...
The parameters of camera :
(when I use 95x73 mm format instant film)
- Angle of view : 119°24'26"
- Light falloff at the corners [f/stops] : 3,6
- Resolution [lines/diagonal] : 887
Post work : (03.04.2012)
Scanner : Epson Perfection 3200 Photo (1200 dpi)
File Size : 60,164 mb - 5073X4048 pixel (the original TIF file)
Scanner software : SilverFast SE
Final work : PS
Important note:
This images are copyright protected.
Use without permission is illegal!
No reproduction in any way,
no copies,
no editing,
no publishing,
no screenshots,
no posting,
no blogging,
no transmitting downloading
or uploading without my written permission!
Thank you !
Thanks for looking !
Comments very much welcome !
This album's name is dedicated to my favourite game of all time Elder Scrolls Online and race of all time, The Argonians (reptile humanoids). There's a story for you to read below about some of them towards the bottom.
What does Ku Vastei mean? Read below
By Lights-the-Way, Mystic of the Mages Guild
It is hard to describe the culture of my people. Often my tongue stumbles as I try to explain, but it is my hope that ink and quill will give me time enough to gather my thoughts. And perhaps, though such writing, I will finally connect the parts of me that now feel so divided; my homeland of Murkmire and my new life within the Mages Guild.
These journals are to become my ku-vastei. And, as I write that, I can think of no better topic to begin with.
Ku-vastei roughly translates to "the catalyst of needed change," though such a direct translation in no way does justice to the original meaning. Another translation could be "that which creates the needed pathway for change to occur" or even "the spark which ignites the flame which must come into being."
Perhaps a more direct analysis should be first presented. Ku-vastei is a noun, a thing or person. Vastei directly translates to change, an important part of my culture. Ku is harder to speak of. It is that which leads to change, though not that which creates change. An important role, as stagnation is a fate worse than death.
Take a boulder which sits atop a cliff, teetering in place. It must fall eventually. The ku-vastei does not push the boulder off the cliff; rather, it picks the pebble which holds the rock in place. And so it falls, not by a push, but by a pathway cleared.
Ku-vastei is revered, just as change itself is revered, for to look back at what was means to stumble as you move forward. Sometimes, a little push in the right direction is all someone needs to remember such wisdom. Other times, they may need to be shoved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naka Desh Tribe
by Emmanubeth Hurrent, the Wayfarers' Society of Wayrest
My guide, Names-the-Orchids, took me deep into the swamp to meet a little-known tribe called the Naka-Desh, or Riverbacks. Few Imperials venture far enough into Black Marsh to meet the People of the River, and the Naka-Desh see little benefit in traveling beyond the boundaries of their Hist's roots. For that reason, most perceive them as a secretive and mysterious tribe. This misconception is made all the more amusing by the Riverbacks' boundless hospitality.
We approached the Riverbacks' territory via ferry boats. Our expedition encountered tribal sentries almost immediately. They floated to the surface of the water like turtles or crocodiles. I was struck by the wideness of their faces, the largeness of their eyes, and the broad webs adorning their forearms and throats. The Hist clearly provided the "right skin" for the locale. Riverback territory is more water than land—a drowned marsh navigable by small rafts, canoes, and little else.
Names-the-Orchids greeted them with a series of low croaks. They cheerfully repeated the sound before lifting themselves onto our boat. Neither of the sentries seemed familiar with Cyrodilic, so our guide had to interpret. She told us that the Riverbacks demanded tribute in the form of a riddle before they would grant passage. I detected no threat behind the demand. It seemed like more of an invitation than an order. I've no talent for wordplay, but I shared a children's riddle about doorknobs that practically every Imperial knows. As soon as Names-the-Orchids translated it, the two sentries clapped their hands. One of them pressed his forehead to mine, croaked twice, then both vanished into the water as suddenly as they appeared.
We spent four days among the Riverbacks—all but one of them on rafts fishing. Riverback fishing resembles traditional fishing in name only. Rather than hook and line, the Naka-Desh use large river fish called osheeja gars. Each osheeja is secured by a strange harness and bridle. When the Argonians find an abundant fishing spot, they release the predatory gars and let them snatch up the fish. As soon as an osheeja bites a fish, the Argonians pull their pets to the side of the boat and claim the fish for themselves. I asked Names-the-Orchids how it works. Apparently, the bridle prevents the gar from swallowing. She assured me that the osheejas are well-cared for, though. Until they grow too old, of course, whereupon they too are eaten.
Our time with the Riverbacks was not without frustration. Of all the Argonians I have met, the Naka-Desh were by far the least curious. Other than riddles, they had no appetite for anything we brought. They refused our food, took no particular interest in our tales, and did not even ask for our names. This disinterest combined with their boundless hospitality made most of the expedition uncomfortable. Names-the-Orchids chided us for thinking kindness demands reciprocity. As always, even these small disappointments teach us valuable lessons.
["the tribe is not currently in the game but in the world of the game"]
A spontaneous moonlit shoot grabbing the only film I had left in my bag... Rollei Superpan 200. Pushed right to the very end of its sensitivity. Not the ideal film for the job. Wild! haha
Film: Rollei Superpan 200
120 Format
Camera: Rolleiflex Automat Model 2 1938
Tripod
Shutter Release Cable
Metering: Weston Master V
f22 and 10 seconds
I didn't have time to consult the datasheet to compensate for the reciprocity of the film.
Infinity focus. Couldn't see a thing through the focusing screen of course. 😂.
No filter, Post Edit in Photoshop to bring back a bit more of the highlights.
Development:
Ilford HC 1+31 8 minutes at 20c
Ilford Fixer 4 Minutes 20c
Ilford Wetting Agent 1 minute
I'm chuffed with the results to be honest because I know what a mad rush I had after deciding to shoot in the low light conditions. Changing the roll in cold frosty temperatures, in almost darkness. And setting up the tripod. I expected to maybe have no results at all. But i'm crazy like that so 'rolled with it'.
I also wasn't sure on my development of this film in Ilford HC developer (my only current developer) as I couldn't see a clear mix suggestion for it anywhere online. I assumed it wasn't ideal for the fine grain of superpan 200 haha but, I knew this film shot at low light would have some heavy grain anyway. I wasn't needing fine development results. So I totally winged it using the recipe mix for supposed predecessor to Superpan 200 -Agfa Aviphot Pan 200!! when it is developed in Kodak's similar HC-110 developer. Formula of 8 Minutes at 20c. Dilution B 1+31. I think it worked out ok.
17-May-2022 16:20
Ilford Delta 100 ISO100 rated @ EI 100
Tachihara Hope 10x8 two-rail
Rodenstock 240mm f/5.6 Apo-Sironar-N
Developed in ID11 1:1 for 11 mins @ 20C
Bed Tilt - 5 degrees up
Front Shift : 35 mm up
Front Tilt : 5 degrees up
Back Swing (145mm LHS vs 140mm RHS)
Mid tone LV = 9
Highlights : 11
Shadows : 8
Filters - Yellow-1 (-1)
LV=8
Reciprocity 8s goes to 14 sec
Shutter speed 14s @ f45
Lemoyne, Pennsylvania
Body: Hasselblad 500 C/M
Lens: Zeiss 50mm Distagon f/4
Film: Fujichrome T64 (expired 2008)
Exposure: f/11 for 8 minutes (EV100 = -1.3), Reciprocity failure happens at 4 minutes
Developed & Scanned by NCPS
MicroWorld #15 The adventures on this strange planet continue..
To them the houses appeared quite grotesque. Compared to the precision of the surrounding landscape and the architecture of the crystal mountains, the buildings were an anachronism. It was the distortion that surprised them as the structures lay huddled together like primitive dwellings carved into the rock.
There were about one hundred houses in the 'village', reached by a gentle downhill slope and now riddled with fresh gaping cracks. It was an irresistible scene that they just had to investigate further, regardless of the danger and the inevitable delay. They approached with caution.
It was puzzling why the homes were so deformed. It was not as if the planet was devoid of straight lines,the crystal mountains bore witness to that, the answer was quite amazing - the houses were soft and rubbery ! They ventured inside one of the smaller ones and were surprised by the apparent internal size as the translucent walls and interior fittings gave them a dreamlike sensation. The rooms seemed to merge into one another as misty shadows slowly moved across the floor. Each home seemed to be of single storey construction with no evidence of staircases and were quite well lit by the rays from the five suns shimmered through the walls and multiple shafts of sunlight shone through the narrow windows to ricochet around the rooms.
Their feet sank slightly into the spongy floor as they continued to explore. Soft rounded shapes were carved out of the basic structure to form what they supposed were once seats and tables and rounded triangular holes in the internal walls made open doorways. There were no other signs of domesticity, no vessels, ornaments or debris, nothing to explain why these houses had been abandoned and stripped clear.
The ground vibrations began to increase and it became difficult to walk on the soft floors. Reluctantly they decided to leave the village as the cracks and chasms began to widen in the roads and streets outside. Gases began to emmanate from the ground, spewing forth from deep beneath to form swirling clouds around their feet. They clambered back up the slope to watch the houses slowly succumb to the pink fog as it crept and flowed into doorways and windows to finally engulf all signs of habitation. They moved on heading towards the distant mountains, happy in the thought that they had been able to discover and explore the village and even more so because their location equipment was indicating that there craft now lay waiting for them beyond the nearby mountain range.
At first they did not notice the strange shapes forming, but it soon became obvious that something different was now happening.
......to be continued.
For new readers the story began here. The complete story is found within this MicroWorld set.
This image is another scanning electron micrograph of re-crystallized sodium sulphate.
06-Jan-2023 12:40 - Rollei RPX25 @ EI 25
3 min pre wash
Developed in Rodinal R09 1+50
11 mins (N) @ 20C
Tetnal Superfix (cleared in 45s) then 45s more
5,5,10,15,20 inversion washes
Final Water bath with 1ml of Ilfotol
Bronica SQAi + 65mm
Highlight = 10
Shadow = 6
Midpoint = 8
Filter : None
Final EV = 8
Reciprocity 8->16
16 sec @ f22
This album's name is dedicated to my favourite game of all time Elder Scrolls Online and race of all time, The Argonians (reptile humanoids). There's a story for you to read below about some of them towards the bottom.
What does Ku Vastei mean? Read below
By Lights-the-Way, Mystic of the Mages Guild
It is hard to describe the culture of my people. Often my tongue stumbles as I try to explain, but it is my hope that ink and quill will give me time enough to gather my thoughts. And perhaps, though such writing, I will finally connect the parts of me that now feel so divided; my homeland of Murkmire and my new life within the Mages Guild.
These journals are to become my ku-vastei. And, as I write that, I can think of no better topic to begin with.
Ku-vastei roughly translates to "the catalyst of needed change," though such a direct translation in no way does justice to the original meaning. Another translation could be "that which creates the needed pathway for change to occur" or even "the spark which ignites the flame which must come into being."
Perhaps a more direct analysis should be first presented. Ku-vastei is a noun, a thing or person. Vastei directly translates to change, an important part of my culture. Ku is harder to speak of. It is that which leads to change, though not that which creates change. An important role, as stagnation is a fate worse than death.
Take a boulder which sits atop a cliff, teetering in place. It must fall eventually. The ku-vastei does not push the boulder off the cliff; rather, it picks the pebble which holds the rock in place. And so it falls, not by a push, but by a pathway cleared.
Ku-vastei is revered, just as change itself is revered, for to look back at what was means to stumble as you move forward. Sometimes, a little push in the right direction is all someone needs to remember such wisdom. Other times, they may need to be shoved.
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Naka Desh Tribe
by Emmanubeth Hurrent, the Wayfarers' Society of Wayrest
My guide, Names-the-Orchids, took me deep into the swamp to meet a little-known tribe called the Naka-Desh, or Riverbacks. Few Imperials venture far enough into Black Marsh to meet the People of the River, and the Naka-Desh see little benefit in traveling beyond the boundaries of their Hist's roots. For that reason, most perceive them as a secretive and mysterious tribe. This misconception is made all the more amusing by the Riverbacks' boundless hospitality.
We approached the Riverbacks' territory via ferry boats. Our expedition encountered tribal sentries almost immediately. They floated to the surface of the water like turtles or crocodiles. I was struck by the wideness of their faces, the largeness of their eyes, and the broad webs adorning their forearms and throats. The Hist clearly provided the "right skin" for the locale. Riverback territory is more water than land—a drowned marsh navigable by small rafts, canoes, and little else.
Names-the-Orchids greeted them with a series of low croaks. They cheerfully repeated the sound before lifting themselves onto our boat. Neither of the sentries seemed familiar with Cyrodilic, so our guide had to interpret. She told us that the Riverbacks demanded tribute in the form of a riddle before they would grant passage. I detected no threat behind the demand. It seemed like more of an invitation than an order. I've no talent for wordplay, but I shared a children's riddle about doorknobs that practically every Imperial knows. As soon as Names-the-Orchids translated it, the two sentries clapped their hands. One of them pressed his forehead to mine, croaked twice, then both vanished into the water as suddenly as they appeared.
We spent four days among the Riverbacks—all but one of them on rafts fishing. Riverback fishing resembles traditional fishing in name only. Rather than hook and line, the Naka-Desh use large river fish called osheeja gars. Each osheeja is secured by a strange harness and bridle. When the Argonians find an abundant fishing spot, they release the predatory gars and let them snatch up the fish. As soon as an osheeja bites a fish, the Argonians pull their pets to the side of the boat and claim the fish for themselves. I asked Names-the-Orchids how it works. Apparently, the bridle prevents the gar from swallowing. She assured me that the osheejas are well-cared for, though. Until they grow too old, of course, whereupon they too are eaten.
Our time with the Riverbacks was not without frustration. Of all the Argonians I have met, the Naka-Desh were by far the least curious. Other than riddles, they had no appetite for anything we brought. They refused our food, took no particular interest in our tales, and did not even ask for our names. This disinterest combined with their boundless hospitality made most of the expedition uncomfortable. Names-the-Orchids chided us for thinking kindness demands reciprocity. As always, even these small disappointments teach us valuable lessons.
["the tribe is not currently in the game but in the world of the game"]