3×3 #1: Magda’s microscope
Magda recently discovered that the camera bag contains a set of magnifying filters, stackable lenses that greatly decrease minimum focusing distance. Within minutes of screwing all three of them onto the front of the lens, she announced, “I have a new hobby!”
We are big fans of the camera-as-toy concept. Jon Armstrong recently wrote a bit of calculus regarding the economy of digital photography relative to film. However, one area that’s impossible to quantify is how much your behavior is altered by knowing that there’s no waste of film, paper, chemicals, processing, and time (all of which equal a lot of money) if you press the shutter when you maybe shouldn’t. In Argentina I had two film cameras: the Minox, which is extremely expensive to operate regardless, and a P&S Olympus. Given the high cost of film and processing there, my math indicated that each time I pressed the shutter it was costing me about one U.S. dollar. Since I was always short on money, this meant that I took very few pictures, and nearly every time I did take one I wondered if it was worth it. This is no mindframe in which to take photographs. It was while living there that I realized how quickly a digital camera would pay for itself.
A camera is not only a toy, but also a learning tool. How much faster would I have come to grips with exposure times, aperture, ISO, and on and on, if digital photography had existed when I got my first camera? Not that I regret learning about film any more than I do starting to telemark when leather boots were the norm. But now, watching Magda get into experimenting with the camera, seeing her reactions to the instantaneous positive feedback from it, is very fulfilling and enjoyable for me. Shrinking down from 3008 pixels to 165 has killed a good deal of the cool textures and crispness Magda captured as she crept around the house peering at things with a keen eye. Below, some of her first close-ups:
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In case you’re wondering:
Row 1: wine glass reflecting mouse; throw pillow; “Northern Exposure” box-set–
Row 2: coffee machine; African violet; TV speaker–
Row 3: fusilli; toy-box top; rabbit heart dissection project sun-dried tomatoes in oil–
Thanks go to the excellent Mandarin Design for help with the formatting. If the table above does not appear properly in Internet Explorer, go here and follow instructions for resolving browser issues.
I mused about the cost of photographic experimentation back here, too, from a time when I wasn’t paying for the film.
