Two Gun Bob
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 162
- Location
- Bloxwich, England
Zaika, with box cameras, the following tips are the basics:
1. Load your film indoors or in shade, never in direct sunlight, keeping the roll tight and after closing the back, wind on till number 1 shows in the red window.
2. Keep the sun behind you when taking your photos. Simple, uncoated lenses suffer from flare (reflections) in direct sun, and even with bright skies.
3. Remember the sharpest point will be about 8-10 feet away unless you have a close-up lever.
4. Squeeze the shutter release lever carefully, don't jab. And don't hold your breath! It will cause camera shake, not stop it. Let your breath out gently, then squeeze.
5. Always remember to wind on immediately after taking your photo, to avoid taking two photos on top of each other. The camera does not prevent this.
6. Unload your film indoors or in shade, never in direct sunlight.
By the way, don't expect too great results from the colour film, it's usable but your lenses won't be corrected for it. Hope you got slow film, 125 iso or less, as these cameras can't cope with fast film (above 200 iso) in normal daytime weather.
Composition with a square negative is pretty much anything goes as most photographers compose the print afterwards. Otherwise, try the Rule of Thirds, ie see your frame as split into thirds horizontally and vertically. Elements of your subject placed on the lines or the junctions of these lines tend to form a a pleasing composition.
Have a look at these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/compose_expose/thirds.html
And if you're taking landscapes, think about the foreground, it's good to have something near as well as far to lead you into the scene. A road or river winding in from the corner of the frame often looks good.
Hope this helps!
- TGB
1. Load your film indoors or in shade, never in direct sunlight, keeping the roll tight and after closing the back, wind on till number 1 shows in the red window.
2. Keep the sun behind you when taking your photos. Simple, uncoated lenses suffer from flare (reflections) in direct sun, and even with bright skies.
3. Remember the sharpest point will be about 8-10 feet away unless you have a close-up lever.
4. Squeeze the shutter release lever carefully, don't jab. And don't hold your breath! It will cause camera shake, not stop it. Let your breath out gently, then squeeze.
5. Always remember to wind on immediately after taking your photo, to avoid taking two photos on top of each other. The camera does not prevent this.
6. Unload your film indoors or in shade, never in direct sunlight.
By the way, don't expect too great results from the colour film, it's usable but your lenses won't be corrected for it. Hope you got slow film, 125 iso or less, as these cameras can't cope with fast film (above 200 iso) in normal daytime weather.
Composition with a square negative is pretty much anything goes as most photographers compose the print afterwards. Otherwise, try the Rule of Thirds, ie see your frame as split into thirds horizontally and vertically. Elements of your subject placed on the lines or the junctions of these lines tend to form a a pleasing composition.
Have a look at these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/compose_expose/thirds.html
And if you're taking landscapes, think about the foreground, it's good to have something near as well as far to lead you into the scene. A road or river winding in from the corner of the frame often looks good.
Hope this helps!
- TGB
zaika said:
can't waste money on being haphazard and trigger happy. lol
