|
Photography With Poor Eyesight. By : Carl Ingamells July 97 Updated Sept 2002 Copyright 1997 Background Although I enjoy photography as a hobby, I only have limited eyesight. This is as follows: Only a small percentage of normal eyesight. This small percentage of sight is fuzzy. I have no colour vision. (I see things like you would see them on a black and white T.V.). I also need to have favourable lighting in order to do things such as read. This does not necessarily mean bright lighting, e.g. I can see very little in strong sunlight. These sight defects do leave people wondering, how on earth can I do photography. It often puzzles many people, most of all employers. After they have taken the difficulties into account, this causes, such as my close reading distance and my inability to see things from a distance. Questions Asked: How on earth can you take photographs or video films of anything if you cannot see things as a normal sighted person? How can you ever get things composed in the viewfinder? How do you ever keep tabs on moving objects when video filming? It is however, worth mentioning that although it has been and still is a mystery to many people, including professionals who have been involved with my education and employment. For example, the first Careers Officer with whom I had an appointment, was regularly employed to give advice to pupils who were getting ready to leave, the special school, for children with poor eyesight, that I was attending. After having taken what I had to offer in to account, he despite being fully aware of my eye defects, suggested that I may well be suited to a career, as an industrial photographer. Although this did not turn out to be a suitable option, it does represent the different ways that people view this situation. On other occasions I have had professionals who have been involved with me in similar ways, who have noticed the fact that I successfully take photographs and video films and I think that they may have begun to wonder if I am misleading them about my poor eyesight. The Beginning In 1973 I was bought my first camera, when I was going on a family holiday. This was a second hand, twin lens, reflex camera. I was pleased to have this, although of course it did not have any of the things to make photography easy, as many cameras do today. With help I did manage to take some good photographs for a first attempt. However, the fact that this camera had a very basic focusing system, did not have a built in exposure meter and was also dependent on being able to read red writing on a black background, made it that I could not use this camera independently. This I found very limiting even though I was only 9 years old. By 1976 I had established in my own mind that there were alternative cameras to be had. These did not impose the limitations which I was experiencing with my present camera and they were not necessarily expensive to buy. I felt at this stage that I would be far better placed with a different camera. This took some convincing on the home front. However, I did know other children with poor eyesight, who did take photographs without any help from other people. The only difference was they had a different and more up to date camera. On my 13th birthday in October 1976 I did get a new camera this was a small Kodak 155X instmatick camera. This camera had a fixed focus, it did not require the use of an external exposure meter, nor did you need to be able to read things that were written red on black, in order to use it. I also knew other children with poor eye sight who had successfully used a camera like this without any help. I successfully took a lot of pictures with this camera without any help from anyone. The Breakthrough In September 1977, my Grandmother latched on to the fact that, since I had got a more up to date camera, I was successfully taking photographs without any help. She was very impressed with this. As in October 1971 she had bought a Yashica Electro 35 GT camera. which had a lot of modern facilities built in. However, she could not get on with it. It was made known to me, that she felt that I would be able to use this camera, to advantage, judging by what she could see of my photographs. Everyone else involved was very unsure about this idea as this camera was far more sophisticated than the camera I was using and far more expensive than any other camera you would usually give to a teenage child. In addition, one would not expect them to be able to use it or look after it. I gave this camera a try. The results were good and I benefited very well from the facilities this camera had to offer. The most useful ones are listed hare: A split image focusing system. This made focusing manageable without any help. It was just a question of finding and focusing on a straight vertical object within the subject I wanted to photograph.A built in exposure meter. To use this you looked at an arrow in the viewfinder. This arrow lit up as a yellow arrow if the aperture was set too low, thus telling you that you needed a wider aperture. If a red arrow lit up the aperture was too high, thus telling you that you needed a smaller aperture. As these were not the easiest of things to see, I made use of the alternative facility this camera offered, for doing the same job. This was a pair of lights on top of the camera, which represented the two warning arrows, which were in the viewfinder. I knew that when both these lights were out I had got the correct exposure setting. There were also markings on the aperture ring, in addition to the aperture numbers, which were very useful. On giving this camera a try, applying the methods I have mentioned and explained, I got results ranging from acceptable to very good. Many people, who included but were not limited to close family, and school masters (but of course excluded my Grandmother), could not understand how I got proper results with this camera, when my Grandmother could not. I finished up keeping this camera once my Grandmother had seen the first lot of results. There were a number of other facilities on this camera which I found very useful, which were not on my existing camera. It would also take a limited range of accessories some of which I acquired as time went on. On the whole I continued to get good results, so the first attempt was not just a flash in the pan. Progress Over the Years I used this camera successfully until I came of age in 1981, when I decided I would get some sophisticated camera equipment of my own choosing. The main reason for doing this, was that at this stage, I could see that it would be to my advantage to have at least one good zoom-lens. The camera I was using did not have an interchangeable lens.Therefore for my 18th birthday present in October 1981 I got a single lens reflex camera from my parents. This was a Canon AE-1. From my Grandmother I got a Tamron-sp 70-210 Zoom-lens. In order to be successful it was essential that I, very carefully, chose both these things myself, taking into account my eye defects. The Canon AE-1 Camera had a very good focusing system. It made use of the split image system, much like my previous camera. However, as well as the split image, as it is a reflex camera, the whole focusing screen goes fuzzy too, in a way that is very obvious. The built in exposure meter was also much improved and well suited to my requirements. It differed from my old camera in that, all the aperture numbers are displayed in the viewfinder, like many other reflex cameras. Unlike many other reflex cameras, it did not rely on red lights to see which stop was being used. Instead of red lights there is a needle pointing to the stop, you are going to use, if you are on the auto setting. (You can of course over ride the auto if required). The systems with red lights, which in many other cameras were useless with my eye condition. The Canon AE-1 suited me well. The Tamron-SP 70-210mm-zoom-lens suited me well. With this zoom-lens on my Canon AE-1 camera, I am able to: look at what I am going to photograph, very closely with the zoom on full power and focus while on full power, then zoom downwards to get the picture composed as I want it. To do this it is essential to have a zoom-lens that has the focus ring separate from the zoom control ring. Very few zoom-lenses offer this facility, but a single barrel zoom-lens would not be suitable for this method which, works very well. I bought more accessories to go with this camera over a period of years, one of which was a Tamron-SP 28-80mm zoom-lens with the same facilities as the 70-210mm zoom, which I was bought when I came of age. In the late 1980s I decided that I would like to expand my photography to include taking video films as well as still pictures. The reason for this is that I like to have outings and holidays with my family in addition to doing things independently. The results could often be that we would all take photographs where ever we were and then get home having got three lots of pictures all very similar. I felt that if some of my photography was on video, this would offer some variety in our family photography. Therefore in July 1988 I bought a Canon VME2 Video camera, It does what I hoped for very well and I am pleased with the results. I chose the Canon VME2 Video camera as all the displays both in the viewfinder and on top of the camera were very easy to see. The viewfinder relies on being able to see a series of lights. It is unusual to find a suitable camera viewfinder which relies on lights, but in this case it was. I think this maybe because the viewfinder of a video camera is bigger than the viewfinder on many still cameras. Autofocus was also built into this camera. I find autofocus very good for my requirements. On a Camcorder it is vital, as video cameras do not have a split image focusing system, which I depend upon with most of my still cameras. In December 1997 I changed my Canon VME2 Camcorder for a Canon UCX-10Hi, a much smaller Camcorder with more facilities. These included stereo sound and the benefits of being able to use high band 8 tapes. I made this change as I knew that in May 1998 I was going to be videoing my sisters wedding. I could see that I was going to need to make use of the benefits which Hi8 had to offer. In March 1995 I bought a good compact camera. The Canon Z115 suited me well as it offered many of the facilities that my S.L.R. equipment offers, as well as autofocus. I found it necessary to buy a compact camera because I often need to carry a still camera at the same time as carrying my video camera. S.L.R. equipment is too big and heavy for this. I found that if I took my S.L.R. equipment and my video camera to the same place, e.g. on a holiday, the S.L.R. equipment would not see the light of day. I would return home from a holiday without any still pictures. Consequently, I had nothing I could take to the camera club which I belong too, as video films, are unsuitable there at the present time. Although the zoom-lens and the built in flash gun on my compact camera are not as powerful as those that go with my S.L.R. camera, they do suit most of my requirements. I have however kept all my S.L.R. equipment and the camera that came from my Grandmother in 1977, as they both have facilities that come in handy on occasions. Conclusion In my experience it is fair to say that modern day equipment plays a large part in things, but this is by no means the whole story. It is worth noting that my eye defects are static. This means that as far as my eyesight is concerned any suitable equipment I have bought, will always be able to be used. In order to successfully enjoy photography as a hobby, it is essential that I have the right equipment. This means choosing the equipment myself and having a very careful look at it before making any purchases. All these findings and occurrences prove what can be done in the right conditions, where many people would think things are impossible. I will also point out that I have won awards in open photographic competitions. One last thing I will make known is that people regularly ask me. "Why do you take all your photos in colour when you are totally colour blind?" They usually make it known to me that they would expect to see all my photos in black and white. My reply to this is that although, I cannot see colours, I know that in general photos are far more appealing to people in colour than in black and white. It is true that the keen photographer with full colour vision will sometimes see things that he decides would look better done as a black and white picture. You do however need full colour vision to make this distinction. Therefore, in my position I am far more able to produce a colour picture that would appeal to people than I could a black and white one. This would have been a different matter in the days when black and white photographs were the usual product of photographers.
If you would like to contact the author Carl Ingamells please drop him a e-mail at his address. Carl Ingamells Cyncoed Cardiff U.KA Note from style2000.com If you have found this article interesting and would like to make a comment or contribution please let us know. Just e-mail us at..
|
