GRA 2330 Digital Photography Wed 230

The daguerreotypes that we learned about today at the Brooklyn Historical Society are very different from the photographs we have taken Over the course of this semester and since the invention of digital cameras. In our photographs today, the subjects are able to move around freely and we are able to travel easily when needed. Photographers are able to capture a shot of their subject  in their natural environment easily.  When using daguerreotypes,  it would often take up to 20 seconds to capture 1 shot of the subject which resulted in  very posed, expressionless candids.  For daguerreotype images, only a photography studio would be able to process the images for a person. With modern photography, anyone is able to take pictures and cameras are more accessible . Images today are also much higher quality then before. Daguerreotypes were made on a Silver plate which was highly reflective. the lighting gave the images a certain holographic look.

The daguerreotype and a digital photograph has a lot of differences. A daguerreotype is printed with negatives. The negatives allow us to see the border created from the film strips. There was no editing done to the daguerreotype. They are taken in black and white only. Oppose to a digital photograph that can be taken in color or black and white. The daguerreotype are very large in size as well. A digital photograph can be printed in many sizes. The people in the photographs all seem to have a blank expression. Which makes them have a unique feeling to them.

The daguerreotype was taken in different setting, more urban settings. The daguerreotype photos seem like theirs a lot of story behind them. Digital photographs are taken differently. The exposure on digital photographs makes them look different from the daguerreotype. The daguerreotype are really dull and old fashioned. Digital photographs seem more vivid. And easier to see visually. The photos I’ve taken this semester were taken in a special way in order to get the right shot. The format of the daguerrotype is very different from the format of a digital photograph. With the photography growth, you can see the change in photography. And how it advanced as a whole.

without a doubt, the invention of photography was a big step in the right direction, having the ability to be able to capture the moment, was and still is a big deal, in order to immortalize the moment and freeze it, to have the ability to go back to it and look at it, to be able to remember that instant.

The creation of the Daguerreo certainly open that bridge that allowed people to capture the moment. Having the opportunity to watch the whole process and have in my hands a photograph that was made long before i was born was unique. We often take for granted the privilege without giving it importance to something that makes our lives a little better.

Daguerreotypes went though a whole different process that today’s photos go through, they took 20 seconds to capture, and preparing the plate was also a long procedure which we don’t have to worry about nowadays thanks to advances in technology. Daguerreotypes are a completely different experience, while in today’s world all we have to do is push the button and have our photograph made automatically by the camera. Obviously, the quality of a Daguerreotype wasn’t good and the size was a problem as well that we don’t face today with modern cameras. However, as mention before, having the ability to do it was ground breaking. In my opinion, by having the chance to discover how they’re made changes my whole perspective of how i see photography, I now know the privilege that we have now and how far photography has come ever since.

Photography has long improved over the years since the 19th Century. One of the earliest camera instruments was a daguerreotype which made capturing your surroundings much more efficient. People sought different ways to create images other than a hand painter where they had to travel to a studio and remain very still for several sittings until the image was finally complete. Today, we visited the Brooklyn Historical Society and discovered this instrument that changed the world of photographs. The daguerreotype was able to produce an image or picture needing just 20 minutes or less for exposure. You might think that to be very long, but in the 1800’s it was much more faster than a painters hand. In the daguerreotype process, a plate holds a copper plate in place and the plate is then exposed to the camera. With the help of some chemicals like mercury, the image is then developed in a solution of salt, which brings out a gold tint in the photograph. These small, copper like images changed the means of photography and helped saved loved ones memories more sufficiently. The details were impeccable and actually being able to hold these images at the Brooklyn Historical Society led me discover the history of photography.

Today at the Brooklyn Historical Society I handle the daguerreotype, A type of photograph taken many years ago. The difference between that photograph and the photographs I have been taking this semester is that actual color. The daguerreotype mostly includes a pose of a person that has one unique facial expression. Or sometimes of a family. Meanwhile one photograph I took included many objects such as flowers, grass, trees, or even people. The daguerreotype is also a one colored image, black and white, but the images I took are colorful. Another difference would be the single size of the daguerreotype which was small but my image can be sized however I want.
I learned that the people posing in the daguerreotype had to keep a pose for about 20 seconds, no movement whatsoever. Then that photo was processed through many chemicals in order to have the final result. The experience in taking that photograph I believe was way more harder than the regular photos we take today. For example some of the photos I have taken were shots I believed were good enough to portray an element we learned in class. Also, those photos where taken in one single shot and at one time.

During the class trip we saw a few examples of photographs. One of the samples we got was daguerreotype. This photographs were one of the fist types of photographs that were available to the public. There are specific similarities on daguerreotype. Technology has change ever since and the pictures we take today are different.  As opposed to photograph I’ve taken during this semester, daguerreotype are made in a different material like silver and in modern days we use paper. The materials use to create the image were also different and it was mostly the mix of chemicals to stay on the silver plate. In modern days we would mostly use ink.

The experience of taking a photograph back then was a long experience. Just to take the daguerreotype there was a 20 second exposure that then had to be sent to a factory to be developed.  Viewing the photograph took even longer back them people had to wait to get the developed image in their hand and not know what was the end result. Today we had the advantage of taking a photograph and instantly knowing what it looks like with the help of digital cameras. Other advantages also include technology that allows us to take pictures instantly so our subject can move and we’ll be able to still photograph it. This technology helps create many new perspectives in photography.

There are quite a few differences between the daguerreotypes we saw today and the photographs I have taken this semester. The daguerreotypes we saw today were all posed human subjects in a studio type setting with neutral expression on their faces. These images were taken and immediately transferred to a small physical object, which is a copper plate coated in silver, and were devoid of any color. The photographs I have taken this semester are mostly of structures and objects from the environment and were candid and taken outdoors. The digital photographs are stored as data and then transferred to a computer where I can choose to publish them digitally or print them at a later date to the size of my liking only limited by the resolution the photo was taken in.

The format differences between the two changes the experience significantly, as modern technology allows me to be mobile with my equipment. I have the opportunity to capture life in a more natural and candid state as it is actually occurring, where as with the daguerreotypes the portability was limited. The difference in exposure time is also significant, allowing facial expressions to be captured as they are as opposed to a more blank look as subjects with the daguerreotype had because they had to remain still for the extended exposure time. Digital technology also allows more room for error and variety as I can take a few hundred photos and choose the best ones from the bunch at no added cost. With the daguerreotypes you got what you shot and there was a cost to take a second or third take on a picture. However, one thing you can not replicate with digital photos is the finishing on daguerreotype prints – although a metallic or lustre paper could be used to replicate this, you will never get the full effect of viewing a print on silver.