THE WORLD IN OBSCURE

THE WORLD IN OBSCURE

BY DANNY PATA

Honestly, I felt a little bit anxious reading the camera obscura and find it quite difficult at first to imagine how am I going to create an object or image out of an old tin can. But keeping in mind that all I need is a combination of motivation and creativity, the thing that seems to be quite hard at first is now an exciting experience to look forward to. Actually, it is not impossible to see reverse images thru a pinhole as proven by the guiding principle of all the cameras we are holding right now.

Maximizing the rich resources of research materials and the advance technology around, I searched “explorieum.educ.com” and other sites in the web such as “itc.smm.org/makeit/node/34”“highlightskids.com” to help me turn the impossible to possible. and the

After carefully reading and analyzing all the information available, I followed strictly the instruction or guidelines given in making the project and after 30 minutes or more, I created my “(PATA) camera obscura.” It was really fun and exciting! Using this pinned can, it seems, I’m reliving the wonderment and awe of those people who invented, developed and advanced the technology we called camera today.

I really was ecstatic and amazed seeing images of the objects when I peeped through the hole following again the instruction given. Initially, some of the images in the pinhole were blurred or a little bit cloudy. It seems, I am seeing the world in another dimension of time. It reminds me of a soap opera in television during the 70’s. To be quite precise, it’s a journey in time.

As I moved the “PATA camera obscura” in different positions, turning it upward, downward and sideward, I noticed that a clear image of the object was formed. A strong image with a strong color also appeared. It was really amazing how this low-tech gadget can capture images and reflection that represent the existing reality. Crude in its form but it has the ability to stop the time and freeze the moment to capture the exact images or event that is unfolding that very moment. I really believe that this same fascination of capturing the fleeting moment motivated our masters in photography and enable it to reach the advancement that we are enjoying right now.

To prove this fact, I started shooting different subjects such as flowers and grasses, students and building with my new “PATA Camera obscura. And shooting with this Pringles camera is like using a wide angle lens or a fish eye range lens.

I liked the product of my camera obscura. And to have the feeling of satisfaction, I gathered my colleagues and co-workers and solicited their observations in my photos taken by a low-gadget camera. Modesty aside, they also felt the wonderment of this old gadget. They loved the pictures too. However, at first, they had a hard time figuring out correctly what are the images captured. They thought it was another product of my artistic photography endeavor. One of my friends thought that the pictures taken were different shots of a full moon and night sky. Other said that photos were close-up shot of an eye. After letting them scrutinized the images, I then presented to them the details in each picture and they were also amazed by this old gadget.

The camera obscura is a simple gadget that explains how a simple camera works. It explains how light compresses at the center of the tiny hole which in principle called the center of confusion then every image will be reflected in every mirror.