Math in Photography

On Saturday, April 28, my dad and I went on the sidewalk outside of the Park Place building on Peachtree Road at 8:30 PM. We were experimenting with long exposures. That means that the shutter is open for a long time. [Read more →]

On Friday, April 20, Ms. Chapman and I developed three photographs in the darkroom. First, we chose the negative that we wanted to use and inserted it into the film carrier, which we then put into the enlarger. [Read more →]

On Monday, April 9, Ms. Chapman took me out to shoot photographs. We started at her parents’ house and used a Polaroid camera to experiment with exposure. We set the camera to f/5.6, but changed the shutter speed for five different photos. [Read more →]

My parents and I decided it would be fun to go to the zoo and take some actual pictures for my project and my blog. On Saturday, April 7, we went and took photos at Zoo Atlanta.  We went into a bird cage called The Living Treehouse where there was no fencing between us and the birds. [Read more →]

For my Capstone project I will be studying all the ways math relate to photography. I will learn how different parts of the camera work, and how the way they work relates to math. I want to learn about the spatial relationship between the photographer/camera and the subject, and how that relationship relates to math. I also want to learn about the zone system, and its relationship to math.

1. How do different parts of a camera function, and how are they related to math?
2. How does the spatial relationship between the photographer and the subject make a difference to a photograph, and how does the relationship relate to math?
3. What is the zone system for determining correct exposure, and how is it related to math?

1. Why didn’t the mathematical calculation of focal length equal the measurement of the lens?
2. How does the focal length affect field of view?
3. If film records the image in a film camera, what records the image in a digital camera? [Read more →]

After my last post, Ms. Chapman asked me what burning a leaf had to do with math. Good question!

Focal Length, Aperture, and F-Stop

In my last post, I defined focal length as the distance between the center of the lens and the focal point. [Read more →]

Convex Lenses

Camera lenses are made up of convex lenses. A convex lens is a lens where the middle of the glass is thicker than the edges. When light travels through the lens, the shape of the lens causes the light to converge. [Read more →]