Through The Viewfinder – photography
Photography has been my tool of choice lately. I have been enjoying a cool technique using a TLR “bottom camera” such as an Argus 75 or a Kodak Duaflex with a large top viewfinder, a contraption to block light, and then shooting the viewfinder with my digital. This technique is Called “Through the Viewfinder” and there is a wonderful flickr group dedicated to sharing our new works and techniques with eachother.
These are few of my “contraptions”
left hand side: Kodak Duaflex II with contraption sized specifically for my p&s.
center: “the Boot” an anscoflex all taped up and sized for my dslr
right: an argus 75 with contraption for a p&s (no longer in use)
The amazing thing about shooting TTV is that each camera’s viewfinder has it’s own characteristics. Some of us prefer to leave them a bit dirty, some are scratched, and some are meticulously cleaned up. Mine are a combination of both. My Anscoflex has a bit of grime or a scratch that shows up in each photo like a finger print. My kodak brownie’s are so old and grungy that using them for anything other than TTV would be impossible. Also when shooting through the viewfinder, the images are flipped backwards. Some prefer to flip in editing and some leave them alone. My preference so far has been to leave them as is.
When you capture your image and upload it…
it will first look something like this… (this was with my point and shoot so the image is tiny) My dslr on macro mode fills up almost a half frame.
The second process is to open it up in your favorite editor and crop it to the edges, still showing the black border. That way the edges of the viewfinder are visible. Most people vary the contrast and saturation a bit to end up with an interesting finished product. No other photoshopping is used in TTV. The natural grunge, dirt, scratches, dust, bubble glass distortions and abberations are all part of the fun of shooting TTV.
Here is my finished maneki neko… shot off of the computer screen.
