Working manually
How much of your work is your own?
Articles Tagged with manual control
Surveys and telephones
Ringing the changes
The sophisticated basis of old technology
Our astronomer spent a few years in England, where he learned something of the arcane art of ringing church bells. In the belfries of that country are wonderful examples of essentially Medieval technology that also demonstrate advanced mathematical and physical ideas.
The yellow zone vs. the idiot light
What information are you given as an operator?
Much about automobiles has changed greatly over the past decade or two. Part of it comes from different ideas of what the driver should be doing.
Simplified lightning
The rise and fall of the flashbulb
Our photographer illustrates the evolution of technology through something once ubiquitous, now obsolete.
Making it easy makes it hard
Simplicity is good, but not always
Photography can seem very complicated, so cameras made for non-experts are often highly simplified. This can make them difficult to use.
The artist and her tools
Our photographer accompanied a pair of artists on a picture-taking expedition this past weekend. As expected, he has observations to make about old and new technology. But he was also driven to more general musings about the relationship between artists, their visions and their tools.
“Outside the proper scope”
What you can do, and what you should do
In the Five Colors Science & Technology library of photography are a number of old books that we still find interesting. Apart from details of procedures and chemistry that are hard to find elsewhere, they show the different ideas, through the years, of just what was a good photograph.
The old fencer and the cheap watch
The unexpected usefulness of old and new things
Our navigator had the pleasure of attending a fencing match this past weekend as a spectator. The range in ages of the participants was unusually large, which highlights some important considerations about newer and older people and things.
With or against the grain?
Defects become desirable
Our photographer is bemused by modern efforts to re-create, digitally, two of the least desirable qualities of fast film: high contrast and large grain. But the paradox of limitations and defects becoming highly sought-after features is not new, and is as widespread as ripped jeans.