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To take pictures most cameras have auto-exposure and focus so all you really need to do is to get the right speed of film. Get a fast-speed film, as you don’t want the exposure so slow it doesn’t take the photo until your arm’s gone numb. And remember that for darker situations you need even faster film so that the shutter opens and closes quicker and has more chance to grab the image.

Fanatics can buy cameras that they have to focus and decide on correct settings for, and so forth. But better to take time composing a good image rather than waste hours, and miss the moment, tweaking the technical knobs.

Once you have got to the end of the film, be it 24, 36 or 40 exposures, it should automatically rewind and then you need to take it to be developed.

Boots and most chemists, as well as specialist photo booths, can do a variety of services for results in anything over an hour. They can also now offer a service to put the images onto a CD.

With the growing popularity of digital cameras, photo-developing labs now offer a service whereby you can take the memory card in and they will download all the images and print them out for you. This will probably end up costing you less than the inks and the paper if you were to do it yourself.

As the memory card is reusable it can be argued that you would never need to get negative film developed again, simply doing it digitally. But people should still take pride in filling their photo albums, and get photos printed up to fill them.

A brief history

The camera was invented in 1841 by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, when he used his camera obscura to take pictures of the nearby rooftops. But don’t forget the contributions that came from Aristotle (384–322
BC
), Roger Bacon and Leonardo da Vinci. In 1884, George Eastman invented flexible, paper-based photographic film, making it far more accessible to the general masses, and by 1888 Eastman had patented the Kodak roll-film camera.

Everyone wanted to have their photo taken, or to shoot photos, be it for business or pleasure, so the race was on to make pictures better and equipment easier to use.

There are two types of still (photographs) and moving (movie or camcorder) cameras. They use either film or digital memory cards to capture an image, in black and white or colour, and freeze that split second in time for ever. All brands and cameras can either do as much, or as little, as you want, depending on whether you are David Bailey or Joe Public.

Load a film

This obviously depends on the type of camera you have. Digital doesn’t have film – it has memory cards that you insert, but you probably need to do this only once and then you can download and save the images onto your computer, wipe card clean and reuse.

Polaroids are an all-in-one gadget, and although not the sharpest of image they do give you instant gratification. Negative film in cameras you can use only once. You can choose between classic film with negative, or an APS, which has the film enclosed in a hard plastic canister, which is never exposed.

APS films are easier to load, as you simply open, insert film into casing and snap away. More traditional films involve opening the back of a camera, pulling an exposed piece of film across and tucking it into the other side so that the film can roll from one side of the camera to the other as it gets more and more exposed, i.e. as more pictures are taken.

Check battery is not flat and react accordingly; camera will not work with sluggy battery. With a digital camera rechargeable batteries work better, but check these are all pumped up.

How to use camcorders with class

The home movie has gone from horror to kitsch must-try. Be a star, albeit in your own living room.

Aim at intended and press On. Don’t forget there is most likely a built-in microphone so do keep the commentary flattering.

Take a camcorder with you everywhere but try not to annoy your subject by putting it too much in their face or intruding when not wanted. Reality TV is overrated, explore more creative avenues. Remember that not everyone is photogenic, or has a wish to be famous, so respect their privacy. Never let an enthusiastic relative/first-timer film your wedding or special event. You wouldn’t let them install the electrics in your house, would you? So hire a professional. False economy is for fools.

As with cameras, you need to have enough light and your subjects should be engaged in an interesting activity. With a moving image it is preferable for your subject to be leaping around, dancing or so forth. Try to get them to talk to the camera, and not be too contrived. Remember that all great filmmakers had to start somewhere.

A camcorder can record either onto videotape or onto DVD. These can then be played directly onto your TV screens. DVD is quickly becoming the best option as it is digital and therefore better quality, and the machines are smaller and easier to operate.

Do exercise some restraint when showing home videos. See whether your audience is still conscious after three hours of your holiday footage before sharing the remaining seven hours.

A great EDIT makes a great film. You can do this on your computer, with a program you can download called Windows Movie Maker, from Microsoft, of course.

Inspiring home video moments to reference include:
The Blair Witch Project, The Wonder Years
and certain classic scenes from
You’ve Been Framed
.

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‘If there is no TV in the room what is all the furniture going to look at?’
Joey
, (
Matt le Blanc
) in
Friends

How to have television feng shui

‘Television is for appearing on, not looking at,’ said Noël Coward, but unless you’re an actress you’ll know to ignore him.

If there is no TV what on earth can you do whilst having a TV dinner? Books are very tricky to hold while eating. TVs are as essential to a room as the sofa, light fittings and so on. TVs can bring the outside world in, so have it in a suitable place of worship. Try to position opposite a comfortable chair/sofa, with a footstool and coffee table in situ for the ultimate pleasure and relaxation. TVs should be in either the sitting/living room or the bedroom. You do not need a TV in the bathroom, kitchen, study, or a portable in the car. Try to limit the number of TVs to the number of people in the house.

Flat screens can be hung on the wall, while larger models can sit proudly in a corner. What type you get is up to you, as with desktop versus laptop computer. It is an aesthetic issue. What size, what width screen, what number of channels, is a personal choice. The resolution now is as good on a 2-inch plasma screen as it is on a more bulky, more standard 15-inch. Just, whatever you do, don’t have your TV next to your computer or else it will be very confusing knowing what screen to look at.

How to turn on and tune in

TVs are an essential part of modern life. Everyone is acquainted with them, but now is the time to make sure you are able to operate one. Before you even think of purchasing your own, make sure you have a TV licence, just get it, pay direct debit and be done with it. Why turn your own life into a soap opera when you have so many channels to see other people suffer on?

A brief history

It’s hard to imagine living without many things, but it is practically impossible to imagine there was ever life PRE-TV. Rumour has it there was a time when people ate at tables, went to the theatre, and didn’t watch
EastEnders
.

A timeline of the early years will show you just how far and fast the phenomenon has developed:

1862
Abbe Giovanna Caselli invents the ‘pantelegraph’.

1876
Eugen Goldsmith coins the phrase ‘cathode rays’ to describe the light emitted when electric currents are forced through a vacuum (sounds dull but relevant later).

1880
Inventors like Bell and Edison theorise on how it must be possible to transmit images as well as sound.

1922
BBC makes its first radio broadcast on 14 November.

(The first commercial radio broadcast was made in Pittsburgh in 1920.)

1924–25
We stop theorising and get the telly. The mechanics were invented by American Charles Jenkins and Scotsman John Baird, each demonstrating a mechanical transmission of an image over a wire circuit. Baird was initially able to transmit lines at a resolution of 5 frames per second (now we do it at 50 frames per second). Then things REALLY got cracking:

1929
The first TV studio is created.

1930
Wasting no time, the first TV commercial.

1936
There are 200 TV sets worldwide, and, on 2 November, BBC TV makes its first broadcast. It starts life with 30 hours of TV viewing a week.

1940
Colour television is invented.

1953
TV sales go through the roof across the UK as everyone wants to be able to watch the Queen’s Coronation.

1956
A sigh of relief as remotes are invented.

1964
Plasma TV is invented at University of Illinois, the same year BBC2 is launched.

1967
BBC2 starts transmissions in colour, but it is not until November 1969 that BBC1 and ITV really go Technicolor.

1969
On 20 July, 600 million people tune in to watch the first TV transmission from the moon.

1976
Sony introduces the Beta machine, the first home video.

1982
Dolby surround sound for home entertainment is introduced.

1986
Super VHS videos invented.

From the 1990s onwards TV inventions and upgrades, such as digital, cable, satellite as well as improved flat screens and DVD recorders, were happening with such speed it is impossible to list all the developments.