Engage My Brain

Did you know that a camera is designed to work like the human eye? The pupil, or black-looking part in the center of the iris of your eye, lets in just the right amount of light to give you a clear picture. On a camera, the diaphragm does the same thing -- it is an opening that gets bigger or smaller to let in the right amount of light. Inside a camera, the light makes a picture on the film.

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In the eye, the picture is made on the retina, the inner layer at the back of your eyeball. Light rays bend in the eye and in a camera, so the picture is actually upside down in both! When a camera's film is developed, you simply hold the picture right-side up!