When I originally built the TTV contraption I fixed the digital camera to the cardboard using electrical tape, as shown in this photo from 2007:
This is actually counter to how most TTV-ers work. The common approach is to leave the contraption open and place your every day camera in the hole (as in this classic design). I’ve always had a dedicated TTV camera (my dad’s old Fuji S7000 which has a fault and was therefore not worth eBaying) so strapping it in gave me more solidity, portability and a relatively stable focus on the middle of the square.
The downside, of course, is the S7000 is literally stuck to TTV-only duties (I have other needs.) and, given Fuji’s insistence on designing their cameras so they can’t be neatly stuck in a square cardboard tube without obscuring essential buttons and doors, it was never that stable. And when people inevitably ask me what the hell it is I can’t easily show them. So eventually the digital camera became separated from the contraption. It requires a little more work to keep it stable but, with a few exceptions (my photos taken in the chaos of Monotonix at Supersonic are a write-off) I’ve learned to adapt. It does, however, lead to the occasional delightful accident.
Above is a photo of Fiona on a swing in our local park. I was so busy trying to get the frame of the swing in the picture than I didn’t notice the camera had slipped and I was only photographing half of the square. Damn, I said, and tried again but the moment had passed. Later I looked at the photo and decided the framing was actually pretty good and while it might break some of the fundamental laws of TTV that wasn’t necessarily a problem.
It also, I noted, fits perfectly into a 6×4 ratio print while maintaining the TTV aesthetic. Given the framing options for 6×4 are much more common than for square format this is a serious boon.
I’ll now be scouring my rejected TTV photos for more accidental Demi TTV shots…