Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.Most people have heard of Pinhole photography, but not many people have had the challenge and joy of practicing the art. It is a very simple process, but requires patience and good instructions. In the simplest terms, a pinhole camera is a light-proof box that has only 2 elements; a small pinhole poked in one end, and film placed on the interior and opposing end of the box. The results are beautifully soft focused, dreamy and mysterious photographs.
There are a few options for obtaining a pinhole camera. If you would like to build a camera yourself, do an internet search for "how to make a pinhole camera". Or to purchase a pre-made pinhole camera, search for "buying a pinhole camera".
Pinhole photography is the original form of photography; when you practice it you are going back in time, to the 10th century! Long before the invention of film the camera was used by painters and astronomers, and at the time called a
camera obscura. Because of the camera's age, older subjects tend to look better than modern subjects. In addition to the decision of choosing appropriate subject matter, choosing between black and white film and color can also yield some interesting results. B&W film is more traditional, as color film was not in use until the mid 20th century. However, I have tended to appreciate color pinhole images lately, which I feel have a warm, romantic feel.
Note on digital cameras: While there are pinhole filter attachments available for digital SLR cameras, they don't work nearly as well as film. One major drawback is the extreme dust that shows up on the image due to incredible lens depth of field. I have tried pinhole photography on my Nikon digital, and while my normal lens photos did not show any dust spots at all, the pinhole attachment showed hundreds of dust spots, simply because the focus extends almost all the way back to the "film plane", or CCD.
A second problem with digital cameras is that they do not produce as good long exposure results as film cameras. Pinhole photos can often take up to 1/2 hour to expose, which is very hard on digital sensors.
Regardless of the above difficulties, if you can find a digital pinhole attachment, it may be of value to introduce you to the process. You can then step up to a film based pinhole when you get a feel for the results.
These building were taken in the Castle District of Budapest, Hungary.
Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at
www.markhemmings.com
Title : PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY
Description : Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anyti...