Pinhole Photography

These images were created using a pinhole camera. I walked around Portsmouth for three days to get these. I used a gallon paint can that I purchased at a hardware store. I used a #9 embroidery needle to make the hole in a strip I cut out of a soda can. I used regular Photographic paper for the negative. At first I tried to calculate the exposure using a light meter and a fancy formula... that was a bust. You just have to go by general times and watch where the sun is constantly and adjust for it. After scanning in the image, I flipped it in photoshop, cleaned them up and printed them out as duotones onto Arches 140lb hot press watercolor paper. I think the most successful image was one of the first ones I took, the angel against the flat brick wall. She's in a planter and has a little bunny rabbit by her side.. very cute. I like the way the wide angle view of the pinhole makes the brick wall look like it's receding into the background. The sun glare on the left side was a happy accident too.

This project used very fine grained film (Maco TP ISO-64) and I underexposed the negatives by shooting it at ISO 200. I then processed it with Dektol developer at 68 degrees for 3 min. The pictures it produced were very high contrast with nice rich blacks and interesting highlights. It was a challenge to get good photos, I think I got a couple. The prints I made were all full frame. I think the natural border it gives complements the style nicely. Overall I'm pleased with the process. :-)

Today is our due date for Cyanotypes! The color is Prussian Blue, very dark and rich in tones. The chemistry is mixed by hand and coated on paper using brushes or glass rods. The paper is dried then exposed with a negative. We printed our own negatives off the ink jet printer onto transparencies. The exposure was done outside in the sunlight. So depending on how sunny it was or how many clouds there were the times changed. I didn't even try to time them, I just went by what color it changed into. I had a few that turned out OK. Here are my favorites... For the Photogram I used a negative of seagull in a sunlit sky and placed feathers on top to make it look like they were falling out of the sky. The Rooftop image I handcolored with watercolor paint. Both photos were originally taken on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. The two unmanipulated prints were taken in Las Vegas outside the Venician Hotel.