Pinhole Photography?

[Joe Copalman]

I've been itching to do SOMETHING DIFFERENT for a while and have been thinking more and more about pinhole photography as way to challenge myself creatively and to have some fun (and to not throw tons of money at).  Sometimes I feel like a robot with my SLR - I know a lot of it is instinct and intuition, and that's not a bad thing, but I just don't feel the same sense of wonder and discovery that I did when I was starting out.  I guess what I'm saying is that the honeymoon is over and I want to cheat on my SLR with something that challenges and engages me in ways my current rig doesn't.

Anyone ever dabble in pinhole photography?  If so, any pointers?  I've found several tutorials online, but for me, nothing beats an in-person walkthrough.  

Also, any suggestions on gear would be appreciated.  I've looked at the pinhole body caps for DSLRs, but most of the images I've seen from them lack the sharpness of those taken with homemade or purpose-built pinhole film cameras.  Still some cool results, but I think I like what I've seen from the film cameras a bit better.  Thanks for any input anyone can offer.  

[Dave S.]

Joe,

Your timing is too funny.  Yesterday, I ordered a couple of electronic kits (ie. all assembly required) for triggering my shutter and electronic flashes, which will enable me to experiment and play with high-speed photography.  I have a strange desire to smash a light bulb, slice a watermelon and burst a water-filled balloon - and capture all of these moments on 'film'.

One of the ideas I'm also toying with is to play around with some Schliren photography.  This is the technique used to observe/examine, among other cool things, high speed projectiles that are generating shock waves.  In general, it is used to visualize variations in fluid densities.  Now all I need is the 8 inch (or larger) spherical mirror - anyone have an old, slightly used, telescope mirror?

[Jeff D. Welker]

You are a wild a crazy guy. Here are some links to sites that will guide you to a new and exciting level of photographic addiction.

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=11865&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=50137

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/pinholeCamera/pinholeCanBox.shtml

http://www.diyphotography.net/23-pinhole-cameras-that-you-can-build-at-home

While I've never "dabbled" in this art form, I've spent some serious time making palladium contact prints from 8x10 negatives. Its worse than heroin.

[CJPalmer]

I have just begun toying with pinhole photography as well, although I'm using film and will most likely make my own. As far as pinhole sources, a friend recommended Skink Photo http://stores.ebay.com/skinkphoto. His pinholes are laser cut and sized for what you are shooting with. Just keep in mind that you are looking at an f-stop of around f150 so you will have long exposures and high ISO's so noise will be quite likely, but the images can be fascinating.

[Dave S.]

This month's National Geographic has a cool article about creating a room sized camera obscura.  Here's a link to the article on their website.  Additionally, they have a short video showing how they created their own room sized camera obscura.  Pretty interesting stuff.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/camera-obscura/oneill-text

- Dave

[Dave S.]

...and who knew that today (April 24, 2011) was Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day?

http://pinholeday.org/