Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day - this year on Sunday April 26th, 2015

The Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) is an annual event at the last Sunday in April. This year it will be on Sunday April 26th. 

Everyone is invited to make/use a (simple) pinhole camera and make a pinhole image on the last Sunday in April. Everyone can post one image in the gallery on the site and view all the other entries (see also: http://www.pinholeday.org/participate/). There will also be all kinds of local events all over the world, also suitable for non-experienced pinhole photographers. You'll find a list on the site or you can post your own local activity.
And remember: you still have over a month to tinker up a simple pinhole camera and get some film or photo paper to shoot with. Need help, tips or inspiration? Check this out: http://www.pinholeday.org/support/

YOU ARE ALL INVITED!

What is WPPD about?
New to pinhole photography or WPPD?
“Anyone, anywhere in the world, who makes a pinhole photograph on the last Sunday in April, can scan it and upload it to this website where it will become part of the annual Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day celebration's online gallery.” 

There will be several workshops all around the world on this day. You don’t have to have experience or a pinhole camera yourself, there are often extra cameras available to use (but ask in advance). You can locate a local event here:http://www.pinholeday.org/events/index.php

More info on: http://pinholeday.org and https://www.facebook.com/PinholeDay

Pinhole Landscapes (2)

I live outside a small town at the "Veluwe" in the middle of The Nertherlands. It's a very large area with fields, woods, heather and small streams. Close to my home there are some planes ruled by nature. There is a small stream called "Egelbeek" (= Hedgehog stream) that originates close by and is needed to transport the rain away. Nature's natural transport of water in this area!!

I like to wander around with my panorama pinhole camera and take images along this small stream. I used a 6x18 cm Natasha wooden pinhole camera loaded with expired Fuli RVP 120 roll film (= Velvia 50 ASA slide film). All images are straight scans without any Photoshop adjustments.

(sheep gracing the fields, exposure 40 sec.)

(Egelbeek upstream, exposure 40 sec.)

(Egelbeek, exposure 40 sec.)

Pinhole Photography on the internet (1)

Here are some sites I saw lately that you might like to check out. It's all (Pinhole) photography related, to get inspired again.

Pinhole exhibition @ ADX PORTLAND (OR 97214), between November 1-30, 2013

Pinholista: a nice blog about everything Pinhole

Squaremeals: a photographer shooting her daily meals & tea with a pinhole

A homemade  6×17 Panoramic Pinhole camera with two pinholes, that creates 57x172mm images

A 3D printed pinhole camera

How To: make a camera from cement/concrete (and eliminate camera shake)

Pinhole Obscura: a group of friends sharing Pinhole photography and traveling

Kurt Mottweiler: a designer of beautiful cameras

And not to forget: 
let's prepare for the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day on April, 27th 2014

iPhone as Polaroid camera for analogue photography

"Perspective"

I made this image with my iPhone 4. It was chosen “photo of the month” by my local photo store.

I photograph with analogue and old cameras and build wooden pinhole cameras myself. So no view finder, build-in light meter or LCD screen to view histograms with on the spot ;-)

No, all results only to be seen after developing & printing the negatives … not instantly on a LCD screen but only in my mind - the way I like it! 
Light metering is often done by guesstimation.

Sometimes I use my iPhone to make an instant image to check for composition and lighting with my analogue photography - like we used to with a Polaroid camera in the old days. Especially when I’m shooting with my old analogue cameras converted into a pinhole camera (Agfa Clack, Gevabox, homebuild wooden cameras, …).

BTW: if you photograph only digital, shut down the LCD screen for just one week and trust on yourself for once. You'll see it will improve your skills and results!

Pinhole Landscapes

I shot this image with my pinhole camera from a boat on the water. It was cloudy and a little bit of wind rocked the boat softly. The exposure was 40 seconds so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but is has a nice hint of “Pictorialism”. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. 

* camera: old Gevabox converted into a pinhole camera (6x9 cm negative)  
* film: Konica PRO 400 roll film (expired)  
* exposure: 40 seconds  
* developer: C-41 by a professional lab   
* scanner: Epson 3200 PHOTO with Silverfast software (but no digital rework what so ever though)

This second shot was also made with the same camera from the shore later on the same day  (exposure: 40 seconds).

Pinhole images for WPPD2013

The Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day was this year on April, 28th (always the last Sunday in April). 

I finally had my three films developed. I used two cameras: an Agfa Click and an old Gevabox. 

(camera: Agfa Click)

(camera: Gevabox 6x9)

I converted both cameras into pinhole cameras myself. The Gevabox is very nice for portrait and landscape images and gives 6x9 cm negatives. The Click has 6x6 cm negatives, a rather short focal length and some nice vignetting (like a trademark) because of the original lens mount. 

I used 120 roll film: Konica PRO 400 and Fuji NPC 160. All films had standard C-41 developing in a lab.

Here are the images, which one do you like best?

Agfa Click series with Konica PRO 400: 

(image # 1)

(image # 2)

(image # 3)

Gevabox series with Fuji NPC 160:

(image # 4)

(image # 5)

(image # 6)

(image # 7)

Gevabox series with Konica PRO 400:

(image # 8)

(Image # 9)

Pocket Light Meter app: suitable for pinhole photography

Normally I calculate my exposure times for pinhole photography by "guesstimation", especially when I use my converted Gevabox or Agfa Clack. 

But sometimes I want to measure the light more securely. When I didn't bring my real light meter, I use the Pocket Light Meter app on my iPhone (also available for android). This app has a minimal ISO setting as low as 0.8 and maximum aperture as high as f/512. This makes this app very usefull for pinhole photography and for using photo paper as a negative. And it is very accurate too. I compared it with my digital camera. 

The app is free (with small add in the top of screen) or only $1.00 for the add free version. See for info:
http://www.pocketlightmeter.com.

(screenshots from the app)

The app has some nice features. It shows also the EV values, if desired. And you can "HOLD" the screen - holding your last reading. You can also take a small snapshot to log the used settings - and add some notes. Here is an example (jpg, 150 KB):

(sample of a snapshot made with the app)

The app can also sync with Dropbox to save the snapshots for later. Coming back home you can check the snapshots to see what settings you used when & where: the file names show date & time stamp. 
 Here you'll find a small test of this app.

Finally: the Harman TiTAN 8x10 inch Pinhole Camera

The new Harman TiTAN 8x10 inch Pinhole Camera should be available from March 4th, 2013. It will be formally announced on Sunday at the Focus on Imaging show in Birmingham, UK, and available shortly after (through http://www.ilfordphoto.com). It is expected to cost about £400 (Wow!).

It is rather a large beast compared to the previous 4x5 inch TITAN pinhole camera.

(Photo: techcentral.my)

The concept of the 8x10 inch version is the same as the 4x5 inch version.

(parts of the 4x5 inch version)

Leon Taylor (from filmwasters) got his hands on an early pre-production model and made a nice film about his first tests on the cold coasts of Kent.
You can view his video (12 minutes) on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/60680136
"This special edition of the filmwasters video podcast features the new Harman Titan 8×10 pinhole camera. Leon got his hands on a pre-release camera to put through its paces and see what this over-sized beastie can do."

(Mike Walker & Leon Taylor holding the 8x10 - photo: Leon Taylor)

For more (coming) info, check also these sites once in a while:
http://tinyurl.com/pinhole group
and
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum62/116152-harman-titan-8x10-pinhole-camera-review.html
and
http://filmwasters.com/podcast/archives/258.

Pinhole body cap for Nikon & Canon

I  found a nice and well made pinhole body cap for Nikon and Canon. 

(Body cap with pinhole for Nikon)

(Body cap with pinhole for Canon)

It has a very nice metal pinhole (laser drilled, 0.2 mm) incorporated into the cap. 

I'll make some tests shortly.

My first pinhole image ever (2001)

This is the very first pinhole image I have made in my backyard in 2001:

(my vert first pinhole image)

I had build me my first wooden pinhole camera and loaded it with Ilford photographic paper. Exposure time was 30 seconds. The camera is made of Afzelia wood, size 11 x 11 x 11 cm. The negative size is 10 x 10 cm. The pinhole was made out of a soda can (pinhole size 0,3 mm). I had a lot of fun building it. And I was very pleased that my first test shot (picture above) was a success. The beginning of a pinhole camera building career ;-)

(my daughter standing still for 30 seconds)

This is an image of my daughter (3 years old) trying to hold still for 30 seconds in June 2003 (paper negative). This test shot was made with an old Gevabox from 1951, I converted into a pinhole camera. Negative size 6x9 cm on 120 rollfilm Kodak Tri-X.

(the original Gevabox model from 1951)

DIY pinhole camera projects - building your own!

Here are some nice pinhole camera projects. 

Get inspired and get out there!

"Have fun and catch a light beam"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1) Building a wooden pinhole camera:
PDF on www.popularwoodworking.com

2) The Camera Truck (Okay, he uses lenses, but it is also doable as a lensless camera):
Website: www.cameratruck.net
and Camera truck on youtube

~ photo from Camera truck - (c) Shaun Irving ~

3) Weekend project - Pinhole Panoramic Camera:
PDF panoramic pinhole on makezin.com
and Website: makezine.com

~ drawing of the panoramic camera (c) Ross Orr ~

4) A pinhole camera inside an egg:
the-egg-pinhole-camera on lomography.com
and website: www.francescocapponi.it

~ pinhole egg (c) www.francescocapponi.it ~

5) The Dippold pinhole camera. Download a plan with instructions and template for a serious cardboard camera:

website: www.francescocapponi.it

6) The Battlefield Pinhole Camera – load and expose 3 rolls of films at the same time within one camera:
the-battlefield-camera on lifehacker.com

~ The Battlefield pinhole camera - (c) Steven Monteau ~

7) The Blinky camera kit – designed by two ladies from France and the UK: the blinky camerakit

~ Blinky the pinhole camera - (c) http://blinkythepinholecamera.tumblr.com ~

8) DIY project: “Converting a cheesy focus-free 35mm into a pinhole camera”
plastic pinhole cam on silverbased.org

~ Choosing the right pinhole - (c) silver based.org ~

9) A pinhole camera existing only of photographic paper:
website: www.papercams.com

Pinhole cows with an Agfa Click I

I have rebuild an old Agfa Click I camera into a pinhole camera. I removed the plastic lens and placed the pinhole on the outside of the body but behind the original shutter. This camera and the Agfa Clack can be converted easely into pinhole cameras. The Clack has a slightly curved filmplane and a negative size of 6x9 cm. The Click I has a negative size of 6x6 cm. Both use 120 rollfilm.

I  loaded it with Fuji NPC 160 rollfim and went into the fields on a very hot day for a testdrive. I found some cowes willing to pose for a few pictures. I placed my camera in the field and let the cows come close.
They are very nosy animals....

Exposure time was about 30 seconds on the middle of the day in the full (and hot!!) sun. These were the results:

Check the Pinhole Photography & Cameras Group on LinkedIn for more info on pinhole cameras.

Review of the new ILFORD Pinhole Photography Kit

The new Harman Titan Pinhole Camera Kit (produced by Harman/Ilford) is available now. I read a nice review of this pinhole camera posted on ueberlicht.com.

It's a longer article about the camera and how to use it. They show several good example shots made with the Titan. As soon as I can find a good & cheaper supplier (for The Netherlands) I'm gonna get me one. I already found a box of the Harman Direct Positive photographic paper, but I haven't tested it yet.

Here are the links:
- Article in english     - Article in german

- Harman/Ilford about this camera

Check the Pinhole Photography & Cameras group on LinkedIn for more information about pinhole photography.

(the photos above are taken from the article on ueberlicht.com)