Gear up!
Worldwide pinhole day arrives April 26, 2009!
See the following website for details...http://www.pinholeday.org/
Also, George Schaub tells me that we are looking at an "after July" publication in Shutterbug for my article on pinhole photography. Should be nice to us pinholers in a mainstream magazine, especially since digital is the 21st Century mantra. But, I think we are all about to change that...if we haven't already.
Which leads me to my top excuses to photograph with my pinholes.
1. Bad weather is my top excuse. I watch the weather on my browser like surfers watch the surf reports. The worse it is, the better I like it. Moving clouds, dreary days, rain. It all makes for great pinhole shooting.
2. I have photographer's block. Sometimes I sit around searching for an idea that refuses to come. With my pinhole, I often just do a still life or roam around the block looking for ideas. With the perspective of the pinhole, it really is easy. A sidewalk, garage sale, building, pier, flowers, clouds, whatever.
3. Testing new film. Film? Remember that stuff? For a while I played with chromogenic (my favorite was/is Ilford XP2. Beautiful stuff, but it dawned on me that Superia color negative film is essentially the same thing, but I have the best of both worlds. Just scan and decide later whether to go black and white or color. I am now trying the Fuji Instant FP 100C 45 for "lifts.
I am also trying to do transfers with the Fuji but it is very difficult because I have to drag my Portable darkroom, paper, roller, etc with me. I'm going to have to show some stills of me doing a transfer in the field. It's hilarious.
4. I need the exercise and may as well bring along my trusty Zero 2000.
The picture of the San Diego Marina was shot on Superia and converted with Black and White Pro plug in for PhotoShop. I am really looking forward to showing off my new Fuji stuff. I scanned the negs with an Epson V900 (which will also scan 4x5).
5. I am also planning a new model series with the Zero 4x5.
The point really is no one really needs an excuse to shoot pinhole, just a camera and film. Look for excuses to shoot and the subject will surface. Experiment. Have fun.
Posts
Nice shot; my first thought was that it might be IR. Finding a good color processor has often held me back from doing more film color, but there is one that does dip and dunk in Albuquerque, and I also recently got a bag-full of color from a commercial photog who has gone totally digital.
ReplyDeleteMike:
ReplyDeleteIt was Fuji Superia ISO 100 (may favorite film) because you have the option of sticking with color or converting to black and white. This was converted with B&W Pro EFX in Photoshop with a slight sepia. That's why it looks like IR.
I am now experimenting with Fuji Instant Film and transfers. As soon as I get some more Arches Hot Press paper and some time, I will post the results.
Fuji acts a tiny bit different than Polaroid, but I think I am going to like it.