Pinhole Camera Scenes
Large format pinhole camera images of Whidbey Island scenes offer a new way to appreciate our historic area. I brought out my pinhole camera (unused since 1997) and loaded 4x5" direct printing paper into it. The paper makes a finished, one-off print. While this is convenient, it has a narrow dynamic range - each try is literally a shot in the dark. I decided to do this series on overcast, low-contrast days to maximize my chances of success.
My camera is a 36 oz coffee can with a slightly curved film/paper holder glued inside. The aperture is a 0.020" needle-drilled hole in brass shim stock. With a 5" pinhole-to-film distance, this equates to an f-stop of 250. Combined with paper speed of 3 ISO, exposures require 10-57 minutes depending upon our winter gloom.
Read MoreMy camera is a 36 oz coffee can with a slightly curved film/paper holder glued inside. The aperture is a 0.020" needle-drilled hole in brass shim stock. With a 5" pinhole-to-film distance, this equates to an f-stop of 250. Combined with paper speed of 3 ISO, exposures require 10-57 minutes depending upon our winter gloom.
Ebey's Steps VII, version 2
Selenium toning of Harman paper: I thought that this image might be a little washed out, both because of subject matter and some overexposure. I hoped that selenium toning might firm up the shadow tones a little. After 4 1/2 minutes the image started browning and at 5 minutes there seemed to be some deepening of shadows. However, the browning moved faster than the deepening so I pulled it at 5 1/2 minutes. It's hard to say whether the darkening paid off and the color change was certainly more than I wanted. (It's OK in this case, because it ends up approaching an accurate color for the actual scene.)
StepsVIIselcolorpinhole camerawhidbey sceneryEbey's Landingselenium toningHarman paper
