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.