Trona Pinnacles

A closer view of the pinnacles in Trona, California.
Holga Wide Pinhole
November 2014

dust and dirt and everything

The desert means everything to me...
it's where I live and love and want to be until I can't be anymore.
No, this isn't meant to be cryptic, it's just that when I make photos of the desert, especially pinhole photos of it, I realize just how much all of this dust, dirt and rocks add up.

Holga Wide pinhole
Arista 100 film sloshed around in caffenol
Trona, California  November 2014

over the mountains and through the pass to grandmother's house we go

matchbox pinhole

sweeping landscape

The Trona Pinnacles are swooshed away in this minute long pinhole made with a P-Sharan  cardboard camera with Fuji 200 film.
The P-Sharan is a fun little camera that comes in a flat box of die cut cardboard pieces that requires about an hour of assembly.  It's fun!

It's truly not about the camera or the film but the place.

Trona Pinnacles

More often than not, landscapes put me in a trance. 
The area around the Trona Pinnacles is such a place. The austere beauty draws you in and then makes you feel small, insignificant and strips all ego to the bone. 

There's nothing to prove, and nothing to do except soak it all in and just hope it lingers and makes you a better person for having seen it.

Holga Wide Pinhole, 120
Trona California

Pinhole workshop at the C4FAP in Fort Collins

The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado had it's 10 year anniversary celebration last weekend and I went up to do a caffenol demo as part of the festivities.

I also attended a very cool and awesomely fun pinhole workshop as part of the good times had by all goings on!

It was hosted by Mike Butts and Kimberly Chiaris.  You won't meet any finer people than Mike and Kim!   (They fed us pizza too, so you gotta love that!)

We made pinhole cameras out of quart sized paint cans in the workshop and then loaded and developed, loaded and developed, loaded and developed, etc. etc. etc. and then showed off our photos for the better part of 3 hours.  It was great being around such a fine group of creative minds and seeing the results of our endeavors with our pinhole paint cans.


The first pinhole I made was of an old Hudson Hornet I found parked behind the POP-up studio we were using.

I love old cars and when I found this cool old Hudson, well, that was icing on the cake!!!

The photo turned out pretty well and the exposure in bright sun was a breeze!   

Some wheat pasting can be seen on the back wall of the studio we were using behind the Hudson. This happened earlier in the day as part of the ongoing festivities for the C4FAP.

The pinhole shot above is of a puddle of leaves I found in the street near the studio.  I like ground level shots like this....it's the view of bugs!

Fort Collins has some really interesting artwork painted on the control boxes around town.  This one had some wide eyed lambs.  Perfect for pinhole, I just kind of wish this one was in color because it was full of it!

We all had a great time!
Thanks to everyone at the Center for Fine Art Photography for making everything go so smoothly and presenting a fine alternative processes show!

Thanks to Judy Sherrod of shootapalooza for her time and friendship.

P.S., I've built and made a LOT of pinhole cameras, but this little paint can pinhole I made during the workshop is a sweetie and my current favorite for shooting.

oh give me a home.....

where the buffalo roam.....

just south of the Wyoming border, these are on the Terry Bison Ranch.

I love buffalo!

Film News!

A very cool and informative podcast abour Ferrania Film

Give this a listen if you are interested in the future of Ferrania film....I have used it in the past and will definitely use it again when they start shipping.

a little photo from a little matchbox pinhole camera

It's kind of cool how this looks like a view from a train window....

Signs of Fall....

Fall will be here in just a few days and the signs of chile pepper harvest are already drifitng around town.

Colorful ristras of peppers can be had for a few dollars and the intoxicating smell of roasted chile is just the best thing you could ever put your nose to.

I wish this was scratch and sniff...but then you'd scratch up your monitor and that wouldn't be good!

Enjoy!

Oh, I'm happy to be part of "The Next Best Thing Pinhole Project"
Next Best Thing Pinhole

There's some cool work there so check it out.

New, not improved matchbox pinhole image

last month I started a Matchbox Meditation blog.
It was started because I thought I could do a matchbox pinhole photo for each day of a 21 day meditation I was doing.....a program hosted by Deepak Chopra.

Well, after about 17 days of meditating and making pinhole photos, life got in the way and I couldn't keep up with it.   I have been meditating for years, so keeping up with the sitting and not thinking part was easy..I kept up with that part fine.

I just couldn't maintain the taking pinhole photos part.

I blogged it for 17 days and then stopped.
If you are wondering where this long drawn out wordy parable is going...it's just going here because I terminated the other blog this morning and am going to share a couple of the images I posted over there here at Palomino Pinhole.


This first one was of a sunflower from my yard and corresponded to a meditation on "Feeling Joy".

Black and white film in a homemade matchbox pinhole camera.

this was my favorite image from the few I posted, so thought you might enjoy it too.

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great Monday!!!
Becky

well, it's about time.....

Here's another matchbox pinhole.
I really like doing these even though they are not so fun to scan to get the sprocket holes...

This is another view of Wild Horse Mesa Bar out west of Albuquerque near Mesita on old Route 66.

Matchbox Pinhole

You've seen this place before here, but wanted to share a little matchbox pinhole photo of it too since this one is in color.

The color shift is a bit weird and I couldn't quite get it corrected in PS, so just left it funky.

This is west of Albuquerque on Route 66.....a  nice little drive for exploring.

Enjoy!

I know I'm not the most regular or scheduled poster here, but I do appreciate your visits!

Wild Horse Mesa Bar

This is just a little teaser of a mini series I'm working on....

As always, it was sloshed around in caffenol for development.
Ilford Delta 100.
Thanks for stopping by!

Westward Ho Motel

Sometimes the cool shots are nearby.

This old motel out on Route 66 just west of Albuquerque caught my eye today while I was running errands.  It looked so cool I had to stop for a few minutes and make a portrait of it.


4 x 5 sheet film in a tea tin with a teeny pinhole stuck in it for a camera.

The photo kind of looks like it was made years ago, and I really like that!

Thanks for stopping by!

July 27

 

Drifting away with some sunset clouds.

Illy Coffee Can pinhole.

White Sands

White Sands in southern New Mexico is a surreal place.

The snow white landscape is subject to feelings of serenity and hallucinations if it's hot and you are very thirsty.

A lot of old western movies were and occasionally still are filmed here because of the wild scenery.

Pinhole photo made with a homemade 4 x 5 box and sheet film.

Something old, with something old...fashioned

The "El Don" is an old motel in Old Town Albuquerque along Route 66 and it's quite the icon.

Neon, motel court style rooms and very Route 66-ish!

I always worry that this place will get spiffied up too much and loose it charm, but so far it's remained mostly untouched except for a fresh paint here and there.

If you happen to be cruising down Route 66, give it a look when you are passing through Albuquerque.  It's on the west side of town near the Bio Park just before you cross the Rio Grande!

Thanks for stopping by!
Becky

Just taking some time off....

Hi Ya'll!
I'm okay, just taking some time off to explore and dink around in the shop with some new ideas.
Also driving some new roads I've never been on before, which is always a thrill.

PLUS it's been raining a bit, which is a great thing in my part of the world and I have been stalking that Super Moon we had over the weekend.
Oh yeah, I did a little talk last Saturday night at our local astronomy club in Albuquerque about analog lunar photography, caffenol and Galileo. .
I'm also working on a very long term project with the Moon as my collaborator.

Interestingly, one of my astronomy buddies had built a multi-pinhole camera and brought it to the club meeting to show me...I was proud and excited to see it!  You just never know how and when the pinhole bug is going to bite one of your friends.  Sometimes that little pinhole bug bites hard!!!

I also went to Durango and rode the train again. I love that thing, and I of course made a  few pinhole photos, but don't have them scanned in just yet, so I'll try to get busy with that and share some photos with you.

While in Durango, I tripped over a curb and fell and sprained my finger pretty bad, ( right before I was to get on the train too- but I rode the train anyway)---so bad at one point I thought I might have to cut my wedding ring off my finger!  But I didn't and now my finger is just about back to normal so all is good again.

Anyway, I hope you all are having a rip roaring summer and I'll be back soon with some new pix and maybe, just maybe a new camera.
No promises, but keep checking back, I DO appreciate your visits!

happy Trails for now!
Becky

Priority Box of Peace Pinhole Camera

Sometime last year I was sent/gifted a Priority box.

The box itself is a simple cardboard box hand painted by artist Franck de las Mercedes.

Read about the project here

You can also read about the Kickstarter Program here

I always wanted to make a pinhole camera out of it and today I finally did!

I've drilled out a place for the pinhole and will install it and then go out and make some photos with it.

I'm calling this my Priority Box of Peace Pinhole Camera and I've got some special plans for it, so check back in a few days to see what's going on.

Thanks as always for stopping by! It means a lot!

Becky

weekends and train rides

I'm going to ride the train again so be on the watch for some pinhole shots made from the back looking down the tracks.  It may seem cliche to do so, but I like seeing where I've been regardless of all the sayings about looking ahead to the future and all that.

If you are a photographer of any sort, you are latching hold of the past...even though at the time it wasn't the past, but as soon as the shutter clicks it is.,,,so confusing really.  Present, past, future.

Anyway, I'm currently watching the soccer game and it makes me smile that so many people are spellbound by teams kicking around a swirly ball.

Today's pinhole is one made with a matchbox from the past...of course it is!

I'm still working on that future thing.. 

Beaming Along

Sometimes when the light is just right and the pinhole is kind of qwerky, you get a surreal scene....

The Road West

sometimes I just like to make pinhole photos that make me feel like I'm in a movie....

Kodak Ektar

First shot out of that box...

Ta-da!

Here's my first shot out of that box I've been building and talking about the past few posts.

This was done on some Ilford 125 speed black and white and I made the exposure about 5 seconds long...You know I don't count or use a meter so this is my best guess.

I was watching the clouds drift by and kind of got caught up in daydreaming while making the exposure.

Anyway, rumor has it that they are going to refurb these old Whiting Bros. signs as soon as the nest of owls moves out of the sign in the distance so I wanted to get a few shots of them before the change.

This place is on Route 66 in Moriarty, New Mexico if you want to go check them out for yourself.  I'm probably going back tomorrow to make a few more shots...

I want to get closer and also use a couple of other pinholes I have.

oh, I dunked the negative in caffenol for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

about those micro drill bits

Since  I have been asked about those micro drill bits I use to drill my pinholes, I'm sharing my sources.

There are many places to get micro drills, hobby shops and jewelry supply places have them or you can do like I do and get them online.

Amazon has sets
like this

Drill bit city has sets
you can get them here

I use the micro drill bits without the collet and just hand twist them very slowly on and then through the brass shim stock I use for the pinholes.

It takes about 5 minutes to complete a pinhole.

Just go slow, then sand the burrs off with emery paper and you're all set.
The key is to go slow and not put too much downward pressure on the bit or it will snap off.

the home stretch

A few more steps to finish up the box....

This is the front being glued on.  I use old scraps on the front and back to keep the c-clamps from marring the surface of the box since c-clamps can and will dig into the wood being clamped together this way....

You'd think this wouldn't matter since the wood I used to build the camera is kind of gnarly, but old habits die hard.
It's just good practice to keep everything protected when gluing and clamping..

That piece on the top is an old pinhole box face that didn't work out...it may have another life as something else down the road.

This is the rear view looking into the box.  A quick spray of flat black paint keeps internal reflections to a minimum.

This view shows the top of the camera with that wood grade marking I talked about earlier.

I like this!  I'm probably going to apply some polyurethane to seal it and then install the pinhole and call this one done!

Oh, before I forget, I'm drilling the pinhole myself with a micro drill and some brass shim stock.

The box works out to be f/192..

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S.  There is a flange inside the box to rest the film-holder on.   It's not easy to see, but I did make one out of some pieces of scrap.

the smell of sawdust on Sunday morning....

I'm building a new little 4 x5 camera out of some leftover scraps in the workshop today....if I don't make sawdust every couple of weeks I get kind of "itchy".
It might be the sound of air whooshing across the blade of the table saw or the smell of fresh cut boards or maybe it's just watching a nice glue joint come together...I truly feel at home making pinhole boxes.

I rummaged through my scrap pile and found a few old pieces of plywood sheathing to cut up for a sweet little box.  Yay!

Here are a few pieces of scrap....this is more than enough to make a 4 x 5 box.  It's probably enough to make 2-3 boxes, but today I'm just going to build one.  

This looks like a duplicate shot of the boards above, but I squared them off so I would have nice edges to measure from and work with....an important step when working with old scraps...especially if they are a little bit warped.  Now these pieces are ready for cutting into smaller sizes to make my box.

The piece at the upper left has its "pedigree" (grade marking) stamped on it, so I'm going to use that one to build my camera.

BTW- all lumber has "grade" marks on it.  It's kind of like a pedigree.  It tells where the wood was harvested, what percentage of moisture it has and what type of wood it is.... all of this is in code, but I learned how to read these marks in a prior life when I used to sell hardware to lumber yards.

I cut a few pieces to make the outside of the 4 x 5 box out of that board above.  So far so good!

Some glue and a few clamps later and the box is taking form! I love this part!

The face of the box is above the glued together pieces....I cut it out of a thin scrap of cabinet grade plywood I had laying around the shed.
I've already installed the tripod mount in the bottom of the box frame.  This is my least favorite part of building a box.  

You can see the grade marking on the board facing us in this image.  This will be the top of the box.

That's all for now...I'll post some more photos as work progresses but I'm probably done for today...time to sweep out the workshop and tidy up.
Thanks for dropping by.

Rocks and Rays

Garden of the Gods

One of the most powerful places I have ever stood

Pinhole on Kodak Ektar

Marfa Lights

The Marfa Lights exist just not like you think of them.

pinhole with Ektar 100

"New Shoes"

found tin can converted to pinhole on film sloshed in caffenol

Driving the Alternate Universe Road

 

Pinhole on expired B&W film

time out

Gonna take a time out for a little while.
It's time to re-think my vision and do some free thinking....

the emergence of spring

pinhole on paper in caffenol

It takes a little while for trees to bud out around here....it's a nice thing to take your time when a freeze may be lurking in the wind.

Rio Puerco Bridge on old Route 66

Along I-40 west of Albuquerque is this very cool bridge over the Rio Puerco.

The Rio Puerco isn't much of a rio right now, but considering the size of the bridge it seems that once upon a time it raged wildly through the area.
The interstate is just south of this great iron beauty and the bridge stands as a skeletal reminder of days past on the mighty Mother Road.

At any rate, this is a pinhole photo of the iron beauty made with a 3-D printed pinhole camera and some expired T-Max sloshed in home brew caffenol for developing.

Here's a link to some more information about this lovely landmark!

"Tipsy Fudge Cake"

Some things are just too cool!

I found this interesting little cake tin at a local thrift store the other day and just had to get it.
It was 50 cents!

I had never heard of a Tipsy Fudge Cake before and a quick Google listed a recipe that I must admit sounds pretty good and is made up of ingredients similar to caffenol!

Well, it has instant coffee in it...that's honestly where the similarites begin and end...but it did make me smile when I read the recipe.

One of the recipes I found is here: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipes/detail/jack-daniels-tipsy-fudge-cake

As you can see it's got all the major food groups covered.
Sugar, Jack Daniels, Coffee and Chocolate!

Enough so that I'm thinking it would give you a pretty good buzz if you ate it warm with some vanilla ice cream.

Dessert and Happy Hour go together right?

Anyway, I drilled a pinhole in the tin and loaded it with paper and tested it today on my favorite tree model up the road.

This was a 60 second exposure on Ilford IV RC multigrade paper.

I quickly mixed up some caffenol and then "sloshed" it around for about 7 minutes.

It's not perfect, but perfection is not what pinhole, and finding random tin cans in thrift stores to make a camera is all about.  It's about getting back to basics and having fun!

"Burning Atlantis"

Another photo from my Worldwide Pinhole Photo Day walkabout at the Rio Grande Zoo.

This one was made with a little matchbox camera and some expired 35mm film.

.

The (Windy) Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

Yes indeed!
Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day was a breezy one.
But not too breezy!!!

The day turned out great and as planned we went to the Rio Grande Zoo and made an afternoon of it!

We met Joe at the front gate and then spent the next couple of hours moseying along making pinhole photos of the flora and fauna.  A few of the animals were on leave for the winter and were nowhere to be seen.

I was hoping for some pinhole photos of the tortoises, (slow moving and perfect pinhole subjects) but they were on vacation...perhaps Cancun?  the sign didn't say.

Most animals move a round a lot or just aren't that interested in posing for minutes at a time so I only came away with one exposed sheet of 4 x 5, 1 roll of 35mm in a matchbox pinhole camera and 1 roll of 120 shot in a 3D printed pinhole camera.  I made 7 shots with my pinhole Holga, so that's not a whole lot of film...

The photo below was made with an Illy coffee tin and a sheet of 4x5 black and white film.

It's the only one I've developed so far so keep checking back during the week and I'll get some more posted as they are developed.

This nice Zebra obliged my lengthy pinhole exposure and remained still for about 10 seconds.
I say "about" since I don't meter and I don't count seconds.

I just pretend to be the emulsion and when I think enough photons have excited the emulsion and will leave an image, I stop the exposure.  The light was come and go, and the Sun was hit or miss, but it made the day more interesting and I like interesting!

The Zebra just stood against the light breeze and mostly ignored us.

I hope everyone enjoyed their pinhole day and I'm looking forward to your photos!!

Happy Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

Hope it's great wherever you are!

I'm still going to the Rio Grande Zoo at 1 p.m. today!
With the brisk weather, the animals are likely to be frisky!
Hope to see you ...
Becky

This is "sew" cool!

Today at lunchtime I went into a thrift store and lo and behold...there was a pinhole camera stting on the shelf!

I mean, seriously...just look at it! 

How could I possibly resist?

To make things even better, tucked inside was a tiny set of pinhole "drills".  It seems this can wants to be a pinhole camera!  And all for 2 dollars!!!

Today was my lucky day!

Thanks!

Thank you all for your visits and comments.  They mean a lot to  me and help me keep the spark going and the fire burning in creativity.

I am not sure why I can't comment back, so I'm checking my settings to see what's going on.

But please know I do read your comments and truly appreciate the time you take to  make them!

Thanks again!
Have a great pinhole day on Sunday!

Origami Photo Paper Pinhole Camera

That's a mouthful!
Origami Photo Paper Pinhole Camera!

But thanks to the wonderful wild world of the internet and online videos, I folded a pinhole camera out of photo paper.

If you are familiar with the age old art of Origami, then the rest is easy....and it really is.

I've probably folded a couple hundred cranes in my lifetime, so folding a little box using photo paper was a snap.  The hardest part was developing a wrinkly piece of photo paper in a tray.

But anyway, the video is here if you want to try it yourself.

Click here for the jump!

Here's my first test shot of some trees in my backyard.

Don't forget World Pinhole Photography Day is this Sunday, April 27th.

I'll be hanging out with some friends at the Rio Grande Zoo beginning at 1 p.m. if you want to come join us!

Matchbox with some color!

Hallway of Trees

I recently acquired one of those can openers that cuts the lid off on the side edge so there's no jagged lid to cut yourself with. 

The bonus is that the lids have a nice little recessed lip on them and are so clean cut and smooth that the cans make great pinhole cameras!  This can just so happened to be seamless so it turned out extra smooth.

This pinhole shot was made with a tomato can whose contents eventually became homemade salsa!

Win, win, win!

Expired photo paper negative sloshed in home brew caffenol.

I kinda like that it looks like an old photo.

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget I'll be at the Rio Grande Zoo for pinhole day...just meet me at the front entrance around 1 p.m. if you want to join me.

Going to London!

My pinhole print, "Brakeman, Durango-Silverton" will be showing at the London Pinhole Festival April 25-27th.

I'm chuffed!

Today I'm hyped!

Honored to be featured in the new e-magazine Hype!

Bending Light!

There's a total lunar eclipse tonight and preparing for it has been taking up a LOT of my time lately...but I have a few moments now to catch my breath and share a pinhole photo with you.

I have a pinhole camera that really bends light well.  It's going to be my prime camera for World Pinhole Day on April 27th.

I'm planning on going to the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, so if you want to meet up, just meet me in front of the zoo around 1 p.m. and we can make an afternoon of it!  I'm really excited!

Hopefully this crazy weather we have been having ( I woke up to an inch of snow in my yard this morning) will have settled down a bit and we will have an exceptional day of sunshine and warm temps.

Hope to see you soon and thanks for dropping by!

I'm putting posters up around town to spread the word about World Pinhole Day!

Coronal Mass Ejections

If you know how the Sun works, then this will look familiar to you in a strange offset kind of way.

Homemade matchbox pinhole with expired B&W film dunked in caffenol.

Thanks for stopping by!