Friday, February 28, 2014

Evidence

Ah! It's Friday!
It's also the last day of February and I've been meaning to post this pinhole image since New Year's Day and just don't know where the time went!
Sheesh!
Anyway, today's offering is a "selfie" of sorts of my hike up to Delicate Arch on New Year's Day.

These are my boots and I'm balancing a model 2000 Zero Image pinhole camera on my knees.
Not easy, especially when tourists are walking past and asking "What is that?"

Kodak Ektar 100 film


Have a fabulous Friday and enjoy your weekend!  I'll see ya'll on Monday!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Remembering the old days

I love old cars!
When I was a kid we had an old Chevy Station wagon that kind of looked like a "woodie" except it was all metal.  It had a hole in the muffler at one time, so it sounded like a Hot rod when Dad would drive and rev the engine.  I loved that car!

In honor of the "woodies" of times past, I decided to make a pinhole "woodie" of sorts when a friend requested I make a pinhole camera for him.  He gave me free reign of design, so this is what I came up with.

A Holga converted to a "woodie".  Well sort of...but I think it's kind of cool and the photos out of it are pretty neat too!

Here's the camera:

I took off the lens housing and widened the lens opening with a Dremel tool.  Then I hand cut a small piece of plywood with a Japanese saw for the pinhole board.  I had to sand and custom fit it on the camera.

Next I made a shutter with a magnetic closure.  The magnets are hidden and when the shutter is closed, it's nice and snug so no light will leak in.
All of the wooden pieces were hand stained and buffed with a soft cloth.
Next I cut some side panels for the front to finish the look!  Viola!

Here's a test shot out of it.  It's a 3 second exposure on Arista 100 speed 120 film.  Not too shabby!


I may have to build one for myself now....:-)
Have an amazing day and thanks for stopping by!




Thursday, February 20, 2014

the Sun slowly sets in the west


 This little park is near the ferry landing in Port Aransas, Texas.  There is a marina and a nice pier for fishing nearby.  It's the perfect place for a lazy afternoon of dolphin watching and enjoying the warm breeze of the Gulf.

Holga Wide Pinhole with Fuji Acros 100

marinated in caffenol made with water from the Gulf of Mexico

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

there and back again....

I went to Texas for a week and shot so much pinhole it'd make your ass hurt.

Seriously, I shot a lot and had a blast on the beach hanging out with some new friends during the inaugural shootapalooza.  I'll talk more about it in the coming days, but shootapalooza was a week long photo adventure held in Port Aransas, Texas.

I've been going to Port A. since I was a kid camping with my parents, so when Judy Sherrod ( the force behind shootapalooza) mentioned it to me several months ago, I said count me in!!!!  I adore Port A.  It's a hot spot for fishing, relaxing and eating fresh caught shrimp and fish! Yum!

My first offering is a photo made with a Holga Wide Pinhole camera.


This was shot on Fuji Acros 100 and then marinated in caffenol for about 8 minutes.

Oh, while I was at shootapalooza, I did a caffenol workshop and brewed some up with water from the Gulf of Mexico!  This shot was brewed with some Gulf water that I brought home!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Wings

We made a bird refuge in the yard. 
A few feeders, some water dishes and a place to bathe and take shelter make the birds happy.

Especially in winter when water is scarce and shelter is important.




Holga Wide pinhole camera loaded with Harman Direct positive paper sloshed in caffenol for a few minutes.



Friday, February 7, 2014

a seahorse for the year of the horse...does that count?

This afternoon, I finally painted the 4 x 5 pinhole box that I built a few weeks ago.

In keeping with most of my boxes having horse names...this one has a horse on it...well a seahorse.


I hand cut a stencil for the seahorse body and then free-handed the rest..

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A Coffee With....Me!

Hey everyone!
I'm thrilled to be on "A Coffee With" at caffenol .org.
The interview was fun and you can see some of my cameras and a few of my pinhole photos developed in caffenol!
Check it out!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Random Crap.....

Well, I had to! I normally find tins in thrift stores or at the dump to make pinhole cameras out of, but this one caught my eye when I was at the Chinese New Year Celebration this morning and I HAD to have it. 
It's about the size of a deck of cards. It's going to be fast and wild! And...serendipitously, see that fish on the front? My very first toy was a rubber fish that looks just like that! Talk about Karma! 

I still have the rubber fish, maybe I'll post a picture of it later, or maybe not... anyway, here's to happy new year pin-holing!  Someone suggested that I make a pinhole photo of my rubber fish toy with the pinhole camera and I think that's a great idea!  Stay tuned for that!





The back of the tin is as good as the front.  This is the side I'm going to drill the pinhole in.  It's going to wind up being about F/53!  That is fast!
I love this! Look at those giant geese.  They'll surely get your attention while driving down the road less traveled.
They're big enough to eat the people driving or at least big enough to help change a flat tire if needed!

And look, there's a ukulele just waiting alongside the road to pick up and play!  I like this place!
 The camera has been painted black inside, the hole is drilled and it is loaded up with some Harman Direct Positive Paper for some tests tomorrow morning!

P.S.  After a few tests shots that didn't work out so well, I've reserved this camera for solargraphs.  The image circle is rather small, so it will be much better for solar work.