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