a new fascination

(originally posted on my blog at the original groupee.com social networking site.)

i've discovered a new fascination: pinhole photography.

possibly the least complicated form of photography there is: a simple "camera" - usually a homemade box - with no lens and only a tiny hole in the front (hence the name) exposes one frame of film for several seconds, resulting in a dreamily soft image.

i always liked the look, but it's hard to find a lab that will process single frames of film, so i've never tried it. recently, i heard of a method for the dslr: drill a hole in the body cap, put the cap on the camera (no lens, of course), do some math to figure out the exposure time (or skip the math and just mess with the shutter speed until you like it, like i did), and shoot!

here are my two favorite takes from last night's experiment - can't decide which i like best. darned cat kept moving in the middle of each 30 second exposure... both have been minimally processed - noise filter to smooth some excessive noise, and a vignetting to add to that old-timey look. next, i'm venturing outside to try it in better light. Smiler