Friday, March 23, 2012

Obscur(a) Photography, part 3: extraordinary cameras



Here is a continuation from part 2 of my pinhole camera series. Welcome to part 3- some pinhole camera examples!

You can make pinhole cameras out of any "box" that can be sealed to be made dark inside, with as few "light leaks' as possible.

I have made pinhole cameras out of many different "dark boxes", such as...

paint cans (my favorite), Pringles chip cans, oatmeal boxes, tea tins, and vegetable cans.....


also fruit, like pumpkins,


and coconuts, and most recently, an acorn squash.

Here are some other examples of extraordinary homemade pinhole cameras :





My Flickr photo buddy, art y fotos, makes beautiful pinhole cameras from bamboo cases.  Here is one of his videos, demonstrating the use of the camera with instant film.



Here is a video I made, as a DIY tutorial of making a pumpkin pinhole camera.  It includes the camera construction, picture-taking, darkroom developing, and results.  It's a bit detailed, but an entertaining video:





Here is an amazing pinhole project: the world's largest pinhole camera and picture were made in 2006, using an airplane hangar as the pinhole camera! It was originally called The Great Picture project. Here is a news video highlighting it's gallery showing:




Here is another amazing large scale camera obscura- Abelardo Morell makes pinhole cameras out of darkened rooms, by covering up the windows, except for a circle of light for the pinhole.  While inside the room, you see a magical view of the world outside, backwards and upside down!




And, venturing into the highly unusual, you can view Justin Quinnell's mouth pinhole camera here.



You can also make a pinhole camera from a film or digital camera, as long as you can remove the lens:


Here is my digital SLR, with a pinhole plate taped to the from of the camera body, replacing a lens.   It's a great way to see instant results, and play with, and learn about,  exposure settings to get an image.  There are manufactured pinhole plates you can buy from custom photography shops or online, or you can make one yourself.

Pinhole video?  Yes, you can!!!  Here is a video I made with my SLR camera, with the pinhole plate.  It gives the world a surreal, starburst and soft focus look:





Next time: extreme time-lapse pinhole photography, documenting the sun trails across the sky for months or years: solargraphy!

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