ku # 1365 / pinhole #9 (A) ~ the final stretch

red berries ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
red berries - reworked ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

As I move into the home stretch - the deadline for submissions is this coming Monday - of my pinhole picture making activities (for exhibition submission purposes), I am left wondering whether or not I will continue making pinhole pictures on a regular basis.

On the one hand, it's a somewhat enjoyable process and I like the visual results. On the other hand, it flies in the face of my preferred picture making M.O. of straight photography - it's straight but with a twist. And, I can help wondering if would be a distraction from my regular picture making activities.

So, who knows. The only thing I know is that, in the immediate future, I will continue making pinhole pictures until I have enough good pictures to make a 20 pinhole picture POD book. Maybe that activity will get it out of my system, picture making wise. Or not.

Update on Friday, November 6, 2015 at 03:03PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: John Linn wrote (in part): "... And although technically speaking the pictures are "straight but with a twist" it raises the question, when does "straight" become "manipulated"? Does "manipulated" only happen in the computer or post processing?

my response: iMo, and for my straight picture making dictum, manipulation can happen at any point in the picture making process, as the picture is being made or as the resultant image is processed (or both). However, what I mean by "manipulation" is any activity performed during any part of the picture making process which is for the purpose of manipulating the reality / realness of what was in front of the lens (or in this case, the hole).

In the case of "straight" pinhole picture making, the manipulation happens as a native component of the process itself. That written, pinhole photography is by nature of its visual characteristics, a "manipulative" genre and aesthetic and therefore outside of the realm of straight photography albeit in its own version of "straight".

Re: the juried exhibit to which I am submitting pinhole images for consideration, even though it would be simple enough with the use of a host of filters / apps to attain the look of a pinhole picture, one made with a plastic lens / lens baby, et al in post picture making processing, the exhibit gallery director is interested in only the look of results attained by "straight" manipulative-process cameras, lens, etc.

pinhole # 14-15 / diptych # 178 (with pinhole # 16) ~ moving right along

kitchen light on chair w cat ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
straight v pinhole ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
decaying GMC hulk ~near Keeseville, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

OK, first things first - in my first recent pinhole entry I mis-wrote regarding the name of the juried exhibit to which I am submitting pinhole pictures for consideration. I called it a pinhole exhibit when, in fact, it is .... Alternative Cameras: Pinholes to Plastic with submission criteria as images made with any plastic, toy, pinhole or homemade camera, plastic lens on a traditional modern camera, Lensbaby, camera obscura - just about any non-traditional camera or lens, film or digital.

On a side note, I also referred to the endeavor as a "competition" whereas it is really a selection process to identify and exhibit pictures which best realize the stated criteria. I mention that because I would never submit a photo to a "competition" inasmuch as making pictures is not a competitive undertaking. I have always felt that, if I wanted to enter into a competition, I would consider taking up ballroom dancing or maybe even curling.

With all of that cleared up, I am starting to get into the pinhole picturing making frame of mind. That is to write that I am starting to "feel it". Not sure what exactly that feeling is, but it's there. So. I'm just going with that flow and looking at the results.

In noodling around on the interweb, finding and looking at pinhole pictures, one clear characteristic of the pinhole genre (which I am defying) is that an overwhelming number (the absolute majority) of pinhole picture are monochromatic - BW or some tinted version thereof. Don't know why that is, it just is. Color pinhole pictures, while not scarce, are distinctly in the minority., Consequently, I have been experimenting with the making of monochromatic pinhole pictures with the idea that I will submit some tinted monochrome and some color pictures just to cover the bases.

The other thing I am working on is to perhaps make a few pictures which are even more ethereal or "conceptual" than those which result from just the use of a pinhole "lens". The reason for this possible pursuit is to make pictures which more closely resemble those of the juror, Susan Burnstine. An act which some might consider to be outright pandering, if you will.

However, the fact is that, when I decided to pursue the making of pinhole pictures specifically for submission to this exhibit, I actually had a conceptual notion in mind. But I wanted to get my head into the pinhole picture making mechanics and conventions before pursuing that specific conceptual idea.

Therefore, I don't think that pursuing a "conceptual" idea is actually pandering since I had the thought well before I knew what the judge's pinhole proclivities are ... something which I "discovered" just this AM.

diptych # 178 / pinhole # 13 ~ 3 pictures a few feet apart

looking at Vermont ~ Lake Champlain / Peru, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
driftwood ~ Lake Champlain / Peru, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

triptych #26 (pinhole) / pinhole # 11-12 ~ more tiny little hole pictures

rusting hulk ~ near Keeseville, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
yellow leaves ~ former AFB / Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Pride of the Adirondacks ~ former AFB / Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I have been making some pictures with what amounts to a pinhole lens cap mounted on a µ4/3 camera. The intended use is for submission to a juried pinhole exhibit "competition".

While I have dabbled from time to time with making pinhole pictures - usually with a 4×5 view camera and polaroid film - I have never really become fully involved with the genre. Over the years I have come across bodies of pinhole work and individual pictures which have captured my favorable attention. But, to be honest, I can't really articulate why those pictures appealed to me (or any pinhole pictures) other than to write that I like the way they look.

There is not much writing on pinhole picture making other a plethora of how-to-make a pinhole camera articles. It would seem that there aren't any photo critics who have taken up the subject in order to help define the aesthetics/ vernacular of the genre. In my search for such writing I did find this from pinhole picture maker Dave Clarridge:

What I love about pinhole photography is that it is MAGICAL. Without all the expensive gadgetry I am able to capture what I feel, more than what I see. One never knows exactly what you’re going to get with a pinhole camera until the film is developed. And what appears is something only a pinhole camera can see. It’s as though a parallel universe is opened up to us.

All of that written, what I am pursuing with my pinhole picture making, at least at this stage of involvement, is to make picture which, if nothing else, I find to be visually pleasing. Without a doubt, a primary element of "visually pleasing" in pinhole pictures is the ethereal / insubstantial nature of the pictures. A characteristic which might be likened to the appearance of a ghost or a dream.

That visual characteristic is the result of making an impression of the real as opposed to a true and accurate representation of the real. Some might label it a "poetic" impression, others might label it as simply an easy and cheap picture making effect.

In any event, at this point I am not weighing in on that subject. I'm just making pictures and seeing what happens.

Any thoughts, options or comments?

FYI, the effective aperture of my pinhole is somewhere in the neighborhood of f96-f128 which dictates an ISO of 1600 and a shutter speed of 1/2-1/4s, even in relatively bright sunlight. A tripod is nearly mandatory, although, kudos to the Oly OM-D EM-1 for its 5 axis IS which makes handholding at 1/4s a real possibility.

panoramic / diptych # 177 ~ rainbow and atmospherics

rainbow and atmospherics ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
rainbow and atmospherics #2 ~ Wilmington, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenSunday morning on The Flats in Wilmington.

pinhole # 8-10 ~ a little tiny hole

halloweened porch ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
red berries ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
sky reflection ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

I'm making some pinhole pictures for submission to a juried pinhole picture exhibit. Using a pinhole lens on my µ4/3 cameras. More on this later.

ku # 1358-64 ~ 1/5 sec • the big finish

erratic ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
small stream riffle ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #9 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #10 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
stream side scrub ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #11 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
roadside tangle #12 ~ Black Brook, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

You may have noticed that in each of 4 1/5 sec. entries the first picture was something of an outlier. That is, they are not quite in keeping the predominate referential theme of detritus / scrub / tangle.

With the exception of the 40 MPH / Curve picture in the first entry, those outliers will not be included in the final edit. The 40 MPH / Curve picture is the exception because it will be used as the cover to the 1/5 sec. POD book in as much as that picture establishes the roadside aspect of the body of work.

In any event, I am diligently editing all of the 1/5 sec. down to a 20 picture body of work. I'll be posting the final edit next Monday.

FYI, I am somewhat intrigued with the concept of making more fraction-of-a-second bodies of work. Enough so that I will be deciding on another referent theme which I will pursue in a single picture making outing.

ku # 1357 (with a bit of civilized ku) ~ dancing (with my cameras) in the rain

stable, mountains / rain ~ near Clintonville, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Just a quick morning picture treat before the last installment of 1/5 sec. in my life memorialized (later this AM).