Camera Obscura

Since Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is coming up, I wanted to share a project I did with my photography class recently.  We built a camera obscura inspired by Abelardo Morell.

To set this up, we blocked all the windows in a room at the school, then positioned “pinholes” in a portion of the window.  These pinholes ranged from 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter and turned the entire room into a pinhole camera projection of what was outside.  Everything was backwards and upside down.  The students (and staff, parents and myself) had a blast standing in the room and watching cars, kids and everything else go by our little school.

Above is a long exposure photo of the back wall that shows what we were watching in the room.
Tips:
-The room doesn’t need to be 100% light tight.  Cover the windows most of the way, although the darker the better.
-Smaller pinholes create sharper projections, but are harder to see with the naked eye.  Larger pinholes create brighter projections, but are a little fuzzy.
-To take a picture of the inside of your camera obscura, point the camera at the wall opposite the window and use a longer exposure on a tripod.

Good luck with your life size pinhole projects!
-Kelly

100th Blog Post!

I’ve been doing this for a few years – writing the bulk of my posts between January and May when I once again have the opportunity to take Intermediate Photography at College of the Siskiyous in Weed, CA.
I currently find myself with a backlog of tips, tutorials and random thoughts I want to share about photography (especially film photography!).  I’m making a goal to update my blog EVERY THURSDAY from now on!  So, be sure to check back each week and see if I meet my goal.
To celebrate all that time logged at a computer, cuddled up with an Epson flatbed/film scanner… I’m giving away a mounted 8x10 color print (hand printed c-41 print made using hand developed negative film – this will be a monochrome tinted photo, as seen in this post).  The print will be one of the photos featured at Visual Alternatives: Work by COS Advanced Photography Students, 2012.  The show opens May 2nd, with a reception between 4pm and 6pm at the Art Gallery inside the College of the Siskiyous Learning Resources Center.
To get a preview of which prints will be up for grabs, visit the show which runs May 2nd to May 18th.  I will upload photos and kick off the contest at the end of May, so check back for more details!

World Pinhole Photography Day!

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is coming!  This worldwide event is held on the last Sunday in April each year.  This year’s WPPD is only 2 weeks away, on April 29th.  For the event, all you have to do is take a pinhole photo on April 29th and upload it to their website, http://www.pinholeday.org/.

For more info on the event and to see events you can attend, visit their website.
To learn how to make (or use) your own pinhole camera, read the Pinhole section of this blog.
Finally, I’m thinking about organizing a Pinhole event in Siskiyou County.  If you would be interested, please email me at klsphotosiskiyou@gmail.com for more information!
Happy Shooting!
-Kelly

“Toned” Black and White Prints on RA-4 Paper

Traditionally, if you wanted a toned print from a black and white negative, you would use warmtone paper or use a toning bath, such as sepia.  However, if you happen to have access to color photo paper and a color darkroom, you can change the settings on your enlarger color packs to get tinted monotone photos.  These are the settings I used for each toned print with a CMY enlarger, use them as a starting guide since they will vary based on your negative and the type of photo paper you are using.

Green – Magenta: 115, Yellow: 105, Cyan: 0

Blue – Magenta: 100, Yellow: 150, Cyan: 0

Sepia – Magenta: 60, Yellow: 50, Cyan: 0

Pink – Magenta: 20, Yellow: 50, Cyan: 0
Good luck with your toned prints!
Kelly

The Teacher–A Diana Mini Portrait

This is my photography teacher, James Gilmore.  I still take his class every spring 6 years later.  I still learn things, find inspiration, improve my darkroom skills and find new weird things to do and write about on this blog.
I snapped this with my Diana Mini – a possible toy camera portrait series in the making? – last spring during a field trip.  This is Gilmore’s “mean face”.  In reality, he’s an incredible person and mentor who isn’t the slightest bit mean.

This is the scanned negative, can’t wait to print it.
-Kelly

Reticulation - my article on Lomography.com

I've been writing articles lately for submission to Lomography.com. So far they have published 4, some of which are based on posts from this blog.  Check out this article I wrote about how to reticulate black and white film, which makes the silver in film bunch up for unique grain patterns.
Experiments with Film: Reticulation - Lomography
-Kelly

Analogue Inventory

In addition to being a functional art display, the wall in my bedroom helps me track how many silly toy cameras my collection has grown to.
I have also managed to amass more than 10 rolls of film. I once again have access to the COS darkroom for spring, so expect updates soon.
Excuse me while I check my ebay watch list and try to take apart a thrift store find...
Updates abound soon
Kelly