|
Feeling
the need to go back to basics, Steve Gosling has put his usual film
and digital cameras aside to shoot the Yorkshire landscape with a pinhole
camera
WE
live in a photographic world of increasing certainty, with digital cameras
helping us check our composition and exposure before we leave the scene.
Anxious moments waiting for the film to return from the processors are
a thing of the past for digital enthusiasts. I’m no more neurotic
than most photographers, but in spite of years of experience I have
a list of doubts that keep me awake at night after an important session
using film. Did I take the spot reading from an accurate midtone? Did
I overdo the ND grad filter? Was my assessment of depth of field accurate?
On a commercial job it’s reassuring to have the immediate feedback
that current technology offers. However, I must admit that I miss the
adrenaline rush the uncertainty brings – the excitement of receiving
my films back from the processors. Sometimes the predictability of digital
photography feels a little too safe for my liking. To pander to this
strong masochistic streak in my personality, I’ve turned to a
form of image capture that offers a contrast to my digital work and
returns me to the origins of photography – a pinhole camera. With
not an LCD or exposure mode in sight, it’s back to basics with
a vengeance. Although you can make your own pinhole camera from tin
cans and cardboard boxes, I’ve never been one for the ‘Blue
Peter’ approach. I just wanted to get on and take pictures, so
I bought a handmade wooden and brass Zero 2000 camera for £115
from a manufacturer in Hong Kong. As a newcomer to pinhole photography,
I was attracted
by a camera that made the picture-taking process as simple as possible.
For example, homemade pinhole cameras often require the film or other
light-sensitive material to be loaded and unloaded in darkness. This
might be OK in the studio, but it’s not ideal when working out
in
the landscape. So the camera I chose uses 120 rollfilm that can be loaded
in daylight. The Zero 2000 also has a device to enable a standard cable
release to be fitted, a tripod-mounting thread, built-in spirit level
and an exposure calculator. All these help me concentrate on the image,
not the mechanics of taking it. However, even a purpose-made pinhole
camera is a
marked contrast to the auto-everything machines that are now commonplace.
Yet it was this simplicity of approach and working with the difficulties
it presented that appealed to me.
I thought it might be the photographic equivalent of wearing a hair
shirt – uncomfortable, but good for me in the long run. For someone
who usually works with cameras that have 100% viewfinders, I initially
found it frustrating just pointing the camera and shooting in hope.
Having only a vague idea of what would appear in the frame (I knew little
more than which direction the camera was facing) meant that composition
was a very hit-or-miss affair. However, it didn’t take me long
to work out that an empty 6x6cm slide mount held on the top of the camera
made a good alternative viewfinder. Estimating the angle of view was
another matter. I soon discovered that the pinhole provides an extremely
wideangle perspective on the world. By pushing my eye up close to my
‘viewfinder’, I could run my eye around the edges of the
frame and get a reasonable approximation of the scene encompassed by
the pinhole. Additionally, using 120 rollfilm increased my ability to
crop the frame at the printing stage. With experience, the amount of
cropping I’ve had to do has decreased significantly. Another essential
viewing aid for landscape photography is a spirit level to ensure that
horizons are straight. The builtin level in the Zero 2000 has been a
real boon in this respect. Calculating exposure was my next problem.
This was less of an issue for me as I regularly use a handheld meter
for my photography, but what’s the aperture of a pinhole?
With
a homemade camera some experimentation is required to establish this.
Fortunately, the manufacturer of my camera provides this information
(for my version it’s f/138), but as my handheld meter only gives
readings up to f/64 I was faced with a mathematical calculation for
every exposure. Conveniently, the rotating scale of the Zero 2000 makes
this easy, even for someone numerically challenged like me. Take a reading
at f/16, note the ‘shutter speed’ indicated on the meter,
line these figures up on the scale and note the corresponding time value
for f/138 – it’s that simple. One of the benefits of a wideangle
view coupled with an aperture of f/138 is tremendous depth of field.
Not only do foreground objects loom large while distant elements appear
significantly diminished in size, but also objects a few inches
from the camera all the way to infinity are held in focus. A consequence
of the small fixed aperture is slow ‘shutter’ speeds. When
I first used my pinhole camera I made the
mistake of loading ISO 400 film, but have you ever tried to guess fractions
of a second? I now use slow film (Ilford Pan F rated at ISO 50) and
am frequently working at shutter speeds of 4secs and upwards (the longest
so far has been 16 minutes). At least these are easy to time using a
standard watch. Unless very blurred images are the intent, then a tripod
is a must. The Zero 2000’s standard tripod bush and device for
attaching a cable release with a locking mechanism does make the task
of keeping the pinhole open for long exposures a doddle. Importantly,
in cold weather it also allows me to pour a coffee while the exposure
is being made – and even drink it for the longer exposures. Long
shutter speeds can introduce reciprocity failure, resulting in a change
in the actual ISO rating of a film and, with colour film an unwanted
colour cast. As I primarily use black & white film, the latter is
less of a problem. I’ve found that, when using Pan F, I can double
the indicated exposure, bracket one stop either side of this and end
up with an acceptable result. Less easy to control is subject blur while
the exposure is being made, but I’ve given up worrying about it
and instead take great pleasure in the unplanned effects that sometimes
result. People become ghost-like objects and clouds transformvinto weird
shapes unseen by the eye at the time of taking the shot. It all adds
to the surreal experience. You’ll have concluded by now that a
pinhole camera is not suitable for all subjects – recording high-speed
action sports would certainly prove tricky. The slightly soft rendition
of objects close to the camera wouldn’t work for those interested
in macro details, either. So careful choice of subject matter is important
and I’m still learning what works through trial and error. For
me, simple images consisting of strong, graphic shapes seem to be best.
So far, I’ve found that using my pinhole camera has been a liberating
and relaxing process where I can adopt the philosophy of ‘what
will be, will be’. Accepting that I have limited control has been
one of the hardest, but also most rewarding aspects for me. The end
result is not totally predictable and that adds to its attraction. Not
least, it’s brought back some of the excitement and fun into my
photography – I feel like a seven-year-old with my Kodak Brownie
127 again. AP ? To see more of Steve’s images and details about
his workshops, visit www.stevegoslingphotography.co.uk.
|
