Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Pinhole

Nikon D7000, Lensbaby Scout with pinhole optic, 6 sec., ISO 100, retouched

Inspired by an exhibit of Ruth Thorne-Thomsen’s photography at the Nelson, I decided to drag out the pinhole optic for my Lensbaby Scout and experiment with it.

When I first got the optic, I found myself frustrated with the lack of control it entailed. It’s difficult if not impossible to precisely aim a pinhole, so that wasn’t what I was used to at all. I also found the images fuzzy. Uniformly fuzzy, an aperture that small eliminating depth of field pretty much entirely, but fuzzy nonetheless.

After looking at the photos in the exhibit, I was comforted to learn that the fuzziness wasn’t something I was doing wrong. And the aiming issue was nowhere near as big a trick for me and my digital camera (where I could instantly check the results) as it would be for a film photographer or even an artist using light-sensitive paper (as Thorne-Thomsen did).

However, when I opened an experimental shot in Photoshop to adjust the light levels a bit, I noticed something interesting. The picture was speckled with dozens of tiny ghost images of the pinhole. I’d never encountered this before, but I’m assuming the effect is similar to what you’d get with a creative aperture. Click on the image to blow it up for a better look.

Nikon D7000, Lensbaby Scout with pinhole optic, 6 sec., ISO 100, retouched, enlarged

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