Sunday 26 December 2010

INTRODUCING: BRUNO CIECHORSKI

PHOTO: B CIECHORSKI

Here's my favourite piece from the haunting Rio Mare series by Bruno Ciechorski. Over to Bruno...

The camera was a birthday gift from my friend - Martin. He knew that I'm inflicted by pinhole so he decided to end my misery by building a perfect camera. It's a "Vermeer" with my name engraved at the back. Of course I use it with "my way". I put inside 35mm film instead of 120 roll. The reason was quite simple - it had to be panoramic.

I usually use cheap negative films for pinhole. Fomapans, or colour - Kodak plus, Fuji superia. Why? Cheap negatives are more tolerant for over exposure, that's the main reason. Things like grain or "lack of sharpness" just don't matter in this case.

Of course the Vermeer isn't even close to perfect camera... so my misery continues...

About these photographs? Rio Mare is a compromise translation. The Polish name of the set Was "Morze stoi otworkiem" - it is the Polish idiom/saying. A literal transposition would be, "the sea stands pinhole". It's some kind of word game.

Inspirations? Literature. In this case it Was S.Lem's Solaris, and the paintings and sketches of Z. Beksinski.

Friday 24 December 2010

INTRODUCING: CHRIS METTRAUX

PHOTO: C METTRAUX

Chris Mettraux is a photographer whose feel for perspective is clear to see in this panorama, "Lac", and in much of his work.

It's not easy to capture the desired composition when working with pinhole cameras. Whether you're using a rudimentary viewfinder or relying on eyesight alone, achieving the optimum framing, depth and dynamics demands patience and experience. It's hard not to feel disappointed when a photo for which you had such high hopes is invaded by an object you were sure was well outside the FOV, or ruined by an error of judgement positioning the tripod.

Chris Mettraux defeats these challenges spectacularly. Thank you, Chris, for getting involved.

"Lac" was taken with a Holga WPC camera on Shanghai GP3 100 ISO film.

Monday 20 December 2010

INTRODUCING: DELIOTO

PHOTO: DELIOTO

Here's "The Anamorphic Library", a debut contribution from pinhole extraordinaire DelioTO.

We'll be seeing much more of Delio's work on pin.pan next year.

The computers room at the local library.

6x17 Anamorphic Panoramic for 120 negative film, Acros 100, 16min.

If you want to see the camera, click.

Monday 13 December 2010

INTRODUCING: JOHN KITTELSRUD

PHOTO: J KITTELSRUD

John Kittelsrud has produced some stunning pinhole panoramas and this is just one of them.

Watch this space for more of John's work, coming soon!

This was shot in San Francisco in the summer of 2010 and was down by the docks at Crissy Field. There was a couple that was getting their wedding photos done and I decided to help myself to a few photos. I was using some out of date Ektachrome 100 that day and if I remember right the exposure was 1/2 of a second. It was sheer luck that I was able to catch the flash going off.

I used my first pin-o-ramic camera to make this image. It has a curved film plane (seen here) to eliminate fall off and reduce distortion and produces an image on 35mm film that is about 28mm x 75mm. The angle of view is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 degrees. the f stop is apx 170. I have a few 3D images that I took while building it here.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

INTRODUCING: JEABZZ

PHOTO: JEABZZ

This is probably as near as a photo gets to a tequila sunrise.

It's a sultry scene shot by our latest featured photographer, the Paris-based and lomo-loving jeabzz.

It was taken in Sicily during summer 2010 with a Sharan wide pinhole cam and Lomography redscale 100 ISO film.

The sun was shining and the cam was on a little tripod. The exposure time is short, less than 1 second.

Sunday 5 December 2010

INTRODUCING: KRISTOPHER COOKE

PHOTO: K COOKE

Never has a barbed wire fence looked so good! Kristopher Cooke shot this unusual landscape by the Hana Highway on the island of Maui, Hawaii. His weapon of choice was a Sharan Wide 35 with Kodak Ektar film.

Thanks for contributing, Kristopher. I hope we get to see some more Mauian panoramas before too long.

INTRODUCING: TOM BROGAN

PHOTO: T BROGAN

American photographer Tom Brogan makes his debut with this fantastic landscape. Thanks, Tom!

I took this image during a family trip to see a Space Shuttle launch in April of 2010. We were pleasantly surprised to find such a nice beach area to spend an afternoon during our trip. Taken at North Beach, Florida.

Camera: Holga 120WPC
Film: Kodak Ektar 100

INTRODUCING: SKEEL LEE

PHOTO: S LEE

Another photographer joins the pin.pan ranks! Skeel Lee's first contribution is this image entitled "Jello Attack". Wondrous stuff.

Skeel explains...

Attack of the jellyfishes! Multiple exposures taken along Marina Bay during the i Light Marina Bay Festival. It is an outdoor event in Singapore that showcases some sustainable light artworks, complemented by the mesmerising cityscape around that area.

To be really honest, I forgot to advance the film 3-4 times after exposing it. Each exposure took about 20-30 minutes and I thought I had wasted about 2 hours of work. Little did I realise that I would end up with a great mixture of car trails, beautiful landmarks and creative art decors, which uniquely blends together to portray the sights and scenes of Marina Bay at that point of time.

It is an accidental collage of multiple exposures, but it is this kind of effect that we are using film for, right?

Taken using a Gakken panorama pinhole camera, Fujifilm Provia 100f, cross-processed.

Friday 3 December 2010

INTRODUCING: VILSONIUS

PHOTO: VILSONIUS

This Holga capture of Portitsa Bridge in Northern Greece was taken by pin.pan's latest contributor, Vilsonius. Superb.

Holga WPC 120 6x12 panoramic camera, Ilford XP2 400 film.