[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Pinhole Photography

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Pinhole Photography
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1238217578.shtml


   Sometimes I wonder if my fascination with Old Time Radio either dates
   me or makes me appear to be some sort of a Luddite. But then, people
   still like to ride horses, right? I found another such world Thursday
   evening at the Edina Art Center, where a number of "pinhole"
   photographers were showing their work, one of them a cousin.
   Photography has seen a similar evolution in technology, the last step
   to digital practically a revolution. Pinhole photography is in no
   hurry, however. It's content with film. It's the lenses it can and
   does without.
   A pinhole is a natural lens, the light from any one "pixel" of the
   subject having only path through the hole to the awaiting film. The
   major drawback of course is that a pinhole doesn't let much light
   through, so full exposure requires anywhere from several seconds to
   several minutes, maybe even hours for a night shot. Tripods are an
   obvious necessity. As such, it's not suitable for capturing live
   action shots like a batter's swing or the photo finish of a race.
   It's also not exactly High Definition. As small as the pinholes are,
   they are not infinitely small as the physics would require for a
   theoretically exact image. The images have to be a little bit soft.
   But that said, the quality of the displayed work is remarkable. If I
   may conjecture, the simplicity of it all allows its enthusiasts to,
   er, focus more on the subject matter.
   More information is just a Google away. It's comforting to find others
   who enjoy the artistry of old in a modern age.