Well, 2019 is drawing to a close. For me 2019 has been mostly a year of reflection. Some steps forward for me in terms of career and personal growth, but for the most part I found myself just observing life a little bit, making images when I could, and sticking to some tried and true processes that have always worked for me. In the coming year I’m hoping to get back to a little more creative experimenting and pushing myself to take some more creative chances. I think that is a pretty good goal for 2020.
It’s fitting that one of my last rolls of film for 2019 was in a graveyard called Lone Fir Cemetery with my Zero Image 6x6 pinhole camera. I was really determined to get outside the week before Christmas and make some photographs but it was also pouring down rain really hard and I didn’t really feel safe taking out my Hasselblad or any other camera that is going to get damaged after getting really wet. So the simple wooden pinhole became the tool of the day. It’s easy to hold an umbrella over a pinhole camera and it’s not like there is a glass lens on it that can get moldy or ruined from moisture.
Zero Image 6x6 Pinhole camera with Ilford HP5 film.
My exposure times were roughly eight minutes a-piece. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon the gray skies and large overhanging trees made the scenes incredibly dark. I find Ilford HP5 to be a really good film for long pinhole exposures because the reciprocity failure stays consistent and predictable.
Even when I’m doing long pinhole exposures I tend to just count out the exposure time to myself. There were a couple of people strolling through the cemetery and I kept getting sideways glances, no doubt because they could hear me counting out loud to myself. Even when I’m working by myself I tend to draw attention. Go figure.