terraPIN ACMEPinhole Camera Taking a break from the 2023 Alabama Road Trip, let's take a look at some different moody photographs. These were all taken with a 3d-printed pinhole camera at a material cost approaching zero. In fact, the single roll of Kodak T-Max 100 black and white film was more expensive than the camera.

The simplicity of the camera is underpinned by it being a pinhole camera with no lens. Instead of a lens, the camera has a tiny hole. In fact, the name pinhole exaggerates the size as the hole is so small that a pin would not fit through. To complete the simplicity, I did not fit this version of terraPIN ACME with a fancy laser drilled pinhole but instead made my own by solely mechanical means into a sheet of aluminum from a soda can.

Mysterious RocksPinhole Photography

Mysterious Rocks
Photographed with a medium format pinhole camera on Kodak T-Max 100 black and white film, developed in D-23

terraPIN AcmePinhole Camera in Action I have a few favorite approaches to photographing the Sturgeon Point beach area. While that can lead to repetitive images and a difficulty to challenge myself to find something new, nature usually helps out. It seems that on no two visits does the beach look the same. Finding different submerged rock formations is one of those things I like to do every time, and they never ever look even similar, let alone the same. It seems like the force of the water repositions the rocks. Then, water level determines how submerged they are. Wind will create different waves.

With the tiny pinholes the f-stop of my pinhole cameras is between f/100 and f/200. Combined with a medium speed film at ISO 100, this results in exposures of several seconds, automatically pushing the photographs into the long-exposure territory without the use of any special filters. As the moving water does its thing the photographs are transferred into the mysterious moody territory.

Five and a Half RocksPinhole Photography

Five and a Half Rocks
Photographed with a medium format pinhole camera on Kodak T-Max 100 black and white film, developed in D-23

The camera features a very wide angle of view. The film plane is about 25mm from the pinhole, which would be a wide angle even on a 35mm camera, let alone the 120 medium format. This makes it fun to experiment with extreme close ups. While nothing is really in a sharp focus with a lensless camera the tiny pinhole resulting in a large f-stop creates an almost unlimited depth of field. As a result, things 1cm away will be as in focus as things at infinity. Different photographers prefer different looks but one school of thought with these extreme wide angles is that "if you think you're close enough, get closer". I am not really sure where I'd place myself. I continue experimenting with close and more moderate distances and often prefer the look of stepping just a bit back letting my main subject form a center of the square image and the natural vignetting accenting it. However, here the camera was almost touching the rock's corner.

Bow Up from WaterPinhole Photography

Bow Up from Water
Photographed with a medium format pinhole camera on Kodak T-Max 100 black and white film, developed in D-23

There are quite a few of these dome-shaped rocks along the beach. Some dry far from the water's edge, some close getting splashed over, and some permanently submerged. They're like cannon balls cut in half. They seem unnatural as if from another planet. Sometimes I call them UFO rocks even though they're most certainly not flaying (any more), at least I have never witnessed that. For today's post, I went with a more boring name of a Dome Rock.

Dome RockPinhole Photography

Dome Rock
Photographed with a medium format pinhole camera on Kodak T-Max 100 black and white film, developed in D-23

May this serve as a reminder that every last Sunday of April is the annual Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. This year it falls on Sunday, April 30. I am not yet sure what camera or cameras I will bring but an idea is brewing. Maybe this terraPIN ACME and the Holga Wide Pinhole (WPC), one for black and white and one for color. Check back in May for results.

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

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