Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) 2023, Roll 1

To Paul, who introduced me to this wonderful location

terraPIN ACME Pinhole CameraWPPD2023 As the link above indicates, this is a continuation of the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2023. The same camera, the same film, and the same theme. If you did not read my intro to the day in Roll 1, I picked a theme of water for WPPD 2023. I wanted something in motion to take advantage of the long exposures one usually gets with a pinhole camera. And I have liked playing with different shutter speeds and water for a long time. It's amazing how much a photograph of water can change simply by varying the exposure time.

The one thing that I changed for Roll 2 was the location. Instead of a small creek I headed to a large lake, a Great Lake to be more specific. The shoreline of Lake Erie has a lot of private areas where a normal riffraff can't get, a few town parks limited to residents only, and a few precious public areas where it's possible to stroll along, contemplate, and even take photographs.

I like this specific location because the curve of the beach is made more interesting by the presence of some beautiful big rocks. And that is what I focused Roll 2 on - the interaction of the waves crashing against the shore and the rocks. It's amazing to photograph but it's also a lot of fun just to sit and watch. Yep, I'll trade this for a TV series any day. It seems that no two waves are the same. Different strength, different direction, and also different placement in the sequence of waves all cause the rocks to get submerged differently. And as one never really knows what each wave will bring it's only fitting to photograph it on film as one won't know what the film captured until quite a bit later. It adds to the mystery.

Submerged Rocks of Lake ErieWPPD 2023

Submerged Rocks of Lake Erie
terraPIN ACME medium format pinhole camera, Fuji Acros II black and white film, D-23 developer

I enjoy how this specific camera renders the sky too. I did not customize the camera to be able to attach a filter and all of these photos are captured without any. I suspect that a horizon placed high in the frame falls in the vignette area of the frame and thus gets darkened preventing it from blowing out. And sure, friendly weather with some clouds in the sky does not hurt either.

In and Out of WaterWPPD 2023

In and Out of Water
terraPIN ACME medium format pinhole camera, Fuji Acros II black and white film, D-23 developer

Scene selection is always fun and a challenge at the same time. In this case, I knew I wanted water and rocks. Thus the rocks had to be at the water's edge to be swallowed by the waves and promptly revealed again. They could not be too far into the lake as I was not ready to get soaked on this chilly morning. At least I was not wearing sneakers, my usual shoes for expeditions around water, but winter boots. Those gave me about 2 inches of water to work in. That's not much when the lake speaks loudly. Spoiler alert! I left with both shoes filled with water!

Big RockWPPD 2023

Big Rock
terraPIN ACME medium format pinhole camera, Fuji Acros II black and white film, D-23 developer

Sometimes, I try to find angles that will group and arrange several rocks in an interesting formation. Other times I will go for a single rock. In all cases, I try to get very close to my subjects with the very wide angle of view of the terraPIN ACME pinhole camera. However, I do leave an inch or two more space than I used to. In combination with the dark vignette I like to give my subjects a little room to breathe.

Flooded Jagged GapsWPPD 2023

Flooded Jagged Gaps
terraPIN ACME medium format pinhole camera, Fuji Acros II black and white film, D-23 developer

In the past I used to experiment with either including or excluding the horizon from the frame. Over time I grew to like the horizon included either very low or very high in the frame. Since there is no viewfinder on this camera it is a bit of guesswork but there are some helpful tools included on the camera. To get the right vertical angle there are lines on the side of the camera that approximate the angle of view. To get a high horizon I tilt the camera forward (downward) almost to a point that the upward pointing line becomes horizontal. Just the slightest angle up pulls the horizon into the frame.

Gap RevealedWPPD 2023

Gap Revealed
terraPIN ACME medium format pinhole camera, Fuji Acros II black and white film, D-23 developer

In the two photographs above you can compare how different things can appear based on wave strength and proper timing. How many small waves does one need to count off before a bigger one arrives? How many bigger ones arrive back to back? How many times is all of this so random that one can make no assumptions?

Between RocksWPPD 2023

Between Rocks
terraPIN ACME medium format pinhole camera, Fuji Acros II black and white film, D-23 developer

I tried to get really close and really low for the final photo and it definitely changed the original top down perspective. Sometimes this trickery with distance results in a complete loss of perspective when one can't really tell the real-life size of the objects. Were the rocks just a few centimeters? Or were they large boulders?

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

More of my Pinhole Photography ...

Down Smoke CreekPinhole Photography Two CanoesPinhole Photography Against the CurrentPinhole Photography