Happy Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2013! Yes, I know it’s a mouthful, but I really enjoyed myself today. I took my camera, grabbed my body cap, and headed on over to my local water gardens and nursery, just before they closed today, to sneak in some pinhole shots. Oh, I have to say it was some kind of fun too. I love pinhole stuff, although you just never know what the heck you’re going to get. (And, believe me, I got some wild, crazy, useless type stuff too. That’s all part of the fun!)
The good folks who organize the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day have a website up, where you can get more information about pinhole type work, including view a gallery of the images from this year. You can find out more about Pinhole Photography Day here if you are so-inclined.
For myself, it’s been so nice and lovely, with a real spring this year in Austin. Although the wildflowers have been a bit of a bust (and getting mowed down, quite literally, all over town these days. What’s up with that?) I decided today I would get out in it a little bit and head over to the water gardens to turn myself into a pinhead for a day. I can’t say I absolute love the work, but the process of shooting pinhole really helps the creative process.
I was talking with somebody the other day about this. I declared that pinhole photography is a bit to photographers what playing scales and arpeggios are to somebody learning to play a musical instrument. You maybe don’t want to “perform” a scale but playing them over and over again gives you a certain kind of practice. Playing lots of scales will make you play better solos and add a special kind of “umph” into your day-to-day playing. It’s called “practice” I’d guess for good reason. Just as scales are to those learning that musical instrument, so too are pinholes for the photographer. They teach us certain things about light, about shadows, about tonal ranges and tonal changes. It’s something sort of low level that, maybe if you aren’t a photographer yourself, you might not quite understand. (Then again, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just talking out my ass again. You know, I can do that a lot too, right?)
Well, love it, hate it, wonder what it’s all about, or something in-between, today is the day we set aside to admire it and practice it. So, my good Snowflakes, that’s what Queen Flake was up to today. Shooting pinholes by the ponds.
And how was your week?
Until next time…
