Sunday, March 14, 2010

New Pinhole Magazine

It's rare that a magazine comes out extolling the virtues of pinholography. Well, boys and girls, we have a new one and it's a pip. Without Lenses is the new offering.

Take a look around and I think you'll like what you see.

View it here.

If you are new to pinholes or just like reading about it, give it a go.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

6 feet high and Risin'

Yesterday, we took a drive (again) to the Salton Sea area. Mainly we went on an expedition to shoot Salvation Mountain. Photos will be available after the appropriate wait for developing, processing and scanning...ah the good old days of film.

Anyway, we spent quite a while at Salvation Mountain which you have to see to believe. This was built by Leonard Knight (see his website here) and reminds me of the old House of Depression in Vineland, NJ back in the day.

Photographs notwithstanding, the highlight of our day was at Bombay Beach. It was pretty crowded (about 7 photographers) and 5 of us gathered around a small spot on the beach to shoot the pelicans. Diana had struck up a conversation with a fellow named Jimmy Clinton.

Next thing you know, we are all involved in a political conversation centering on everything from the present administration to the Bilderburgers. What was amazing was here we were in the middle of nowhere, 7 photographers gathered around some stinky water and everyone of us was deeply concerned about the U.S. and where we are headed as a nation.

To a man (and two women) we talked mostly about the fact that we seven were a microcosm of the nation. Here we are in "liberal" California and not one of us supported the current administration. NOT ONE! A new American Revolution is on the way and it's time to vote out of office ALL INCUMBENTS! We have to start over folks. If you love your country, it's time to take it back.

To the politicians...It is 6 Feet high and rising.

And to Jimmy Clinton...thanks for a very stimulating end to a great day of shooting. Hope to see you soon...but not Belize. Well, maybe.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Random thoughts

Actually, all of my thoughts are random. Guess it's the ADD thing.

Anyway, I just got back from our lab ProPhoto in Irvine, Ca. The owner, Kornel Schorle, printed a few of my pinholes on Kodak Metallic Paper. WOW! These are color balanced and archival printed with lasers. Who would of thunk? Before I digress too far, Kornel is the most talented photographer I know. His work is stunning. Turns out, incidentally, that we were all in the Salton Sea at the same time without either of us knowing it. He is coming out with a new book and postcard sets you need to see to believe. I would suggest you write Kornel and ask about these. You will be blown away.
His e-mail is kschorle@yahoo.com

The detail in these prints is awesome and the color fantastic. These are going into an exhibit and will be 11x11, matted in 20x20 heavy museum board and framed in black brushed metal frames. These will be available in limited edition signed pieces for $350.00.

I have shipped some of these without the glass being broken (just so you know) so we cross our fingers everytime we ship and we do not guarantee the glass for breakage. However, to protect the print, the glass is not installed, rather packed separately to avoid damage. You have to install the enclosed glass yourself.

If anyone is interested in these prints, please let us know which pinhole you want and we will take care of it for you. We accept PayPal and Diana is putting a PayPal button up on the site today.

Individually matted prints are available without frames for $200.00 (framing is expensive so, if you want just a matted print, they are available.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

We're finally back.

I must tell you that this has been the most horrendous 2 years of our lives. The stress of having a sphyncter muscle enter every aspect of your life was awful to say the least.

But now we can celebrate. As of last week it is all a distant memory...well, not all that distant, but a memory nonetheless and we can get back to being creative and shooting with our favorite little cameras; the Pinhole.

I know some of you have wondered which cameras we use and which ones to buy. My two favorites are my Zero 4x5 with two extensions which makes a 75mm wide angle. Since Polaroid is still unavailable, I bought 20 4x5 holders that I will load with Ektar and scan.

My absolute favorite is still the Zero 2000 Deluxe. I use it almost exclusively and the photographs in November's Shutterbug were all taken with the Zero 2000. All of my cameras are listed there.

Diana's pin is one of the last Chinese pinholes made and has a metal body complete with a viewfinder and is multi format 6x4.5 and 6x6. She's not quite as obsessive compulsive as I am about pins, prefering her digital Canons.

Anyway, we are back and we have a few shows coming up soon. The display pieces will all be 11x11 printed on Kodak Laser Metallic Paper, matted and framed in 20x20. We are still seeking a representative in the U.S.

So, now we can get on with jois d'vivre and enjoy ourselves once again. Stay tuned. We are back for good. Let me leave today's post with one admonition; NEVER, EVER take on a business partner who promises the moon. It ain't happening!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

It's driving me nuts!

I received an e-mail from a VERY talented photographer acquaintance today. He is not good. He is VERY good.

We kind of chatted about how digital imaging is almost impossible to keep up with (dangling prepositions and all). It's like we are in this futuristic time warp where Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame has finally crept up on us all...well, more like pounced on us.

Richard Avedon died when he should have. The great photographers are having difficulty keeping up. A photograph should evoke an emotion aside from the "playing around" with images. It should be WOW beacuse it's real and not WOW because of what the photographer manipulated to get the image.

Back in the day (1972) I bought my first REALLY good Beseler 23CII enlarger for $195 bucks. It was a huge investment for me. But I produced some outstanding work on that thing (if I do say so).

Heck, I can do that on my computer now. The programs unfortunately, that I use cost me more than that enlarger! Then we have to put up with Canon and Nikon, for example, coming out with new cameras every 6 months. When is this going to stop?

Canon announced that their sales were off by over 21% this last year. Hello!

We can't keep doing this. There has to be a limit. I bought a G 10 "street camera" a few months back and Canon brought out their G 11 a month ago. This is so wrong.

When is the insanity going to end?

It's no wonder we are going back to film. The camera makers are shooting themselves in their corporate feet. I may just get rid of all my digital gear and go back to the good old days of film.

This is crazy!

P.S. Thanks, Fred

Friday, October 30, 2009

Putting the FUN in Photography again

Digital photography promised to be THE boon to us photographers when it first reared it's beautiful head. Now, I'm not so sure. The upgrades in software alone will drive you nuts. While Diana is using CS4 (when will CS5 be announced?) I am still on CS2. Why?

I like my life uncomplicated. There is only so much I can or even want to do to a photograph. That really applies to pinholes. After all, I am looking for a simple way to express my feelings to an audience. Diana on the other hand, loves the manipulation afforded by all the goo gaws of CS4.

So, for those of you who would like to just have fun, please look into pinholes...they are cheap, use film, and what you imagine is almost always what you get.

I want to introduce you to another good friend in the pinhole world, Brian Krummel. He has just published his new book (which I highly recommend) regarding pinholes. If you need a great book about pinholes, his is beautiful!

You can also read an interview Brian did with me here.

Go out. Have fun with a pinhole. No you don't get instant gratification, but that's sort of nice, huh?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Online ShutterBug

Ok, gang. The hard copy of my cover story in ShutterBug is now online. Just click here if you didn't see it on the stands.
Now, we're off today to add some more images to the site and test out Kodak Ektar.
I have to tell you, I am a bit bummed out about losing Superia.
Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their support of my work. There are way too many to list, but thanks and you all know who you are.
Incidentally, there are still some hardcover coffee table limited edition books left. These are signed and numbered.
Just give me a jingle and we'll get one off to you.