Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-18)

18 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

WORLD PINHOLE DAY

‘Don’tbetooapprehensivewithexposuretimes

• alwaysgivemoretimethanyouthinkisneeded,

as it’s better to overexpose than underexpose’

arethemainbenefitsofusing
pinholetechniquesandgear
forlandscapephotography?‘Apart
fromtheuniquelook,it is thecare
andthoughtyouhavetoputinto
compositionandexposure.
Photographybecomesa more
involvedwayofworking,withall
settingsanddecisionsmadeby
you,ratherthantherebeing
interventionfromelectronics.So
picture-makingbecomesmore
rewardingandalthoughit’sa
challenge,it doesbecome second
naturewithpractice.’

Commonpitfalls
AccordingtheMartin,thebiggest
mistakespinholebeginnersmake
aretodowithouroldfriends,
exposureandcomposition.‘Because
pinholecamerashavesuchsmall
aperturesandhandheldmeters
rarelymeterpastf/128,youshould
alwaysmeteratf/22then
extrapolatethatmeterreadingto
thepinholef-stopofyourcamera.
Thisis quitehardtodowhenyou’re
outina landscapewithsomany
thingstoremember,somyfirsttip
is:makea chartwiththecorrected
timesforyourpinholeaperturesize
printedon.Thenit’seasy,takea
lightreadingandlookatthattime
on the chart. Another good tip is to

usea phoneapp,suchasReciprocity

Timer.Thiswillcalculatethe

exposuretimesthat’sneededto

correctforfilm’sreciprocityfailure.

Alsodon’tbetooapprehensivewith

exposuretimes.Alwaysgivemore

timethanyouthinkis needed,asit’s

bettertooverexposethan

underexpose.Finallygetcloseto

yoursubject– manypinholeshots

arespoiltcompositionallybytoo

muchboringforeground.’

Workshopopportunities

Eventhoughpinholephotographyis

a nicemarket,it’sgoodtohearthat

Martinhassoldquitea fewimages

overtheyears.‘I sellmanyimages

throughdifferentoutletsworldwide

througha licensingcompanyand

alsothroughmyownsite.I often

sellpinholeimagesinthrees,so

theycomplementeachother.For

me,though,thesatisfactiondoesn’t

comefromgettingsalesbutfrom

goingoutandcompletingprojects.’

So if push comes to shove, which are

Martin’sfavouritepinholeimages,

andwhy?‘TheimagesI likebestare

alwaystheoneswhereI stepoutof

mycomfortzone,suchasshooting

intothelightsource,gettingreally

closeorlowdown,withthecamera

exaggeratingforegroundsizeand

composition.Bedaringandyou will

alwaysgetpicturesthatare

differentfromthenorm.’

Martindoesn’thaveany

exhibitionsrunningatthemoment,

primarilybecauseofthesettingup

costsinvolved.‘HoweverI am

planningonefornextyearthatruns

withtheIlkleyArtsfestival,so

watchthisspace.I alsodopinhole

workshopsfrommyhomestudio;

detailsandbookingscanbemade

byfollowingthelinkonmywebsite

atmartinimages.photium.com.I

alsohavea dedicatedblack&white

learningforum,andallarewelcome

withanyinterestinmonochrome

work– bothfilmanddigital:www.

digitalmonochromeforum.

co.uk.’

Settingsun,Jersey,

Channel Islands

Sunrise,Almscliffe

Crag,North

Yorkshire

Cobbledpath,

WhiteWells,Ilkley,

West Yorkshire