Message-Id: <l03102802b161e28fdf60@[209.142.17.92]>
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 23:47:12 -0700
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
From: Ron Wong <ronwong@inreach.com>
Subject: re: pinhole camera/photography
For those wanting more information about pinhole cameras and photography, I
would like to recommend:
"The Hole Thing - a manual of pinhole fotografy" by Jim Shull. Published by
Morgan & Morgan, Inc., 145 Palisade Street, Dobbs Ferry, New York 10522, in
1974 for $3. Lib of Cong. Cat. Card #: 73-93873
Its was a paperback publication of about 32 pages and apparently is
available in a new edition for $15 (Probably a hardback copy. Amazon.com
has it). Maybe the Exploratorium Store has it.
Despite it's cute title and use of cartoons, Shull was very serious about
pinhole photography and gave anyone interested everything he/she needed to
know about this esoteric area of photography. Whether it's building the
camera (normal, wide-angle, telephoto, Zoom telephoto, superwide angle -
the Quaker Oats version); the fine art of drilling the pinhole (including a
table of needle no. vs. focal length with the corresponding f-stop - very
useful for pinhole purists); the theory behind the camera (going so far as
to address the mystery of the infinite depth of field by bringing up
circles of confusion to clarify matters); practical ways of developing the
exposed film; or, for the real techno-freaks, how to address the
reciprocity factor that crops up due to the long time exposures - it's all
there.
Shull's style of writing makes this small work an enjoyable and informative
read. It was one of the few things my students didn't mind reading. He
obviously wants those interested to really get out there and do it. The
material covered would make a good starting point for the usual
introductory course in photography. Talk about hands on.
Enjoy - ron