Monday 27 February 2012

Pinhole Lomokino Films

I got the Lomokino when it came out, sucker for the moving image I suppose but I figured out what they were making and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I have made a few short test films over the past few months, nothing that I would assign any grander title to really but I am working towards better ideas that have been brewing since I started to get back the various results from my endeavours. Once I established that my Lomokino wasn't functioning as well as could be expected and I adjusted that it made a vast difference to the flow of the film.Always check the springs on the reverse of the front of your cam, the ones that are supposed to hold the film down, if they are not proud of the casing they will be redundant. I was asked by Lomography to produce two pinhole films for them, maybe it was due to the pinhole reputation I have but believe me making a film is a whole different ball game. After doing the modifications to the Lomokino(see below) I then went ahead with making some mad films. An extremely long process and the most important thing to remember with the Kino would be a tripod as having three hands is essential!
I made a basic shutter from a film can cap and used the ubiquitous black insulation tape to hold it on. So it was a case of with tripod, lift the flap, count, close the flap, wind on,it takes a little while to get into the rhythm of it but once you do you are away. My pinhole worked out at f450 a little too small for short indoor exposures and so on one of my films my poor subject was rather numb with pain! The ideal f-stop should be more in the region of f98 I believe, so I shall be remaking that one in due course.
"Myopic Tree Moments" was named to reflect the lack of sharpness with this particular pinhole, though it seems getting a really pinsharp image with this may be problematic. My little helper was very obliging and considerate of the slow process, each frame was about three seconds in the dull, snowy light and as we neared the end she remarked, "I can't feel my adult toes" we called it a day after this! "Crime of passion" came about as an idea I had had to do with another camera but I thought it would be fun for this, unfortunately the definition I wanted with the image showing all the different cameras and what they were upto was not quite there. I do think the general impression is okay though... consumed with a passion for cameras and film!

Thursday 23 February 2012

In Your Dreams Exhibition

The title for this one is highly appropriate, I entered "In Your Dreams" at the last minute (as usual) because I wasn't sure it was the right time for me to enter anything at the moment. I'm too distracted, I have been making crazy 35mm films and spending time trying to get the new allotment plot in order as well as attempting to go through the ridiculous back log of negatives that are unprocessed. To my great surprise and honour I had a pinhole accepted into the show and thank you to Susan Burnstine juror for choosing "Not Pandora's Box"
Going with your gut feeling is sometimes well worth the risk!