# Pinhole Photograph with 6-month exposure



## Dick Sanders

The spectacular picture shows each phase of the sun over Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge taken over a six month period. It plots the sun's daily course as it rises and falls over Brunel's famous structure, which spans the 702ft (214m) Avon Gorge. 

Incredibly, the eerie image was captured on a basic pin-hole camera made from an empty drinks can with a 0.25mm aperture and a single sheet of photographic paper. 

Photographer Justin Quinnell strapped the camera to a telephone pole overlooking the Gorge, where it was left between December 19, 2007 and June 21, 2008 - the winter and summer solstices. 

Stunning photographs of landmark captured over six-month period - Telegraph

*********************************************************


----------



## stsinner

Here ya go, Dick

 Pick up the conversation here..

We could have benefited from your knowledge, as you actually do this...


----------



## windrivermaiden

A lovely thing to be produced with low tech.


----------



## nrois02

did he just use a 35mm and keep it open the whole time?


----------



## Dick Sanders

He used an empty soda pop can. You can pretty much make a pinhole camera from anything, including your house. I read once about a guy who turned his VW bus into a pinhole camera. You've heard about kids using oatmeal boxes. I made one from an 8 inch square cardboard box sprayed flat black inside and with a small nail hole in the front covered in black tape. I curved a sheet of 8x10 film against the inside back, sealed up the box, then went outside and pulled the black tape for half a minute. The picture came out -- although it was crude. I called it the "birth of photography." One thing for sure, pinhole photography is really fun. You can learn a lot about it here:

Welcome to the Pinhole Resource


----------



## Sw1tchFX

wow, that's really spectacular to be able to get that kind of an exposure!


----------



## Sachphotography

This proves the statement that it is not the camera. It is the photographer.

Daniel Sach
Sachphotography Fine Art Photography The homepage of Daniel Sach and his photography Company


----------



## liltimmy1313

That really is an incredible shot, it almost seems more like a science experiment than anything else.


----------



## christopher walrath

To an extent, it is.  It would be problematic figuring out keeping the scene from being over exposed over a half-year period.  But Justin stuck it, didn't he?


----------



## Actor

The pinhole was 0.25 mm in diameter.  A soda can is about 120mm high so his aperture would be f/480.

3600 sec/hr * 24 hr/day * 180 day/half year = 15,552,000 sec.  Round that to 16,000,000 sec

By the sunny 16 rule film speed should equal shutter speed so he needed an ASA 1/16,000,000 if his aperture was f/16.  But his aperture was f/480, approximately 5 stops smaller.  His film's speed needs to be 5 stops faster than ASA 1/16,000,000 or approximately ASA 32/16,000,000 = ASA 1/500,000 = ASA 0.000002.  If he were using ASA 100 film then he needed a neutral density filter with about 22 stops attenuation.


----------



## ClickyPicky

That is so cool - I have always wanted to give pinhole photography a go for the fun of it.


----------



## AfroKen

Fascinating!  Thanks for the link!!!!!


----------



## bhphotography

thats really cool!


----------



## TylerF

"He says the picture allows him to pinpoint the exact location of the sun in    the sky at the moment his father passed away."

wow that made the shot even better


----------



## Josh66

Actor said:


> By the sunny 16 rule film speed should equal shutter speed so he needed an ASA 1/16,000,000 if his aperture was f/16.  But his aperture was f/480, approximately 5 stops smaller.  His film's speed needs to be 5 stops faster than ASA 1/16,000,000 or approximately ASA 32/16,000,000 = ASA 1/500,000 = ASA 0.000002.  If he were using ASA 100 film then he needed a neutral density filter with about 22 stops attenuation.



You're not accounting for reciprocity failure though, which I bet would be pretty significant on a 6 month exposure.
Plus, at night there wouldn't be much light, if any, hitting the film.

Obviously, the results weren't 22 stops overexposed - so I'd say it worked.


----------



## lmchelaru

Actor said:


> The pinhole was 0.25 mm in diameter.  A soda can is about 120mm high so his aperture would be f/480.
> 
> 3600 sec/hr * 24 hr/day * 180 day/half year = 15,552,000 sec.  Round that to 16,000,000 sec
> 
> By the sunny 16 rule film speed should equal shutter speed so he needed an ASA 1/16,000,000 if his aperture was f/16.  But his aperture was f/480, approximately 5 stops smaller.  His film's speed needs to be 5 stops faster than ASA 1/16,000,000 or approximately ASA 32/16,000,000 = ASA 1/500,000 = ASA 0.000002.  If he were using ASA 100 film then he needed a neutral density filter with about 22 stops attenuation.



:thumbup: Thanks for that. That's gonna be really useful if I try to do it...


----------



## Actor

O|||||||O said:


> Actor said:
> 
> 
> 
> By the sunny 16 rule film speed should equal shutter speed so he needed an ASA 1/16,000,000 if his aperture was f/16.  But his aperture was f/480, approximately 5 stops smaller.  His film's speed needs to be 5 stops faster than ASA 1/16,000,000 or approximately ASA 32/16,000,000 = ASA 1/500,000 = ASA 0.000002.  If he were using ASA 100 film then he needed a neutral density filter with about 22 stops attenuation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're not accounting for reciprocity failure though, which I bet would be pretty significant on a 6 month exposure.
> Plus, at night there wouldn't be much light, if any, hitting the film.
> 
> Obviously, the results weren't 22 stops overexposed - so I'd say it worked.
Click to expand...

Did it work?  Even throwing in a few stops one way or the other for reciprocity failure and nighttime I think my figures are in the ball park (on a log scale).  I'm wondering if this might not be a hoax?


----------



## AnaBo

beautiful.. how come I always get my shots waaaay over or under.. I guess thats why this guy is a pinhole pro.


----------



## genker

The spectacular picture shows each phase of the sun over Bristol's Clifton 
  Suspension Bridge taken over a six *month* period.
   And thanks for sharing your view with us. Here is a great offer for photography lovers. You can create your own photo album online and get 20 free Photo cards AND 20 Free Photo Prints immediately. You may follow this link: www.zerotofive.com.au/photocards.htm


----------



## cfphoto

Very cool... thanks for posting.


----------



## stroker

Can anybody post a link to the "photo paper" he used? when i google it printer paper comes up... I would really like to try something like this


----------



## ChadHillPhoto

Very cool!! Thanks for the link!


----------



## Josh66

stroker said:


> Can anybody post a link to the "photo paper" he used? when i google it printer paper comes up... I would really like to try something like this


I don't know which specific paper he used, but any photographic paper would work.

Black & White Paper | Freestyle Photographic Supplies

That would be light sensitive paper, what you use for printing in a darkroom - not what you put in your printer.

Obviously, you need to load and unload the paper in total darkness...


----------



## stroker

THANK YOU SOO MUCH!! I have been calling around to the camera shops here and nobody has it and they wont tell me where to find it. What would i develop it with? Just standard chems I would use for 35mm?


----------



## Allen

stroker said:


> THANK YOU SOO MUCH!! I have been calling around to the camera shops here and nobody has it and they wont tell me where to find it. What would i develop it with? Just standard chems I would use for 35mm?



Google, Merlin Paintcan Pinhole Camera, they are cheep and effective.

Ilford Multi-Grade IV RC paper is as good as any to make pinholes (both negatives and prints). It's easy to find and the Ilford chemicals are easy to mix and use.
You are going to need access to an enlarger to expose your final prints and basic dark room supplies to develop both the negatives and prints.


----------



## TonyAlec

Very cool!


----------



## fotogal

That was an amazing image. 

I've heard of doing pinholes with a 35 mm by putting a hole in the lens cover. Anyone try this?


----------



## themeexchange

wow, that's really spectacular to be able to get that kind of an exposure!We could have benefited from your knowledge,


----------



## jahcyber

Surreal! I hope I'll have the time to do pinhole experiments of my own too. Of course, I probably don't have the patience to wait 6 months for a single picture.


----------



## Horngreen

If you're using paper instead of film you wouldn't need an enlarger. Once you process the paper negative you would just make contact print positives from it and you need a light source but not an enlarger. I'd guess you have to use paper to make an exposure this long as it is so much less sensitive to light.


----------



## unpopular

Hmmmmmm...

You could also use something like welders glass.


----------



## Helen B

Instead of using a very strong ND filter it would be better to not use developer. This would also reduce or eliminate LIRF - low intensity reciprocity failure. It isn't long exposure times that cause reciprocity failure, but low light intensity falling on the film - not enough silver atoms present at one time to form a stable latent image nucleus.


----------



## unpopular

^^ so just fix and wash then?


----------



## Rodo1991

What happens if you just wash it and put it in fixer? 

My photos are usually too bright negatives so in positive they are too dark but I dont see the reason. I always put the cameras on clear spots where they were heading to sun path and when I did 1 day exposure it was much brighter then when I did 14 days exposure. Same paper.


----------



## murlis

Having met Justin Quinnell last year, he explained to me how he did this, the images were actually burnt into photographic paper that he used, which was rated at about ISO 3. he never developed the images as such, but just skips straight to fixing them and then scans them into photoshop. when you have an exposure like this, it will burn into the paper at its own accord. the pinhole in the camera he used was made using the head of a small pin, and had a rough aperture of f/90


----------



## Helen B

The images aren't really burnt in any more than a normal photograph can be said to have been burnt in - they are produced in the same way that a normal latent image is produced, ie the light converts silver halide into metallic silver. If the light falling on the sensitive film or paper is sufficient the image formed by the action of light alone is sufficiently dense that it does not need development. It's known as 'printing out'. You just fix and wash, as already described. In this case the speed of the material is much lower than ISO 3, because that speed was obtained by with development. The speed is very much lower without development. As I explained earlier, one of the advantages of this method compared to the use of heavy ND filters is that low intensity reciprocity failure is avoided.

Best,
Helen


----------

