Digital Money

Your next assignment is Money! 

Yes it's an open ended subject, but thats the whole idea. I want you to think about a creative visual solution to this topic. Closeups, money being passed, banks, some serious "bling". You get the idea. Here is my shot. I desaturated it in Photoshop and increased the contrast to give it more impact.

Write a short paragraph about your concept.

"My photograph explores the concept of being "blinded" by wealth and prestige. Some value money above all things....but you can't take it with you. The ancient Greeks buried their dead with coins on their eyes, a toll payed to be carried over the river Styx. Are we paying too high a toll in this world. Do we amass wealth at the expense of things of higher value. There is so much value in the simple act of living.

Your digital camera or smartphone should have a closeup feature. Explore how close you can get and still get a focused image. Read your camera manual for more information on this feature. Each camera is different.

This is a typical Macro icon seen on many cameras.

You only need to submit one image, but make sure it's your best effort. It's always best to take plenty of shots. Even today's smartphone cameras will take a burst of 5 shots and let you pick the best one. 

Sepia Toning

Sepia toning is a process that gives a photograph a warm brown tone and increases it's archival properties. (How long it will last) The image is first bleached to turn the metallic silver into a silver halide. The print is washed to remove the bleach then it is immersed in toner which converts the silver halide into silver sulfide.

You must Sepia Tone your "Close-up" or "Selfie" pinhole image and Mount it!!

Process:

1. Immerse the print in the Bleach Bath and agitate it for a out 6-8 minutes until most of the image has disappeared or turned yellow. I like to leave some areas black for contrast. (Wear Goggles and take care while using bleach! It can damage your eyes!!)
2. Rinse to remove bleach. (2 minutes)
3. Place the print in the Toner Bath and agitate until the image completely fills in with warm browns.(60 seconds)
4. Rinse thouroughly for 2 minutes.
5. Fix for two minutes.
6. Wash for 4 minutes.

Pinhole Close-up

The Debris of Life

I took this photo of a pile of broken dolls as an example of what can be done with a pinhole camera. One of the greatest attributes of a pinhole camera is its almost indefinite "Depth of Field". Everything from close up to far in the distance appears to be somewhat in focus.

Assignment - Find some small objects that are meaningful to you in some way. Pose the objects in an interesting still life and photograph them with your pinhole camera.

Make a positive print and dry mount it. 

Debris of Life (Paper Negative), Manny Boccini

Debris of Life (Positive Print), Manny Boccini

Pinhole Selfie

Apparently "Selfie" was awarded the "2013 Word of the Year"  by Oxford Dictionaries".

We've all done it with our cell phone or a digital camera. There seems to be some kind of human urge to take one's own photograph. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Photographers are often left out of the image. I know that I'm missing from many family photographs, because I was the person behind the camera.

Your assignment is to use your camera to take a self portrait. Here are a couple points to consider:

• This will be an exercise in self control. You must remain as still as possible, or your image will be blurry.
• You may ask a friend to open and close the shutter.
• Get close to the camera. Your Pinhole Camera is a super wide angle image maker. In my self portrait below, my hand is practically touching the camera.
• Stay in the sun, short exposures will give your clearer results.
• Scan your negative.
• Duplicate it in Photoshop. Invert the duplicate to make a positive. Adjust the image using Image/Adgustments/Brightness Contrast.
• Save both images as JPEGs and post on your blog.

Halloween Pinhole 2015

Negative

Mr. B 2013

Negative