Last Sunday was Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD). This event, which occurs on the last Sunday of April each year, is designed to get folks out to make photographs using lens-less cameras. Folks are allowed to post a single photograph made on the designated day to the website linked above.
Pinholes are the most common “non-lens” but there are other options including the zone plate that I experimented with this year.
The large majority of pinhole photographs are made using a tripod or other camera support. Pinholes are photographically slow (my pinhole is about f/160), i.e. they do not capture much light. Thus long exposures are the norm. This year I explored making handheld pinhole photographs by taking advantage of the high ISO sensitivity available with digital cameras. Exposures ran about 1/15 or 1/30 of a second.
The viewfinder is dim with the pinhole mounted but I able to see just enough to roughly frame an image. With the zone plate (at f/32) mounted the viewfinder was quite bright and I had no trouble composing.
Here are several of my pinhole photographs (and one made with the zone plate). I submitted the railroad track photo to the WPPD site as seen here.
How did I miss “World Pinhole Day!!!” i did get to see it through your eyes. Fun activity. . .