Yesterday was a wonderful day. I received my 4 x 5 color negatives from Citizens Photo in Portland (http://www.citizensphoto.com/), the only place in the Northwest that will develop this film. Thank you Citizen’s Photo, you did a great job. Two weeks ago, I drove up the Lost Coast of California with a friend also known as the Master of the Road Trip and here are the two images from our Punta Gorda adventure: one a image from my new fancy expensive DSLR (see blog post, Paradise is a Road Trip) and one from my 4 x 5 pinhole camera on color negative film. I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the negative film from the lab. I am happy to report that I love the pinhole image very much. The pinhole image holds onto the feeling surrounding the moment, not just the moment itself. Let me explain: up on that ridge on the Prosper Road, the wind was whipping from the west off the Pacific Ocean. It was the Golden Hour. We were dressed in sweatshirts and hats and long pants because there was a chill in the air. The light glowed and the ocean, far below, crashed and sang its own tune. It was a moment in which I felt totally alert and totally relaxed at that same time. It was all about the light and the wind and the sound of the waves hitting the beach. How do light and moment translate feeling onto film? What does the print have to do with it? The print of the pinhole is soft and sweet and beautiful. I printed one only and it is so close to done. The DSLR print I keep trying to make it less perfect. I can’t seem to get it right. Why is that?
Prosper Road to Cape Mendocino, Digital Image from my DSLR camera, f16, 1/20 second, ISO 400
Prosper Road to Cape Mendocino, Pinhole Camera Exposure on 4 x 5 inch color negative film, two negatives scanned and stitched together in Photoshop. f256/120 seconds, ISO 400.
These images were exposed at almost exactly the same time. Go figure.
