An unexplained pinhole capture

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 9, 2011

Don't ask me how this happened. My husband and I went to the park yesterday in Springfield. I braved the sub-zero temps (at 1:30, it was still -15F) and I took a two second exposure of one of the lagoons. You know the drill...one one thousand, two one thousand and I slid the magnet back into place. I *did* leave the pinhole truck in the van that afternoon in the freezing cold...but after I brought it inside the house after work, I waited a couple of hours with the tin on the kitchen table, waiting for it to thaw out. The paper was room temp by the time I got around to dipping in my tray of Dektol in the basement bathroom (my makeshift darkroom). The safe light was on, no light leaks. I even fixed that nasty light leak that was obscuring 1/2 the photographs I had taken earlier this month.

And now this?

And that's the positive version - which I inverted in Photoshop as I've not yet quite figured out how to do a contact print with no enlarger light...although I do have a small LED flash light that I'm thinking about using and will try that out this weekend. (Any other suggestions would be kindly appreciated.)

So....

I have no clue what happened...and can this be explained?

Susan

dehk · Feb 9, 2011

I don't know how that happened, but you can try using a dimmer switch and a work lamp for contact print.

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 9, 2011

dehk said:
I don't know how that happened, but you can try using a dimmer switch and a work lamp for contact print.

I'm pretty well confused about how that happened.

Dimmer switch and work lamp? I have a couple of painters lights...would that work with a dimmer switch and a 10watt bulb?

lxdude · Feb 9, 2011

Maybe it's your breath?
Oooo. Let me rephrase that. Maybe it's the condensation from your breath?

lxdude · Feb 9, 2011

pinhole_dreamer said:
And that's the positive version - which I inverted in Photoshop as I've not yet quite figured out how to do a contact print with no enlarger light...although I do have a small LED flash light that I'm thinking about using and will try that out this weekend. (Any other suggestions would be kindly appreciated.)

There's a current thread on here called "Show off your artificial light source" that might be of help.

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 10, 2011

lxdude said:
Maybe it's your breath?
Oooo. Let me rephrase that. Maybe it's the condensation from your breath?

Too funny!

I thought about that. I'm not sure how that happened. I'll load it up again tonight or maybe in the morning and take it out tomorrow. It will be a whopping 20 above 0 after 12 noon! Heat wave doncha know?

Poisson Du Jour · Feb 10, 2011

Fungal growth or stain on emulsion? Seems unlikely given the reported timeline.
But derangement of the emulsion is a more likely possibility going from very cold conditions to much warmer conditions, even with a wait period.
But you know what they say about pinhole cameras: "Out of nothing comes something, and then some."

dehk · Feb 10, 2011

pinhole_dreamer said:
I'm pretty well confused about how that happened.

Dimmer switch and work lamp? I have a couple of painters lights...would that work with a dimmer switch and a 10watt bulb?

Try it and see what happens. might wanna put a piece of paper under it to diffuse the light too, have fun!

Christopher Walrath · Feb 10, 2011

Try taking it outside and back inside when you return in a large enough plastic bag to slightly maintain the ambient temperature which will allow the film to gradually acclimatize to the temp extremes instead of going into shock both times.

tokengirl · Feb 10, 2011

pinhole_dreamer said:
I have no clue what happened...and can this be explained?

You photographed a ghost. Well done.

bsdunek · Feb 10, 2011

tokengirl said:
You photographed a ghost. Well done.

That's what it looks like to me, too! Or, how about a light leak in the "camera"?

removed account4 · Feb 10, 2011

i hope you can do this often !
once you get a collection,
you can call the travel channel and get
your own tv show

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 10, 2011

Everyone here has some awesome explanations! I'm pretty sure it's not a light leak, though...as I did get that fixed. Breath condensation is a good one. Shocking the emulsion is a good one. Even the developer could be something...not too sure about the mold/fungus, though. Maybe the boy funk fumes in the bathroom that serves as my darkroom?

To be honest, I like the 'ghost' idea best. I'd LOVE to get more 'ghost' pictures! I'm going to load her up again tonight and leave her in my attic (totally empty) for the night and see what I get in the morning.

lxdude · Feb 10, 2011

pinhole_dreamer said:
Maybe the boy funk fumes in the bathroom that serves as my darkroom?

Aw hell, that'll do it for sure. Growing up, my brother could reticulate film before it was even exposed!

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 10, 2011

lxdude said:
Aw hell, that'll do it for sure. Growing up, my brother could reticulate film before it was even exposed!

After all, it IS their bathroom I'm using. *shudders*

semeuse · Feb 10, 2011

You said "tin." Is your pinhole camera made of metal? If so, condensation could have collected between the paper and the camera either freezing or soaking into the paper.

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 10, 2011

semeuse said:
You said "tin." Is your pinhole camera made of metal? If so, condensation could have collected between the paper and the camera either freezing or soaking into the paper.

*sigh* All these *logical* answers.

An unexplained pinhole capture

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