How do you frame/compose with Ilford Obscura?

[Laci Toth]

Hi everyone,

The title says all. I’m wondering how do you know what will be the outcome?

 

[awty]

Use your imagination.
If you know the angle of view you can get an idea of what is going to be in the shot by using a camera with a lens with similar. You can use cardboard cutout to frame a shot, or you can just use your arms, so if it is at 90 degrees you can hold your arms at that and get an idea.
Best aspect of using a pinhole is to muck around with the perspective it gives, so stuff that is close looks larger in proportion to what is further away than normal.
I personally dont do square on shots and like to tilt the camera to exaggerate things.

So this was my first big camera pinhole shot. I put the camera in the pond about 45cm from the lions head, tilted to the lion and fountain just enough to still catch the sun, was a 110 degrees. Different cameras do different things, need to learn yours and play with it.
Lions Head in pinhole by Paul Fitz, on Flickr

 

[Laci Toth]

Use your imagination.
If you know the angle of view you can get an idea of what is going to be in the shot by using a camera with a lens with similar. You can use cardboard cutout to frame a shot, or you can just use your arms, so if it is at 90 degrees you can hold your arms at that and get an idea.
Best aspect of using a pinhole is to muck around with the perspective it gives, so stuff that is close looks larger in proportion to what is further away than normal.
I personally dont do square on shots and like to tilt the camera to exaggerate things.

So this was my first big camera pinhole shot. I put the camera in the pond about 45cm from the lions head, tilted to the lion and fountain just enough to still catch the sun, was a 110 degrees. Different cameras do different things, need to learn yours and play with it.
Lions Head in pinhole by Paul Fitz, on Flickr

Thanks!

 

[DWThomas]

You could lay out a pair of angled lines based on the film size and pinhole to film distance, either on the camera with tape of contrasting color, or with ink on a piece of cardboard (ideally 4-ply mat board if you have a scrap around) that you could lay on top of the camera. Then just sight along the lines. With a separate card you could even make one side for the four inch and one for the five inch dimension allowing a check of horizontal and vertical framing. If you do all that, note that the active area of nominal 4x5 is more like 3.9 x 4.9 -- you could physically measure the film gate or holder to get exact dimensions. And as @awty suggests, you could extend those proportions to get a frame to hold at arm's length -- or put a smaller frame on a short stick. All of these ideas are not super precise, but neither are the squinty little viewfinders on many older film cameras.

I once went to some effort to make a wireframe style finder (glued up out of black mat board) for a pinhole camera only to find that for a really wide angle of view it wasn't very useful. On my big pinhole camera, an 8x10, I installed small pegs in one end and on the top to sight along, that works fairly well. I find with the really wide angles you can do surprisingly well just guessing and pointing, I mean, with 100º field of view, it's hard to miss! But if one is attempting a composition with an important element near the edge of the frame, some sort of guide is potentially useful.

 

[scheimfluger_77]

Too complicated. I use my index fingers. Place the base of your fingers at the film edge (approximate) and cross them over the pinhole location (approximate). The angle beyond the cross is your (approximate) field of view. This is pinhole remember.

 

[DWThomas]

This is pinhole remember.

 

[MattKing]

My camera has bumps on the top that help me line up the three framing choices.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I think most of the time it is by guess and by golly. When the weather breaks I am going to do some experiments with my view camera. I intend to set my camera at 10, 20 and 40 feet from my 6 ft. wide swing with the bellow adjusted to f360.

By measuring the swing width on my 4x5 film I can determine the overall field of view. Then I repeat with the bellows set at different at different focal lengths.

While this is a bit more technical that I usually get, the fact is, I bought 4 new film holders (8 shots) at an auction and I need to check them for light leaks and function. I will also give me a chance to calibrate my 1920's view finder.

I reality most folks develop a sense of the field of view from experience, as you rarely know the exact distance to the subject.

good luck

 

[Laci Toth]

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone!

 

[John Koehrer]

My camera has bumps on the top that help me line up the three framing choices.

Made my own bumps with small brass nails.
To get fancy make a wire frame like the ones on old press cameras.

 

[awty]

You can also use a View finder app on your phone, set the angle of view and aspect ratio and can even have it in mono.

So a photo like this

Becomes like this, simply by tilting the camera forwards (used a few stones under the rear) to emphasizing the foreground and have the end of the jetty squeezing into the horizon..

 

[lantau]

It comes with a sticker, which you can put on the top of it. It has lines which give you the field of view. Place your eye at the tip of it and look along each line to estimate where your frame will end.

 

[Laci Toth]

Made my own bumps with small brass nails.
To get fancy make a wire frame like the ones on old press cameras.

Would look nice indeed!

 

[Laci Toth]

You can also use a View finder app on your phone, set the angle of view and aspect ratio and can even have it in mono.

So a photo like this
View attachment 239765
Becomes like this, simply by tilting the camera forwards (used a few stones under the rear) to emphasizing the foreground and have the end of the jetty squeezing into the horizon..

View attachment 239766

Thanks for the suggestion I’ll look into

You can also use a View finder app on your phone, set the angle of view and aspect ratio and can even have it in mono.

So a photo like this
View attachment 239765
Becomes like this, simply by tilting the camera forwards (used a few stones under the rear) to emphasizing the foreground and have the end of the jetty squeezing into the horizon..

View attachment 239766

I might opt out the app but it’s good to know it’s existing; it could come handy in certain situations later on, so thank you!

 

[Laci Toth]

It comes with a sticker, which you can put on the top of it. It has lines which give you the field of view. Place your eye at the tip of it and look along each line to estimate where your frame will end.

I’ve seen it in the description and it’s great feature of the kit, so first I try that but it’s also good to know what are my other possibilities if I get one which hasn’t, like a diy stuff.