The Jana Obscura
I’m a traditional film photographer in Seattle, constantly looking for unique images to capture with a wide variety of vintage, plastic and pinhole cameras. I develop and print my own images in a traditional darkroom. I enjoy pinhole photography for its ability to produce wonderful, emotive images and a kind of focus without sharpness.
Lately I’ve been working on capturing the motion and/or pulse of my modern city through a funny little box with no lens. Holiday carousels, public transportation and lazy susans at dim sum restaurants are all fair game. I believe photography can create interesting abstractions from everyday things.
Drop me a line, send me your tips and say hello via Twitter. I look forward to getting to know you. Mahalo!
Online Obscura
Judge for Glazer’s Camera first Pinhole Competition 2013
WPPD 2013 Prep: Pinhole Journeys for The Alternative Photographer
Pinhole article for Believe In Film.
Facebook Graph Search interview for The New York Times.
Always nice to see film being used. Your shots are very good.
Thank you! It’s inspiring to see traditional black and white film photographers online. Happy shooting!
Thanks for finding me on WordPress, and I am glad you have done so as it has introduced me to your very talented self! I look forward to following your posts! Kindest regards from a wet and grey London, UK!
Mahalo from wet and grey Seattle, WA to you! Now if only we had your rosemary chicken crisps in the States.
Ha ha!
Am sure they can be ordered on line from somewhere?!?!
Hey Jana, I just nominated you for the Liebster award (you have to accept it) because I think what you’ve got going on here is great! I’m also loving your instagram. http://befasterblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/liebster-award/
Ha, Thanks Ben! That looks like a lot of fun. I’ll put this in my queue of things to get to! Is there a due date?
No due date, whenever you can! I totally understand the whole busyness, I’ve been there all month!
Hey Jana, I was wondering if you could help me out. I just got a zero image 6×9 pinhole camera as an early Christmas gift. It’s the one at f235. I think you’ve got the same one. I’m curious about exposure times. I don’t have a light meter, so I’m just going to be experimenting with what works. I was hoping you’d give me a general idea about exposure time to get me on my way. If I’m using ISO 100 film outdoors on a sunny day, what’s the general exposure time? Bright cloudy days? Dark cloudy days? Indoors with bright lighting? Indoors with low lighting? I’m not looking for exact times, just the ballpark. I’ll take notes on the first few rolls so I should know what to do in the future. Thanks for any tips or advice you can send my way!
Hey congratulations. Once you get used to shooting with your ZI 6×9 you’re going to love it. Using a light meter, even one you download to your iPhone, will help. I would take a look at my Flickr stream for some ideas, I did a fair job with noting exposure times: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanards/sets/72157630167730952/with/8023412787/
For sunny days, it looks like 2-3 seconds. For overcast, cloudy days, maybe 5 seconds or longer. It really depends on the light, what your important shadows are and the overall scene. Exposure can be challenging, especially for interior shots. And film has a reciprocity failure rate which needs to be considered as well.
That probably sounds a bit overwhelming, sorry. I’m still learning exposure myself. My recommendation would be to choose 1 type of film and just shoot that. You’ll get to know how that film exposes and you’ll get your shot.
There is a site: http://www.mrpinhole.com/exposure.php which can help too.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes. Seriously.
Thanks so much! The exposure times for the Zero Image seem shorter than what I’m used to – the Holga Pinhole Wide. I’ll have to make adjustments and get acclimated to the Zero Image. I’m looking forward to experimentation. Thanks again for your help, and I’ll be sure to post some of my results and share them with you ~
good luck with your pinhole work…it does take a helluva lotta shots to get just a few good ones! and i lost patience some time ago…! by the way, i just love seattle…i lived most of my life in london, england before moving to canada, and london is a lot like seattle, but without those fab mountains u have…!