Pinhole Photograph with 6-month exposure

The pinhole was 0.25 mm in diameter. A soda can is about 120mm high so his aperture would be f/480.

3600 sec/hr * 24 hr/day * 180 day/half year = 15,552,000 sec. Round that to 16,000,000 sec

By the sunny 16 rule film speed should equal shutter speed so he needed an ASA 1/16,000,000 if his aperture was f/16. But his aperture was f/480, approximately 5 stops smaller. His film's speed needs to be 5 stops faster than ASA 1/16,000,000 or approximately ASA 32/16,000,000 = ASA 1/500,000 = ASA 0.000002. If he were using ASA 100 film then he needed a neutral density filter with about 22 stops attenuation.

:thumbup: Thanks for that. That's gonna be really useful if I try to do it... :D
 
By the sunny 16 rule film speed should equal shutter speed so he needed an ASA 1/16,000,000 if his aperture was f/16. But his aperture was f/480, approximately 5 stops smaller. His film's speed needs to be 5 stops faster than ASA 1/16,000,000 or approximately ASA 32/16,000,000 = ASA 1/500,000 = ASA 0.000002. If he were using ASA 100 film then he needed a neutral density filter with about 22 stops attenuation.

You're not accounting for reciprocity failure though, which I bet would be pretty significant on a 6 month exposure.
Plus, at night there wouldn't be much light, if any, hitting the film.

Obviously, the results weren't 22 stops overexposed - so I'd say it worked.
Did it work? Even throwing in a few stops one way or the other for reciprocity failure and nighttime I think my figures are in the ball park (on a log scale). I'm wondering if this might not be a hoax?
 
beautiful.. how come I always get my shots waaaay over or under.. I guess thats why this guy is a pinhole pro.
 
The spectacular picture shows each phase of the sun over Bristol's Clifton
Suspension Bridge taken over a six month period.
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Can anybody post a link to the "photo paper" he used? when i google it printer paper comes up... I would really like to try something like this
 
Can anybody post a link to the "photo paper" he used? when i google it printer paper comes up... I would really like to try something like this
I don't know which specific paper he used, but any photographic paper would work.

Black & White Paper | Freestyle Photographic Supplies

That would be light sensitive paper, what you use for printing in a darkroom - not what you put in your printer.

Obviously, you need to load and unload the paper in total darkness...
 
THANK YOU SOO MUCH!! I have been calling around to the camera shops here and nobody has it and they wont tell me where to find it. What would i develop it with? Just standard chems I would use for 35mm?
 
THANK YOU SOO MUCH!! I have been calling around to the camera shops here and nobody has it and they wont tell me where to find it. What would i develop it with? Just standard chems I would use for 35mm?

Google, Merlin Paintcan Pinhole Camera, they are cheep and effective.

Ilford Multi-Grade IV RC paper is as good as any to make pinholes (both negatives and prints). It's easy to find and the Ilford chemicals are easy to mix and use.
You are going to need access to an enlarger to expose your final prints and basic dark room supplies to develop both the negatives and prints.
 
That was an amazing image.

I've heard of doing pinholes with a 35 mm by putting a hole in the lens cover. Anyone try this?
 
Surreal! I hope I'll have the time to do pinhole experiments of my own too. Of course, I probably don't have the patience to wait 6 months for a single picture.
 
If you're using paper instead of film you wouldn't need an enlarger. Once you process the paper negative you would just make contact print positives from it and you need a light source but not an enlarger. I'd guess you have to use paper to make an exposure this long as it is so much less sensitive to light.
 

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