There are few better places to take a pinhole camera than to the beach.  Their natural aptitude for long exposure work makes them perfect for the never-ceasing ocean.  In addition, the soft nature of a pinhole camera to render painterly images finds its perfect home along the picturesque edge of the sea as well.  This Reality So Subtle 6x6 Dual Pinhole camera was loaded with Lomography Color 100 film when it made its trip to the edge of our continent.

We went wandering with our Reality So Subtle 6x6 recently, loaded with a roll of Lomochrome Turquoise film.  It seemed like these two would play well together and the results proved quite fun.  But sometimes the trick with pinhole cameras (or Lomochrome film) is figuring out how the scene as you see it with your eyes will translate through the skewed perspective of the camera (or film).  So we wanted to share this before and after with you to show you what the camera had in front of it as well as how it saw that scene.

We understand that you might think that, after working an entire week up to our ears in photography, by the time the weekend rolls around, we might want to distance ourselves from it, even just a bit.  And yes, we are many things beyond photographers, but we are most definitely photographers as well.  Doing our own photography helps fuel that passion with which we work during the week. ⠀ ⠀

It was on one such day off, during which one of our staff snapped this photo of his Reality So Subtle (loaded up with expired Ilford Pan F) on a quiet, misty hike in nearby Forest Park.  We are pretty lucky to work jobs in a field that we are willing to pursue, even when we are not at work.  We take that as a sign that all of us here are in the right place.

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Here, we have the beloved Reality So Subtle 6x6 dual pinhole of Zeb Andrews, overlooking the sea caves that honeycomb the coast near Cape Flattery, OR.

For as often as we rely on them, we really don't give tripods the spotlight they deserve.  That lack of attention by no means implies a lack of appreciation.  One of our favorite tripods is the Manfrotto 055.  It is such a well-built set of legs.  Despite its weight (which for tripods, translates into stability), it easily justifies being hauled up trails and over miles.  It will hold 35mm cameras as well as medium and even large format.   It's legs splay straight out or at other wacky angles.  It's tall.  It's sturdy.  It is a do-everything kind of tripod.  We even used one to dig a car out of a snowbank one time... no joke. ⠀ ⠀

Certain models have this nifty feature that allows you to swing the center column horizontally.  While not a feature we use too often, when the need does arise, it is certainly a helpful capability.  Getting one of these tripods is like buying your last tripod, first.  So, hear hear! to tripods in general, and to this Manfrotto specifically.  So many of our photos simply would not have happened without them.

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It was nearly Halloween when we made this image of the famed Fremont Troll up in Seattle.  

Legend has it that the VW Bug, caught under the troll's massive hand, was full of photographers using Fuji film... the troll is a vociferous advocate of the Kodak emulsions.  Of course, we have heard the opposite version of this story as well, but, seeing as how our pinhole was loaded with a Kodak film and we escaped unscathed, maybe there is something to that first version...⠀

We have also included the portrait of the troll made by our Reality So Subtle pinhole that October day.

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A Reality So Subtle pinhole camera... inside of the barrel of a giant artillery cannon!

Sometimes you work with what you've got - necessity is the mother of invention, after all.  

Normally, we carry a Gorillapod, in order to easily resolve most tripod situations; but on this particular occasion, we found ourselves Gorillapod-less.  Here, a Holga 120N kindly lends itself as a makeshift tripod, giving our Reality So Subtle pinhole a bit of a lift.  Considering how wide angle this camera's view is, those extra few inches really help prevent the foreground from being overpowered by the wooden cabinet surface.  We've included the resulting image for you to see how this one turned out.

On a related note, if you want a good exercise in creativity with your pinhole camera, try leaving the tripod at home next time.  It is only natural to handcuff these cameras to tripods.  They virtually never use fast enough shutter speeds for hand holding.  At the same time, however, a tripod so often forces these cameras into certain perspectives that get away from one of the cameras' niftiest features: it's insane depth of field.  When your pinhole is three feet up on a tripod, and so far away from its closest subject, this aspect of pinhole photography becomes very under utilized.

Try taking your camera out without its tripod.  Set it down on things.  Get it close.  The results can be a lot of fun.

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Yet another brilliant addition to the Reality So Subtle pinhole family.  This 6x6 pinhole has a thinner body, therefore a wider range of view, than most other 6x6 pinholes out there.  Plus, it has an offset pinhole for rise.  That's right, perspective control pinhole - ingenious!

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Happy Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day!  Wherever you head out to today, make sure you grab something lensless to take along.  The pinhole featured here is the Reality So Subtle 6x6.  It has dual pinholes, one centered and the other set above to achieve a rise function.

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James Guerin, mastermind behind Reality So Subtle, has been making pinhole cameras professionally since 2013.  After stocking our shelves with our first RealitySo Subtle cameras, we sold out in less time than it takes to make the average pinhole exposure.  

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