With the advancement of digital photography over recent years, it’s easy to forget where a lot of the technology and images came from. This video from Martin Henson, who’s amassed a rather large collection of “vintage” film & digital cameras, shows us how going backward can sometimes carry you forward when it comes to your creativity & image making.
He says that having tons of gear doesn’t necessarily make you a better photographer, but what it can do is keep you interested in trying new things, and thus enhancing your creativity and keep things fun for you. If you don’t experiment, you’ll never create anything new or different!
“I think for me is the most fun is the pinhole camera, you know you can learn so much from using a pinhole camera and a light meter. Calculating exposure, picking the right type of light exposure, and the right type of light composition. There’s so much to learn and just because you haven’t got a preview or a viewfinder everything is done in your head. You have to think really hard about it so anybody who is film photography but has never tried a pinhole camera I would really advise you do that.”
I can remember the first time I shot on a pinhole camera back in High School and then again when Lensbaby released their pinhole lenses (which are tons of fun btw), and it opened my eyes to slowing down my “process” to figure out what to frame and if it was truly worth shooting. It’s a great exercise for creatives and truly worth giving a shot. Especially with a film camera! Follow along in the full video as Martin shows his methods for composing the shot, experimenting with vantage points, and how to calculate the correct exposures for the type of show you want to create, and as usual, let us know what you think in the comments below. Especially if you have some pinhole images of your own to share!
