Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2021

Our second pinhole day with Covid restrictions!

Members Competition 2021.
Entries by midnight 24th April. Anonymous independent judging, prize £50 photo materials voucher. Any pinhole process (sieve, zone plate, solargraph, camera obscura photo etc.) made between January 2021 and 24th April. Submit one entry per person by email. (Digital file 1800px max side preferred ). Winner announced on pinhole day. In the event that any of the organisers photos are selected – the prize will go to runner up.

On Sunday the 25th we will celebrate the simplicity of camera vision with a hybrid day of virtual chats and a socially distant photowalks. Join in online, outdoors or go your own way!

10am Coffee Chat – online.

11am Socially Safe Sakura Search – outdoor photowalk in the Meadows, Bruntsfield.

6pm Wrap Up – online. Competition winners will be announced.

Submit any pinhole photos taken on the 25th to the Edinburgh Lofi gallery group by June 30th 2021.

March 2021

This month we have been discussing :

The Hexham Photography Group have Doug Chinnery giving an online talk this month.

Stereo camera conversations continue – the Sputnik and two hacked Lubitels on trial. Reminiscing over old Stereo Realist cameras and Viewmaster reels.

Sputnik Stereo Camera

110 cameras with some lovely examples on Chris Osborne’s site https://cjo.info/classic-cameras/pentax-auto-110/

Some surreal moments on flash bulbs!

1890’s spy camera and early street photography article.

Cyanotyping on maps and speed formulas for in camera cyanotype processes.

How minature can collodion plates go?

Chromatography.

chemical hand photogram - Ali Miller
LoFi Members Resource Directory now set up

Our next online meetings are April 13th from 6:30pm, April 25th for pinhole day activities (10am virtual coffee, 11am socially distanced sakura photowalk and 6pm virtual wrap up and competition results) and April 28th from 10:30am. Send us an email or DM on Social Media to get added to our virtual world.

The Edinburgh Fuji Photo Trails

History

In the 1990s, Fuji and the Edinburgh tourist board set up phototrails of all the picturesque shots in Edinburgh. They produced a leaflet in 1993 guiding tourists round the most photogenic points in the city.

Nowadays, the trail is forgotten, but still exists as brass plaques embedded in the pavement.

In March 2010 a visit to Central Library led us to find the leaflet and to the creation of an online map to show the routes. This allowed us to make them available to all. Two days of photowalks were organised later that year. The Blue Trail walk round the old town in May was on a beautiful bright day but the Red Trail in July has to have been the most rainy photowalk of that year. (Remember Flickr…)

Fuji Photo Trail Back Page
Back page of the leaflet with some helpful film hints for your city visit!

Here are the routes revived for a lockdown walking project.

Map

Click a map point for more information.

These trails are from the 1993 booklet “The Fuji Phototrail of Edinburgh”:

The New Town Trail (Red)

  1. The North Bridge from outside the Edinburgh and Scotland Information Centre
  2. The view from Calton Hill
  3. George Street, Frederick Street intersection looking North.
  4. The East End of Princes Street and the New Town from the Mound steps.
  5. Edinburgh Castle from St Cuthberts Churchyard.
  6. Charlotte Square.
  7. Moray Place.
  8. Dean Village and the Water of Leith.
  9. Dean Village from the waterside.
  10. St Mary’s Cathedral from Grosvenor Crescent
Black and white contact sheet
From walking the Red Trail July 2010

The Old Town Trail (Blue)

  1. The view of the Castle from outside the Edinburgh and Scotland Information Centre.
  2. Views from the North Bridge.
  3. Lady Stair’s Close.
  4. Ramsey Garden from Ramsey Lane.
  5. Views from the Castle Esplanade.
  6. Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket.
  7. Victoria Street.
  8. View looking down the Royal Mile from St Giles.
  9. Advocates Close.
  10. White Horse Close.
  11. The Palace of Holyroodhouse with Arthur’s Seat
robot 3 camera photo of advocates close
From the Blue Trail in May 2010 – Advocates Close taken with a Lomography Robot 3 Camera

Out of Town (Green)

  • South Queensferry
  • Swanston Village
  • Blackford Hill
  • Cramond Village

February 2021

This month we have been discussing :

Graham Vasey’s photography talk. https://hexhamphotographygroup.org.uk/graham-vasey-19th-february-2021

A Celebration of Stereoscopic 3D – Part the Second
20 – 21 FEBRUARY 2021
https://stereoscopy.blog/celebration-of-stereoscopic-3d/

Book – Photography Beyond Technique

Historic photo studios – preserved and recently discovered – https://eu.mpnnow.com/story/lifestyle/2021/02/01/rare-susan-b-anthony-portrait-historical-photos-found-geneva-ny-attic-during-renovation-project/6562923002/
https://www.petworthpenthouse.com/surviving-victorian-photographic-studios.html?fbclid=IwAR0ocPu50EUtvIo6DMIqw724zIvjiUHix34ZahUbMpobMo2NrcDCXw9nwaw

Firsts and fakes –
https://hyperallergic.com/83097/20-of-the-first-photographs-of-things-from-people-to-hoaxes-to-the-moon/

Gordon Parks – books and exhibitions – https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210203-gordon-parks-beautiful-photos-of-an-ugly-history

620 spools and respooling 120 –
https://filmphotographystore.com/search?type=product&q=620

Direct positive paper – how best to use and develop. https://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/harman-direct-positive-255-c.asp

Where to get digital negs done – at home printing tips and companies that produce them? – https://deadlydigital.com/services/#photographicprinting

Who has the right to your image? –
https://www.thecut.com/article/emily-ratajkowski-owning-my-image-essay.html

Extreme camera design – when the camera comunicates more than the images produced –
https://todayinart.com/untouchable-hiv-camera-by-wayne-martin-belger/

Pinhole cameras – new Stereo pinhole on Kickstarter – https://minutastereo.eu/

Our next online meetings are March 9th from 6:30pm and March 31st from 10:30am. Send us an email or DM on Social Media to get added to the call.

January 2021

Happy New Year!

Here is a quick summary of some of January’s discussions:

Nancy Breslin Pinhole Photography
A wonderful opportunity to see Washington DC artist, Nancy Breslin, talk about her work and to hear her review some of the Hexam Photography groups pinhole portfolios (16th of January).

Cliché-verre with sand.

BRNO Dry Caps and other ways to alleiviate the horrors of lens mould!

Bellows, brass, black paint! DIY view cameras.

Women Photojournalist’s (Library of Congress)

Pictorilist – F. Holland Day

Atget – 100 Years Later

The Calotype Society and the other The Calotype Society

The calendar everyone has been waiting for! LoFi 2021!
A5 duplex (PDF ~120MB) and A4 (PDF ~120MB)

Our February meetings are Tuesday the 9th from 6:30pm and Wednesday the 24th from 10:30am – DM on social media or drop us an email if you would like to join in – all welcome.

A Fish Eye’s View

John Beaver

Department of Physics and Astronomy, UWO Fox Cities.

UW Oshkosh Dean’s Symposium 8 October 2020.

A presentation exploring the physics and art of seeing the world with a fish eye’s view.

Recording of the presentation https://us-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/9353a56c85bb48858f06db6c9b249c84

Download a copy of the slides (PDF 149Mb) https://www.dropbox.com/s/gfhm3rufu2www8a/fisheye.pdf

And that album cover…

Dark Box Studio Visit

LoFi was invited to the studios of Dark Box Photography to make some wet plate collodion images.

The “Dark Box” in this instance is their travelling darkroom in the shape of a well known police box – just the right size to pour the collodion plates , sensitise them in the silver bath and develop after exposure.

Dark Box’s director (and LoFi member) Gregg McNeill generously showed us round his studio and lighting set up before letting us loose on his beautiful victorian cameras.

A very enjoyable day even with all the covid secure measures! A collodion club when possible would be wonderful.

Plate in final water bath.

Our guided efforts turned out very well but please look at the Dark Box portfolio to see just how beautiful the unique plates can be.

Dark Box is available for portrait sessions in the studio and on location – full details can be found on their website.

Join in with the Dark Box photographic explorations on www.patreon.com/darkboximages including the new film about John Mawson and his petzval lenses.

Let There Be Light – Part 2

Traditional, alternative and lomographic photography 2020 group show.

Planning the exhibition in 2019 we based the work around the ideas of enlightenment and our gratitude to being able to access the public library network. As events unfolded in 2020 and the physical exhibition was postponed we began to consider the effect the pandemic has had upon our photographic practices and how it is important to question and appreciate that which we took for granted.

G Lyall

Part 1 – April 2020

https://edinburghlofi.com/exhibitions/2020/lettherebelight/part1/

Part 1 – THE GALLERY IS OPEN (Click to enter)

As our April exhibition was postponed we decided to celebrate pinhole photography online by showing a selection of photographs taken before lockdown began. (Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day occurs each year on the last Sunday in April http://pinholeday.org/ )

From cardboard boxes with actual “pin holes” to expertly jointed wooden craft pieces with precision drilled plates the variety which can be acheived with the simplest of cameras always inspires us to see the world around us in a new light as we slowly wait for an exposure to be made.

J Rowan

Part 2 – August 2020

https://edinburghlofi.com/exhibitions/2020/lettherebelight/part2/

A selection of images, both newly made and from our unexhibited archives, exploring life as it is now in this “new normal” and the life that we miss in these novel times.

Members projects will go up daily and a catalogue will be available for download on August 31st.

Part 2 – THE GALLERY IS OPEN (Click to enter)

Hacked

Few things are as satisfying for the LoFi photographer as producing a compelling image using a cardboard box and some leftover instant coffee!

This months online exhibition celebrates hacked cameras, processes and prints.

Coronadol processed negatives, laid on white screen of tablet for makeshift light table inverted on iPhone. Brittonie Fletcher, 2020

Click through to the gallery – more work will continue to go up over the month of July.

Hacked Gallery (Click to enter)

Join us in August for Let There Be Light – Part 2.

Featured Image: Through the Dishwasher, Mandy Kerr.

Summer Outings 2020

Summer Outings while we maintain social distance will be difficult but in the spirit of LoFi – pack up a cake and coffee and self-guide yourself safely round our suggested routes.

We will set off from the start at 11am, if you want distant company. Please stay 2m apart, bring a mask and hand sanitiser!

Sunday July 26th – Forthquarter Park and Shore

Map


View Larger Map

Route

Start with a view of the Granton Gas Works off Waterfront Broadway.

Head south to the park entrance.

There is a large Morrisons supermarket if provisions are required.

Forthquarter Park is a newly developed previous industrial site .

Walking west through the park you will see part of the Granton Burn and wildlife at the quarry pond. Granton House stood on this site before it was destroyed by fire in 1954.

Leaving the Park at West Shore road travel north east through the redeveloped land to Caroline Park Avenue and Granton Castle Walled Garden.

North from the garden follow Charles Darwins path by the Firth coast along West Shore Road looking for photographic specimens to collect. The 3 bridges should be visible in the distance.

Continue to the grassy area of Gypsy Brae, the location of Granton Sea Quarry.

At this point you can choose to continue along the Shore to Silverknowes/Cramond or head inland through the tree-d area to West Shore Road and south Marine Drive and the Muirhouse Roundabout where buses to town are available.

Want to know more about the history of Granton and spend more time exploring? Try Curious Edinburgh’s Granton Tour.

Download the route as a PDF –

ForthquarterPhotowalkDownload

Please email in photographs from this walk to add to the Summer Sundays gallery.

Sunday August 30th – Ravelstone Woods

Meet at the Queensferry Road entrance at 11am.

Map

Information leaflet.

Route

We will circle through the woods back to the start point. Coffee will be available in Craigleith after.

Public transport – LRT buses 13, 38, 41, 42 and 43 stop nearby.

Please email in photographs from this walk to add to the Summer Sundays gallery.

Sunday September 27th – Three Harbours and Porty

Meet at Port Seaton Harbour at 11am.

It is Cyanotype day this weekend so we will make some impromptu sea shore images.

Map

TBD

Route

We will continue along the coast to Cockenzie and Prestonpans. Cockenzie house cafe is open. For those wanting to make a day of it Art Walk Porty also has events on – including an outdoor screening at 7pm.

Public Transport – LRT 26, 111, 118, X26.

Please email in photographs from this walk to add to the Summer Sundays gallery.