Pinhole photography Archives - Nigel Goldsmith photography & film

All photography and Photoshop training now available online

Due to popular demand, over the next few months I am moving all of my training and consultancy services online. You can now learn Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, smartphone photography and videography as 1:1 or 1:2 sessions via Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts.

For ‘off the shelf’ teaching sessions, the price is £30 for 40 minutes. If you would like bespoke training tailored to your needs, prices start at £35/hour. As there is no charge for travel, this training is available to you wherever you are in the world. I should be able to offer sessions at a time that suits you.

Nigel gave me technical and video shooting tips that will take me to the next step of filming my own business video. He is a knowledgeable and generous teacher. N.P. Athens, Greece

My regular courses, include; introduction to Photoshop, Intermediate Photoshop, Introduction to Lightroom Classic, smartphone photography, smartphone video and sound recording.

Iphone photography workshop

I can also offer bespoke training on most aspects of digital and analogue photography, lighting and even pinhole camera making and photography.

I have delivered courses and small group training at; University of Bristol, University of Bath, Coventry University, to Zurich Insurance, Microsoft, National Trust, BBC, among others.

If you would like to know more, please let me know. mail@nigelgoldsmith.co.uk

Shooting a training video with smartphone ( iPhone SE ) using Filmic Pro

Extreme pinhole photography at historic houses in the Bristol and Bath area – guest speaker

A pinhole camera is one of the simplest devices you can make and, if used with care can take pictures beyond the abilities of even the most sophisticated of digital cameras. In this informative and entertaining talk, I take the audience back in time to over 400 years BC to the earliest types of camera before looking at the work of the pioneers of analogue photography before explaining my personal journey through the history of photography and how this has inspired a pinhole project that I have been working on for nearly 20 years. Exposure times are normally measured in fractions of a second and occasionally for whole seconds or even minutes, the pictures in this talk are taken over the course of several months or even years so they capture the world in a way no normal camera can.

6 month pinhole Cheney Court near Bath.

The extreme pinhole photography project has led to exhibitions, practical workshops, formal training sessions and invitations to chat about my work with an audience. I have delivered this talk at National Trust properties, universities, WI groups, camera clubs, history societies and many other types of group. No previous understanding of photography is required.

Talks start at £80 for a group of up to 100 people. I normally need a large TV screen or projector with HDMI connection to run the talk. I can provide these at a small additional price. I am based near Bath and there is a small charge for travel to and from the venue. This talk can also be delivered online. For more information please email me mail@nigelgoldsmith.co.uk

Pinhole photography classes in Bath

Pinhole photography class at the Royal Photographic Society in Bath

It is quite easy to think of photography as being a highly complex and technical process however, the principles of photography are very simple and a basic pinhole camera can be constructed with the types of items found in a typical rubbish bin. While the image quality of these cameras is basic by modern standards, there is a mystery to the pictures and in some situations, a pinhole camera can capture images beyond the ability of even the most sophisticated digital SLR. Throughout 2017, I will be running a series of one-day pinhole photography classes at the Royal Photographic Society’s (RPS) HQ in Bath.

The workshops introduce the fundamentals of photography and camera construction before the students make their own cameras and use them to undertake a set of tasks. The students will process their negatives in the darkroom.

If you have never seen a picture appear in a developing dish, this is one of the wonders of analogue photography.

During the class, we also look at contemporary photographers that are exploring the potential of pinhole cameras.

No prior knowledge of photography is required and all materials are provided.

For more information or to book visit the RPS website

Pinhole photography class at the Royal Photographic Society in Bath

Pinhole photograph taken with home-made pinhole camera

The abandoned car. 12 month pinhole picture of a car park

Extended (12 month) pinhole picture from Ditteridge near Bath

The owner of the car on the left of this picture must have reduced their carbon footprint massively as it has hardly moved over the 12 months of this exposure. On the right, cars appear only as faint, unrecognisable ghosts. One of the fascinating qualities of these images is that they record features which the passing observer wouldn’t notice. How would you know which car had been abandoned if you took a normal photograph of a car park?

The lines in the sky show the passage of the sun across the sky through the year.

Abandoned car at Cheney Court

This image is part of an on-going project at Cheney Court near Bath. More images from this project can be seen here.

Traditional black and white darkroom workshops

Many photographers feel that while their digital cameras produce amazing quality images when used correctly but believe the craft of the media has been taken from them and embedded in software applications. The darkroom is still a place where the true craft of photography can be found. Darkroom equipment which was once priced beyond the means of the typical enthusiast photographer can be picked up in online auctions for a tiny fraction of its original value. Sadly, courses on the subject are slowly disappearing as colleges convert their darkrooms into digital editing suites.

DeVere 504 enlarger

Traditional black and white photographic prints still have some significant advantages over their digital equivalents the most obvious being its archival quality. A properly processed and washed black and white print on fibre based photographic paper should still be around in a hundred years time. The digital equivalent would need regular conversion by the photographer and their progeny to be available for future generations.

Facilities

My darkroom is just outside of Bath, it houses two enlargers, a Devere 504 covering a range of film formats including; 35mm, 6cm x 6cm, 6cm x 7cm, and 5″x4″ and an LPL C7700 enlarger for 35mm up to 6cmx7cm.

Darkroom Workshop

Classes are limited to a maximum of two attendees.

Typical workshop content might include; an introduction to darkroom equipment, film processing demonstration, contact printing, enlargement, use of multigrade paper, dodging and burning and split grade printing.

Mobile darkroom

If you would prefer to have the workshop at your home or workplace I also have a portable darkroom which can hold between three people including myself.

Prices

The price per person which include all materials is £160 for the day

For two people booking together the workshop is £300

If you would like me to deliver the course at your home or workplace give me a call or drop me an email.

My darkroom experience

I have taught both digital and film photography for over twenty years and have worked as a commercial photographer for nearly thirty. While all of my commercial work is now digital I am still passionate about traditional photography.

Combined courses

My training courses can be combined into a three day workshop covering fundamentals of photography including pinhole cameras and darkroom work. Photographic lighting including flash, incandescent and fluorescent and digital image editing using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.

Please contact me if you would like to know more about combined analogue and digital course.

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