Pinhole day on steam

The last Sunday in April is always a red letter day for pinhole photographers as it’s Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. This year it happened to coincide with our holiday in Scotland so I was sure to find some good photo opportunities.

Our chosen destination for WPPD was the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway - a heritage steam railway on the south coast of the Firth of Fort. I decided to take just my pinhole camera and tripod so I could focus all my attention on slow photography. We hopped on the first train of the day and I couldn’t resist taking a selfie as we steamed through the Scottish landscape. Old steam trains rarely move quickly. but this one minute exposure makes it look like we’re traveling at warp speed!

A trio of platform scenes from Bo’ness station. Click on any image to see it enlarged.

I’d also taken my table top tripod along so I was able to get down really low if I wanted to.

Views of the station and tracks from ground level and up on the bridge.

The restoration shed is home to several ongoing projects, in various states of decay/rebuild.

The museum sheds over the bridge were full of interesting engines and carriages but most were too dark to contemplate taking a pinhole photo. I’m prepared to wait for a few minutes, but when the exposure time runs into half an hour or more I usually admit defeat!

In the post train it was only going to take four and a half minutes to take a photo so I decided to have some fun. I settled on one of the seats and patiently posed as though I was sorting post into the cubby holes, shifting every minute or two so I could show the passing of time. I had no idea if this would work, but it’s come out just as I’d hoped!

I made sure I was up on top of the bridge ready for the arrival of a train back in the station and this is what it looks like as a steam train passes directly beneath your feet. Just as I closed the shutter I was engulfed in steam!

The engine steams gently as the water tank is refilled, ready for its next journey. One of the joys of heritage railways is that nothing happens in a tearing hurry so I was able to plan all my images and then still had time to dash to the other end of the platform to catch it manoeuvring to hitch back up to the carriages.

I caught the left hand image as the freshly refilled engine steamed out from beneath the station canopy and then had just enough time to wind my film on before it reversed up from the points to rejoin the carriages.

The engine team were fascinated by my pinhole camera and kindly posed for a team photo!

My final two shots were captured as the train went out on its last journey of the day. I realised I’d just got time to take two photos but didn’t quite wind the film on far enough so I ended up with an accidentally overlapping double image. A complete mishap but I rather like the result!

Photos taken Sunday 30th April 2023

Life on the rails

I often take a camera with me when I’m travelling for work, but one day back in September I picked a pinhole camera to document my travels. I was heading down to the south coast for a rehearsal, with a longish wait at Havant station for my final train of the morning, so I perched my camera on a bench and captured my foot as a train whizzed through on the opposite platform.

The train departing from platform 2….

Doing some work on the train home…

Photos taken 26 September 2022