{"id":34551,"date":"2013-03-13T13:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T17:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=34551"},"modified":"2013-03-12T14:23:13","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T18:23:13","slug":"camera-obscura-in-the-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2013\/03\/photography\/camera-obscura-in-the-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Camera Obscura in the Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"34567\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2013\/03\/photography\/camera-obscura-in-the-forest\/attachment\/jk-nybg-03-08-2013-14-header\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"914,879\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Joel Kroin photography\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header-300x288.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-34567\" alt=\"Joel Kroin photography\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header-300x288.jpg\" width=\"284\" height=\"272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header-300x288.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/JK-NYBG-03-08-2013-14-header.jpg 914w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 284px) 100vw, 284px\" \/><\/a>It&#8217;s a delicate patina that defines <a title=\"Plant Talk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/?s=Joel+Kroin\">Joel Kroin<\/a>\u2019s photographs. Each black and white image takes on the small specks, blurs, and aberrations of antique film&#8211;not far off from how they first appeared when the method was developed in the mid-19th century. Known as <em>camera<\/em><em> obscura<\/em>, or the pinhole camera, Joel has <a title=\"Plant Talk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2011\/05\/photography\/the-rose-garden-through-the-pinhole\/\">fashioned his own devices<\/a> from various containers and hand-operated shutters, finding the technique still well-suited to capturing near untouched wilderness. Say, for example, the <a title=\"Thain Family Forest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/gardens\/thain-family-forest\/index.php\">largest old growth forest in New York City<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kroin&#8217;s work varies with the seasons, of course. Not all landscapes fit the bill for such a time-consuming process. Stately summer trees rounded with foliage make for difficult subjects in a medium which values contrast&#8211;too many leaves, too much movement. But the inherent stillness of a winter wood, with its sharp network of barren branches, makes all the difference. Here is where Kroin&#8217;s pinhole expertise comes into its own.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nTo get a sense of the photographer&#8217;s work, you should definitely see <a title=\"Plant Talk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/?s=Joel+Kroin\">the results of his previous visits<\/a>, be it the <a title=\"Rock Garden\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/gardens\/rock-garden\/\">Rock Garden<\/a> in winter or tackling the challenge of <a title=\"NYBG Daffodils\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/gardens\/plants\/daffodils.php\">daffodils<\/a> in spring. What amounts to a simple click of a shutter button for most people becomes a study in patience when Kroin sets to work. And this was equally the case this past week, when he set off into the Forest during the nor&#8217;easter&#8217;s downpour.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Last Thursday I was one of the few people to go into the Forest,&#8221; Kroin writes. &#8220;With fresh snow falling, it was a fairyland experience. I took photographs that may show the last winter imagery for the current season. Between the snow and the dim, confusing light, taking pictures was a challenge using my pinhole camera.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Challenge or not, he came through with flying colors (figuratively speaking)&#8211;as always!<\/p>\n[Not a valid template]\n<p>We&#8217;re always looking forward to Joel&#8217;s next batch of pinhole masterworks. In the meantime, you may want to set aside some time of your own to see the <a title=\"Thain Family Forest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/gardens\/thain-family-forest\/index.php\">Forest<\/a> in all its stark winter wonder&#8211;this is likely your last chance before the leaves take over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joel Kroin returns to the forest with his 19th-century camera in hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[952,146],"tags":[3077,1075,1489,4633,2393,4631],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-8Zh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34551"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34672,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34551\/revisions\/34672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}