For this Friday the 13th in May, I thought a ghost photograph was appropriate - a garden ghost. Sometimes I see two figures that appear to be hugging when I look at this eerie image. The garden ghost(s) appeared mysteriously and disappeared in a wispy swirl of mist, leaving behind a patch of freshly turned over soil.

Actually, this is a pinhole photograph of my Spousal Unit, digging up the soil in the vegetable garden. The camera I used was the Zero Image medium format pinhole, with T-max 100 film. Even on a sunny day, as this was, I needed to keep the shutter open for several seconds, blurring any action.

That tendency to blur action is both an advantage and a disadvantage of pinhole photography. It can make scenes with wild activity, such as flapping flags and crashing waves, appear calm. But it can also convey action, such as flowers or leaves blowing in the wind. And there also lies the disadvantage. You can create a ghost, but can’t capture the image of a flower when it’s windy. Wildlife also is not a suitable subject for pinhole photography. And no way can I get a photo of my Weimaraner, who is in perpetual motion when ever she isn’t asleep (and even then, she twitches and moves while she is dreaming). I have tried multiple times to get a photo of my dog with a pinhole camera - but get a ghost dog every time.