Today is the 10th Annual Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Since it’s inception in 2001, WPPD has always been the last Sunday in April. Right now, there are photographers in every time zone making pinhole pix as their way of participating in WPPD. Last year, photographers in over 70 countries uploaded 3,200+ pinhole images made on WPPD to the official event site. You can get to all of the WPPD galleries here.

I’ve been an intermittent practitioner of pinhole photography since childhood. If you’re old enough, like me, you may remember making pinhole cameras out of a Quaker Oats box and a piece of foil. In art school, some five American presidents ago, I made a barrel-shaped, pinhole camera that used 20″x24″ litho film. Why? If you have to ask, you need to start shooting pinhole. It’s unpredictable. It’s surreal. It’s not bound by formulas and rules.

Rest assured that pinhole photography is alive and well today. While many pinhole shooters are traditionalists, meaning that they shoot film, there are a number of pinhole options for digital photographers.

The Lensbaby Pinhole Zone Plate is my favorite way to shoot pinhole photos on my DSLRs. As part of the versatile Optic Swap system it drops into the Lensbaby Composer. I’ve been a Lensbaby fan since their earliest days. If you don’t already know about all the creative options that Lensbaby provides, you definitely need to check out their site. The Lensbaby offers both a pinhole at f/177 and a zone plate at f/19. What’s the difference? You’ll have to check back. I’ll share pinhole and zone plate comparison photos after I shoot my WPPD 2010 pix.

Another great site for alternative optics is Pinhole Resource. They sell a wide range of pinhole cameras as well as options for digital photographers. I’ve carried one of their Digital Pinhole Body Caps in my bag for the past several years. Eric Renner, co-director of the Pinhole Resource, is the author of Pinhole Photography: From Histroic Techniques To Digital Applications.

Two other favorite books on pinhole photography are The Pinhole Camera: A Practical How-To Book… by Brian Krummel and Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity by Michelle Bates (which actually covers a wide range of fun-to-shoot cameras).

So, if you’re feeling trapped by all the digital technique and Photoshop know-how that you’ve worked so hard to learn, then bust loose and start shooting your world in a new way. Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is a great excuse to set aside that expensive glass and have some fun.