You can pay $5000 for a DSLR camera, or you can make a camera with your own hands out of stuff you probably have lying around your house right now.

Amazing, right?

I thought it was. I still think it is. I made my first pinhole camera about five years ago. It's a blocky, dull black hunk of plywood and aluminum. Not much to look at, but it changed my life.

Not all of my pictures are pinhole photos, but the process of learning how to use this homemade camera made me slow down, compose each shot with more care, think about the story behind it.

The longest exposure for most photos you'll see is about a thirtieth of a second, maybe an eighth if the photographer has really steady hands. The longest pinhole exposure I've done is four hours. That's a lot of thinking time.