View Camera

There are some things that seem to never change, or are never improved upon.  I have used the lowly, common wooden clothespin forever to hang sheet film to dry.  I have a bunch of them strung up on picture framing wire with springs at one end to keep the wire taut.  I had never given much thought to the fact that the common wooden clothespin sticks to the corner of the film and usually splinters a little wood onto the film when you remove it.  Just a fact of life and I have always lived with it.  I try to clip the very edge of the film and it has never been much of a problem. . . it is more of an annoyance.

There are times that things just happen unexpectedly.  I was walking through a store several years ago and saw something I had not seen before. . . bamboo clothespins!  Didn’t think much of it, but I did examine them closely and noticed the bamboo looked like a good material for a clothespin since it was not as porous as the wood I was used to seeing.  I ended up purchasing a package and replaced one of my film lines with them.

I was amazed at how well they worked.  They held the wet film just like what I had been using. . . they did stick, but not as bad. . . and. . . they did not splinter.  I immediately replaced all of the clothespins on my drying line and have been well pleased with the result.

You never know what you will discover if you take the time to look around.  If you are one that uses the old wooden clothespin to hang your film, you might want to look into getting some bamboo.  They work great for me!

JB