Creating a Pinhole Camera

The Task:

To make a pinhole camera, we first had to find and bring in a box. I used a simple shoe box as the outer structure of my camera. After deciding which side of the box would host my lens, I cut out a small square hole, approximately 1 inch by 1 inch. I then painted the inside of the box and lid black. This was to ensure no light would reflect in side the camera and affect the light sensitive photo paper. Once the paint (simple matt poster paint) had dried, I cut out a piece of foil, slightly bigger than the hole to act as a lens. I secured it in place with gaffer tape and then created a cover out of cardboard to protect the lens from light before I wanted to expose it. Then, I pricked a hole in the lens (hence the name pinhole camera) and took my box into the dark room. As the photo paper is so sensitive, any light before desired exposure will ruin the picture. It must therefore be secured on the opposite side of the box to the lens INSIDE the dark room. Two small bits of tape, double sided, hold the paper upright and in place whilst photos are taken. I taped up any gaps and holes to ensure no light entered the box and lightly tacked the cover in place. 

I was then ready to take a picture. By calculating the f-stop, I could tell how long the exposure time was for both inside and outside. We used 'distance between pinhole and back of box/ diameter of pinhole' as formula to work out the f-stop. The pinhole was estimated at roughly 0.8mm and the width of my box measured 173mm. My f-stop was therefore 216.25, which gave approximately 10 minutes of inside exposure time and 2 min outside.

Once one picture had been taken, I returned to the dark room without opening the box. Once inside, the gaffer tape could be removed and the photographic paper was put through 4 different trays. The first three trays were developing chemicals to show the negative image on the paper. The fourth was a water tray to wash off any remaining chemicals before the picture is put through the dryer. If I was happy with the picture, I kept it, if not it could be either kept as proof of practice or put in the bin. The process could then be repeated to take other pictures, starting from the stage of securing a new piece of photographic paper in the camera.

Scanning:

Once I had my photos developed, I used the scanner to send my picture to the computer so I could change it to a positive image. I followed these steps:

Photocopier:

Step 1: Log onto the photocopier by swiping my card

Step 2: Click on send

Step 3: Click send to myself (this sends the image to my college email)

Step 4: Select file format of JPEG

Step 5: Click the green button on the dashboard

Step 6: Check my email

Step 7: Use Photoshop to invert my images.

Flatbed Scanner:

Step 1: Log on to computer

Step 2: Open Photoshop

Step 3: Click on import from the drop down bar.

Step 4: Choose scanner

Step 5: A preview screen appears

Step 6: Select the image I want

Step 7: Click Scan

Step 8: Save picture onto my USB key, in JPEG format.

Photoshop:

In Photoshop, I saved the cropped version of my photo and then inverted it. After scanning, I had to cut out extra space that had copied with the photo. Inverting gave me a positive version of my photo, as well as the original negative. The pictures were all saved onto my USB key in a JPEG format. I also played around with different effects on photoshop to get to grips with the technology. As I had used photoshop before, I understood how to operate a variety of tools. A Photoshop trial:

My Pinhole Photography:



Positive





Negative









Positive





Negative





Positive





Negative



Evaluation:

Pinhole Cameras have developed vastly to give us the technology we have today, such as mobile phones with cameras and digital cameras that take photos in great detail. Simple ideas of reflection and exposure have allowed us to take photographs for advertising, social networking, clothing designs and many more. There are different genres of photography. These are Aerial, Black and White, Commercial, Documentary, Fashion, Fine Art, Forensic, Glamour, High Speed, Illustration, Landscape, Nature, Paparazzi, Photojournalism, Portrait, Still Life, Underwater and Wedding. My simple pictures were achieved by the method discussed above.

When looking at my photos, I was able to evaluate them. I believe I only have two pictures that came out well, as the others were either over exposed or not left long enough. I had trouble with the first few attempts as the paper was being exposed in the dark room, due to a bright light. When I moved into another room, the photos began to work. I adjusted the exposure time twice outside as it didn’t seem to work at only 50 seconds. I used 2 minutes on the successful ones.

 I would have liked to take more photos in a variety of locations however I was short of time. Another chance to be creative and find interesting shots would benefit me. Photographs taken outside the boundaries of college would also have given me inspiration and produced more interesting shots.