A pinhole camera is simply a light-tight box with an open pinhole for a lens. You can make a pinhole camera with basic household goods. Youll also need to buy photo paper and chemicals for processing, but then you can enjoy taking and developing pictures completely on your own. Pinhole cameras make fun projects that will teach you a lot about how photography works.
Making the Pinhole Camera
You can use a shoebox, a photo paper box or a cylindrical oatmeal container for your pinhole camera. Cameras with a greater distance between the photo paper and the pinhole will have a longer focal length. A pinhole camera with a longer focal length, such as one made of a long cylindrical oatmeal box, will produce close-up images with less depth of field. In other words, less of the image will be in focus. Cameras with shorter focal lengths will have greater depth of field, but the images will appear smaller.
Whatever box you use, make sure it is light-tight. Paint the box black to prevent light from reflecting off its surface. Seal any openings in the box with black electrical tape. Cut a small hole in the box on one side, and tape aluminum foil over the hole with black electrical tape. Make a tiny pinhole in the aluminum foil with a needle.
Make a shutter with black electrical tape and attach it to the box above the aluminum foil. Tape one end of the shutter down at the top, and leave the rest movable so you can open and close the shutter. When you want the shutter to be closed, you can tape it down with small pieces of clear tape that can be easily lifted.
You should be able to open the box to load photographic paper, but make sure you tape it shut with black electrical tape once the paper is inside.
Taking Pictures
Use your pinhole camera to make exposures directly onto photographic paper rather than a negative. You can load photo paper into a pinhole camera much more easily than you can load negatives, and you can develop the images in your bathroom.
Make sure you have a light-tight room such as a windowless bathroom or closet to load the paper. You might need to stuff towels under the door to prevent any light from entering the room. In total darkness, trim a piece of photo paper so that it will fit into your pinhole camera, and tape it to the inside of the camera opposite the pinhole. Seal the box with black electrical tape before taking it into the light.
To take a picture, place the camera on a sturdy surface so that it will not move, and open the shutter. Pinhole cameras allow much less light to pass through the camera than a typical lens, so exposure times will have to be much longer. Depending on light conditions, you will probably need to keep the shutter open for at least 60 seconds. Experiment with different shutter speeds.
Developing Pictures
You can develop your pinhole camera pictures in your bathtub or home darkroom under a red or orange safe light. Buy print developer, stop bath and fixer from a photographic supply store and follow the directions on the bottles for mixing the chemicals. Youll need to dilute chemicals with some water. Prepare the chemicals in trays in a bathtub or long sink, and set up a separate tray for the water wash. Depending on whether you use RC paper or fiber paper, you'll have to leave the prints in each chemical for different amounts of time. RC paper is better for beginners because you can process it much more quickly.
A pinhole camera is simply a light-tight box with an open pinhole for a lens. You can make a pinhole camera with basic household goods. Youll also need to buy photo paper and chemicals for processing, but then you can enjoy taking and developing pictures completely on your own. Pinhole cameras make fun projects that will teach you a lot about how photography works.
Making the Pinhole Camera
You can use a shoebox, a photo paper box or a cylindrical oatmeal container for your pinhole camera. Cameras with a greater distance between the photo paper and the pinhole will have a longer focal length.
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. A pinhole camera with a longer focal length, such as one made of a long cylindrical oatmeal box, will produce close-up images with less depth of field. In other words, less of the image will be in focus. Cameras with shorter focal lengths will have greater depth of field, but the images will appear smaller.Whatever box you use, make sure it is light-tight. Paint the box black to prevent light from reflecting off its surface. Seal any openings in the box with black electrical tape. Cut a small hole in the box on one side, and tape aluminum foil over the hole with black electrical tape. Make a tiny pinhole in the aluminum foil with a needle.
Make a shutter with black electrical tape and attach it to the box above the aluminum foil. Tape one end of the shutter down at the top, and leave the rest movable so you can open and close the shutter. When you want the shutter to be closed, you can tape it down with small pieces of clear tape that can be easily lifted.
You should be able to open the box to load photographic paper, but make sure you tape it shut with black electrical tape once the paper is inside.
Taking Pictures
Use your pinhole camera to make exposures directly onto photographic paper rather than a negative. You can load photo paper into a pinhole camera much more easily than you can load negatives, and you can develop the images in your bathroom.
Make sure you have a light-tight room such as a windowless bathroom or closet to load the paper. You might need to stuff towels under the door to prevent any light from entering the room. In total darkness, trim a piece of photo paper so that it will fit into your pinhole camera, and tape it to the inside of the camera opposite the pinhole. Seal the box with black electrical tape before taking it into the light.
To take a picture, place the camera on a sturdy surface so that it will not move, and open the shutter. Pinhole cameras allow much less light to pass through the camera than a typical lens, so exposure times will have to be much longer. Depending on light conditions, you will probably need to keep the shutter open for at least 60 seconds. Experiment with different shutter speeds.
Developing Pictures
You can develop your pinhole camera pictures in your bathtub or home darkroom under a red or orange safe light. Buy print developer, stop bath and fixer from a photographic supply store and follow the directions on the bottles for mixing the chemicals. Youll need to dilute chemicals with some water. Prepare the chemicals in trays in a bathtub or long sink, and set up a separate tray for the water wash. Depending on whether you use RC paper or fiber paper, you'll have to leave the prints in each chemical for different amounts of time. RC paper is better for beginners because you can process it much more quickly.
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