Illustrated Recipe for a perect Pinhole Camera
Ingredients
treat yourself -1 x container (e.g. biscuit
tin, chocolate powder carton etc.) 1 x sharp knife ( DANGOURS becareful) Black Gaffa/Duct tape A very thin, sharp pin Black matt paint and a brush (or black spray paint) Aluminium foil (Tinfoil) or a soft drink can A pair of scissors (optional) Step 1
get your Find a suitable container e.g. a cocoa tin or box. Try to one which has a removable lid and that the material is light proof.
Step 2
Panit or spray panit which ever one you would like the inside pitch black so there is no other colour showing if you think that is not anought paint/spray paint the out side as well , this will ensure that you will get a perfect image also panit your lid black aswell
Step 3
Using the nife (Warning Dangous becareful )Cut a rectangular hole half way up the container (approx. 2 cm square)
Step 4
Cut a 2.5 cm or so it is bigger than the rectangle square piece of aluminium foil (tinfoil) and smooth it out. Use a
pin to create a small hole in the centre of the tinfoil. Step 5Duck tap the tinfoil to the container making sure the pinhole is over the
rectangular hole you already made Step 6Make a shutter out of card or tape that can open and close when you need it. Make sure that it covers the pinhole so no light can shin thought.
Step 7In the darkroom (under the red safe light) cut a piece of photographic paper to fit inside your the pinhole camera. Secure it in place with a small piece of tape if necessary. It should stay still throughout the exposure. attach the lid of your container and close the shutter.
Step 8Go outside and find a suitable subject. Make sure that the camera is stable and can't be moved during the exposure if need to hole down on a levle surface. Open the shutter and expose the paper. Depending on the size of the pinhole and the brightness of the light your exposure can be anything from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Make an educated guess and use your first image as a guide.
Step 9Ones you think the exsposure is done Close the shutter at the end of the take the camera back to the darkroom. Carefully remove the paper and place it in the chemicals:
Frist put it in the developer for 1 minute.Secondly bath it for a few seconds then finally wash the print ,squeegee the print and hang to dry. Step 10There are two methods to creata positive from your paper
negative: In the darkroom: The print has to be dead dry not dam DRY!. Get a flat sheet of glass bigger than the image and another sheet of paper roughly the same size as your negative. Place the new (unexposed) piece of paper shiny side up underneath the enlarger. Place your paper negative on top of this and the glass on top of both. Select an exposure time of approx. 8 seconds. Expose the image. Remove the bottom piece of paper and develop as before. |