Pinhole cameras

Using a pinhole camera you can make your own camera out of materials around the house and take black and white photos with it.

To make a pinhole camera you will have to collect a few materials first.

You will need:

·      A box/ tin

·      Photo paper

·      A can

·      Knife

·      Drill

·      Needle

·      Sand paper

·      Black insulation tape

·      Sugar paper

You will also need to have access to a dark room and a developer.

To make the pinhole camera you will need a box or tin, when I made the pinhole camera I used a tin, before you do anything you will have to drill a hole in your tin so you can make the pinhole.

After you do this you will need to cover the whole inside of the tin with black sugar paper (so no light will reflect) you will have to put the sugar paper on the inside of the tin and on the inside of the tin lid.

Then you will need to get your empty and washed out can and cut it to make a thin strip of aluminium, after you’ve done this you will need to get your needle and put a clean hole through the aluminium can strip, but don’t just push it through because if you do this the hole might have a rugged edge and it needs to be perfect, after you have made the hole you will need to hold the strip towards the light and using a magnifying glass you need to look through the pinhole to see if it has been done correctly.

The you will need to smooth the hole off with sand paper then you will need to use the black insulation tape to stick the strip of aluminium with the hole in to your tin, you need to stick the strip of metal to the outside of the tin.

 Covering the hole you made with the drill should be the small pinhole you made on the aluminium strip.

After you have followed all these steps you should have your own tin pinhole camera and you’re ready to start developing pictures.

How to use a pinhole camera.

To use the pinhole camera you first need to have a piece of photo paper do not expose the paper to light until you know it’s fully sealed in your pinhole camera. To seal the pinhole camera with the photo paper in you will need to be in a dark room, put the photo paper shiny side facing the pinhole and your photo paper must be on the opposite side facing the hole when you’ve done this use the black insulation tape to seal the lid, tape around the lid to keep any light coming through.

After you have sealed the lid on you will be able to go outside to the natural light and capture your picture.