Pinhole Camera

In my Digital Photography class, we made pinhole cameras. My teacher thought that making a pinhole camera would give us a more understanding of the cameras we use today. Today I thought I'd teach you how to make your own pinhole camera. They are easier than you think.

Supplies:

A tin with a lid ( Ex.Cookie tins, Christmas tins) It can be round, square, tiny, huge

Electrical tape

Matte Black Spray Paint It has to be matte or it won't work

Embroidery needle

Instructions: 

1. With your needle, you will make a (very) tiny hole in the middle of the tin's lid. You can take a hammer and hammer the needle if manually won't work.

2. Spray three coats on the inside of the tin and lid. It has to be three so that the inside is pitch black.

3. After your tin is dry, make sure you hole is still there and didn't get covered over with paint. With the electrical tape, get a long enough strand so you are able to cover the outside of the lid's hole. 

The electrical tape is there so when you are ready to expose photo paper, you can take off the tape fast and stick it back on so the paper doesn't get exposed any more. 

That is how you make a pinhole camera! 

In order to actually develop your prints, you will need a dark room because you have to make the negative and positive with the light sensitive photo paper. Getting to use a Darkroom can be tricky as you usually have to rent time or find someone you know who has one (which is rare!)

These are my pictures that I made. They turned out pretty decent for my first time. I can tell you, I am thankful for digital because it takes a lot of time to make the prints. 

My negatives. After developing my negatives, I have to transfer them over to new sheets of photo paper with the enlarger in the darkroom. 

My positive prints! On the left is Batman and on the right is a miniature English mailbox. 

I am still fascinated that a tiny box that I bought at a thrift store was able to produce images and all I did was add certain paper and it printed right on it. All the steps to making a pinhole camera is simple, but the results it gets awes me.