What Was Learnt

From this process I learnt how to make and use a pinhole camera. Making the camera was very simple but it was using the camera and developing which was difficult. After I had used the camera and developed a couple times the process got easier. I also learnt that the photographic paper is very sensitive to light and that movement in the photograph leads to blurring which makes a very interesting and dynamic effect.

Shooting and Developing

 I put the pinhole camera down on location and opened the shutter and exposed for one minute. After closing the shutter I returned to the darkroom to develop what I had captured. First I carefully took the photographic paper out of the tin and placed it into the developer for 30 seconds, then we placed it in water to stop it overdeveloping. Then I put it in the fixer for 30 seconds to preserve the image long enough for me to check to see if it is a good photograph. After that I placed it back in the fixer for five minutes to preserve it for a lot longer. After the five minutes in the fixer I placed it in water for a further five minutes to wash. After that I dried the photograph in the drying machine.

 I repeated the whole process another two times. I got varied results. My first photograph was slightly over exposed so I had to reduce my exposure time to thirty seconds. My second photograph I had reduced the exposure and it came out a lot better. My third photo I took inside in the library and I had an exposure time of three minutes and the photograph turned out better than I anticipated.

Creation Of A Pinhole Camera

To do the pinhole camera project we had to make exactly that, a pinhole camera. To start we got an average tin with a lid. We then marked where we wanted to have the pinhole on the tin, which we then drilled. Then we painted all the inside of the tin black so light would not reflect inside the tin and ruin the image but instead absorb the light. After that we taped foil to the tin with duct tape so the foil could act as the lens. We put a hole through the foil with a pin hence creating a pinhole which is the aperture. Then we created the shutter with a piece of card and more duct tape. This was important as no light could get in the tin until the picture was being taken. After that we stuck double sided tape inside the tin to hold the photographic paper. We then went inside the darkroom and had the photographic paper inserted in the tin. The tin was shut securely then was carried to the location to take the photograph.