30. Traditional B&W Photogrpahy: Constructing & Using a Pinhole Camera

This lesson is rather long and there are many steps, but it is straight-forward and simple. There is some danger of cutting yourself, so be careful! And follow important safety instructions. This lesson has 4 parts to it:

1. Constructing Your Camera

2. Taking Photos

3. Developing Your Negative Print

4. Making a Positive From Your Negative

MATERIALS

For this project, you will need 2 pieces of cardboard, a long metal ruler, a sharp knife (box cutter or Exacto blade), a first-aid kit (just in case), a cutting matt, matte black paint, brushes, a small square of alluminum, a pin (to make the hole), some black gaffer's tape, some light-sensitive photo paper, and access to a darkroom.

1. Constructing Your Camera

A pinhole camera can be any shape and size, and there are plenty of options for materials. You could use wood, metal, found objects, etc.

For this lesson, we'll be using cardboard because it's light, strong, and cheap. First you must cut out two pieces of cardboard to size. One will be the body of the camera and the other will be the lid. The size of these two pieces depends on the size of the photos you wish to print - the larger the photos, the larger the camera box.

In our class, our prints are 4" x 5". So the body of the box comes from a cardboard piece that is 14" by 15", and looks like this:

The lid is 9¼" x 8¼" and looks like this:

When cutting the cardboard, there are several important considerations:

1. Measure twice, cut once! Make sure all your measurements are correct before you cut! Look at your measurements and ask yourself - are the lines really straight? Do they all meet at perfect right angles? Is anything at a weird diagonal? If so, then start over - and, no, you don't need a new piece of cardboard. The cardboard is still perfectly fine, it's the measurements that need adjusting.

2. Always use the ruler to cut!!! The ruler is your armor, it protects your hand. Before you cut, always put a ruler over the line! 

When you hold your ruler, check that no part of your hand or fingers are sticking out over the ruler, in the line of the knife! 

Keep your fingers away from the ruler's edge! As you cut, push your knife ever so gently against the ruler, to keep all your lines straight. 

NOTE: The knife doesn't want to cut straight. It wants to find the path of least resistance. With corrugated cardboard, the surface is so uneven it pushes the knife around, in arcs to the left and right. A rule helps take those straight cuts so much easier.

3. Stand up!! Do not cut sitting down! You must stand up so you can put all of your weight down on the ruler so it won't slip. There's no benefit using a ruler if you don't put weight on it.

4. Make sure your cardboard is over the cutting matt! 

You don't want to cut the table!

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5. Box cutters and Exacto blades must be pulled, not pushed. You don't want to push these blades into anything. You start at the far end, and you pull the blade toward you - note the blade itself is pointing away from you.

6. Note that box cutters and Exacto blades are one-sided, not double-sided. They are not sharp on both sides. Only use the sharp side of the blade to pull across the cardboard. Do not hold the blade upside down.

7. Don't attempt to hold and cut the cardboard in the air. You'll have no control, and likely cut yourself. Put it down on the matt like I showed you, and use a ruler, pressing down on it with all your weight.

8. Some parts of the cardboard you will need to cut out completely. Other parts require scoring (a partial cut, so you can fold the board neatly). Don't attempt to fold without scoring first!

This fold was scored with the knife

9. When cutting off a piece - you'll never cut it completely in one pass, and that's okay. Don't press hard with the knife! Press gently and repeat several passes until you get a nice, clean, straight cut. To score your cardboard, just press gently for one pass, and that should allow you to fold the cardboard nice and straight.

10. It's easier to cut out a little square in the lid (in the middle) before you glue it together, so do that now.

When you finish cutting, your two pieces should look like this:

The Body                                The Lid

Gluing Together Your Camera:

When you have cut your cardboard to size, you'll see there are tabs. Put glue on the tabs to connect the 4 sides of each piece together. Tabs on the body go on the inside:

Tabs on the lid go on the outside:

NOTE: While gluing together the lid, make sure to wrap it around the body so you know it'll fit! 

You don't want to make the lid too small, or you'll have to make another one! Measure twice, glue once!

Once you have the body and lid glued to shape, and you know they fit, hold them up to the light. Do you see any light peaking through the edges?

That's bad , but don't worry, we're going to fix that now. To start, take some thick tape and tape up all the edges, from the outside. You can even tape two layers to be extra safe:

In this photo I used Gaffer's Tape, but that's a mistake - I've found it peels off after a few hours. Duct tape is stronger. Gorilla brand makes a strong black tape as well.

Next, we'll tape up an alluminum square on top of the lid (not underneath). The metal square can be from a soda can or roofing shim, it really doesn't matter.

The tape itself is a bit reflective, so we don't want any of it on the inside of your camera.

Next, use a pin to push a tiny hole into the alluminum - do it from the inside, pushing out, as it's easier to sand after. 

I've found that thumb tacks make larger holes, that create blurrier images - with a range of exposure times from 5 seconds outside in sunlight to 15 minutes for interiors. I've used a much finer needle for smaller holes, without much difference in sharpness, but the exposure times are much longer - 15 minutes outside in bright sunlight.

Once you have a hole, sand it down so both sides are nice and flat (an uneven opening can distort the light).

Feel that the hole is perfectly smooth.

You can cover this pinhole with a thick piece of tape, to use as your "shutter" (or you can simply put a finger over it, and release it once it's in position). 

Now you're ready to paint your box. Regulations at my school forbid using spray paint (and it smells), but a matte black paint is ideal for this job. If you plan on using spray paint (teachers) do its outside in a field, with a big piece of cardboard underneath to keep any of the paint from getting where it shouldn't, and wear a mask. Better yet, find a water-based matte black paint for students to use - they have these things at Home Depot.

I found that a couple coats is good.

At our school we use black acrylic to paint the insides of the box. It's better than nothing, but acrylic paint can by quite glossy, which you don't want. Any shiny surfaces can cause light to bounce around like a ping-pong ball. There are so many things that can go wrong with these cameras (many of my students consider this the most frustrating assignment of the year), so you want to limit all confounding variables.

When your box is painted and dry, congratulations! You're ready to start taking pictures!

2. Taking Photos

So, first you need to load your camera. That's easy. Go into the darkroom (first take off any light-emitting devices!). Pull off the lid and stick a piece of photo-sensitive paper inside (shiny side facing up).

If you find it's too big to fit, trim the paper down. If it's too loose, tape the back of the paper to inside of the box. It's good to pre-cut 4"x5" pieces and keep them in a box for your students - it limits waste.

Now, put the lid back on, and seal it by wrapping the edges with thick tape (optional, but again, less confounding variables). 

You may now leave the darkroom and find a suitable subject to shoot - note you only get one shot at a time. If you take two shots on one paper, you'll get a double exposure - which could be a cool idea to try.

To take a photo, place your pinhole camera somewhere flat and stable, pull back the tape "shutter" and let the light expose your paper. 

PRO TIP 1: If you can't get the angle and height you want, a stool can make a great "tripod" for your camera. 

Depending on where you are, the times can vary greatly. Outside on a sunny day, you may find that 5-8 seconds is plenty of time for an exposure. In a dimly lit hall, you may need to wait 15 minutes or longer! In a case like that, you really want your camera steady and motionless. Use these shutter times to start with, and then develop your picture. Depending on how they come out, return to your shooting location and try a different exposure time - this art form relies on trial and error to get it right.

PRO TIP 2: If you leave some space on the lid for writing, you can write notes on it that will help you and other students get the right exposure times - notes like "Outside facing the sun - 6 seconds" or "Outside, grey day, 28 seconds" or "Hallway, 12 minutes" - whatever time actually makes a great exposure. Doing this will make this lesson so much more positive for future students. It should be standard on all pinhole cameras.

PRO TIP 3: Long exposure times give you all sorts of creative options - You can pose in place for a few minutes and then leave, to create "ghost portraits". You can make multiples of yourself in different places in a photo.

3. Developing Your Negative Print

To develop your photo, take it back to the darkroom, take it out of the camera and use the chemistry, just as I explain in this lesson (no need to repeat it here). For students who don't understand the process, they may open their cameras outside of the darkroom in their excitement to "see the photo!" Which, of course, ruins the photo. This is why it's important to have them make photograms first, to learn darkroom development process.

4. Making a Positive From Your Negative

To create a positive version of your image, you'll need a glass contact proofer (easel), and you just sandwich your negative image with an equal size paper, with the negative on top, and the shiny surfaces of each paper touching. This video shows the process:

link to Heidi Varela's Youtube video here

Other Pinhole Camera Designs

Cylindrical pinhole cameras are another great idea - they can create a more panoramic effect to your photos. Also try different sizes and depths. Wide angles are tricky - if the camera body is too thin, the light struggles to reach the corners. With Telephoto designs - the farther the paper is from the light, the longer the exposure time. It all requires a lot of trial and error.