Through The Eye Of A Needle: Pin-Hole Photography

Today, in the space of an hour I built my very own camera, took a photograph (see next previous post) and processed it in the dark room I set up at home. You can make a pin-hole camera out of just about anything, even a car. Just so long as it's completely sealed from any possible light source. Here are the 8 steps you need to follow to make your very own home-made camera.

Easy peasy.

Step 1
Get a container, it can be any shape, you just need to be able to make it light tight.

Step 2
Colour the inside of the container black. You can use spray paint, black card, even shoe polish. Just make sure it's completely black inside.

Step 3.
Punch a hole in the object.

Step 4

Cover the place where you made the hole with some aluminum foil, taping it on, making sure no light gets in.

Step 5
Using a pin make a hole in the foil in exactly the same spot where you punched the hole in the container. Now you have a very fine aperture opening.

Step 6
Now you need to make a light-tight lense cap. Simply cut a piece of card and place it over the pin hole, attaching it with some masking tape.

Step 7
Cut a piece of photographic paper to fit into your container, in a dark room, with no light pollution. You don't want to expose the paper before you insert it into the camera.

Step 8
Take your picture. Keeping in mind, because the opening is so small you'll need to take a long exposure. Put your container in a stationary position and remove the lense cap. I did a few tests and decided 20 seconds was long enough for my camera. There are ways to calculate it but I decided to figure it out myself through the forever successful method of trial and error.