Introduction Task: Pinhole Camera

The following explanation is taken from Wikipedia;

“A pinhole camera is a very simple camera with no lens and a single very small aperture. Simply explained, it is a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box. Cameras using small apertures and the human eye in bright light both act like a pinhole camera.

The smaller the hole, the sharper the image but the dimmer the projected image. Optimally, the size of the aperture should be 1/100 or less of the distance between it and the screen.

A pinhole camera's shutter is usually manually operated because of the lengthy exposure times, and consists of a flap of some light-proof material to cover and uncover the pinhole. Typical exposures range from 5 seconds to hours and sometimes days.

A common use of the pinhole camera is to capture the movement of the sun over a long period of time. This type of photography is called Solargraphy.

The image may be projected onto a translucent screen for real-time viewing (popular for observing solar eclipses; see also camera obscura), or can expose film or a charge coupled device (CCD). Pinhole cameras with CCDs are often used for surveillance because they are difficult to detect.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera

Our pinhole camera consisted of an empty beer ‘can’ (or Energy drink, any 440ml ‘can’ or larger) with the top removed and replaced with cap (made from card), with a hole the diameter of a pin in the centre of the ‘can’. The idea being that, the ‘can’ was still accessible from the top, but at the same time being completely light-proof. We then proceeded into the dark room to put our undeveloped film into the ‘can’. This is because if the light hits the undeveloped film, then the film will go black, if left long enough.

With the film in position in the ‘can’, we went out into the world to find something worthy of our one shot camera. Taking the photo was just a case of removing the tape from the pin hole for about 10 seconds to allow the light to stream in and begin to hit the film. The tape then goes back on the ‘can’ and the film is then ready to be developed in the dark room.

After the film is developed and dry, it was just a case of scanning the photo onto the computer and inverting the colours, as a developed photo shows light colours as dark and vice-versa.

Admittedly, I found the whiteboard animation task a lot more enjoyable; however, I did find the theory behind how the pinhole photo-capture technique very interesting. This method is quite abstract and makes for some interesting photos so hopefully I’ll be able to incorporate this into possibly future work.

Below is a screenshot of my final developed and inverted photo. It was taken in the graveyard just across the road from the Waverly building. You can make out the trees but the gravestones seem to have blended in with the surrounding landscape.

(Click to Enlarge)