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Issue: Winter 2007
SPOTLIGHT: How To Build a Pinhole Camera
Written by Paul Pennington & Maureen May
The pinhole camera is a light-tight box with a controlled light leak that records the subject on photographic paper or film. Unlike cameras with lenses, a pinhole camera can focus between an inch and infinity. The finished photographs are often recognized for their unprecedented depth of field—the range of sharp focus from foreground to background in the image.
Recycle a light-tight can with a snug fitting metal lid for the camera body. Cut a 1-inch-square hole halfway up the vertical dimension of the can. This becomes the base plate for your shutter–the pinhole where the light enters the camera.
The pinhole must be small, round and smooth. Careful attention to this detail will produce sharp pictures. Cut a 2-to-3-inch square piece from an aluminum pop can. Using a push pin, or a # 7 sewing needle, drill a hole by rotating the metal on a cardboard base. While holding the needle perpendicular to the aluminum, spin the metal and push slightly on the needle until it barely penetrates the aluminum.
Electrical tape is the best way to attach the pinhole to the inside of the camera body. Use four pieces of tape—one on each side—and a fifth on the outside over the hole itself that acts as the shutter. Paint the inside of the can flat black, making certain to cover the pinhole with an additional piece of tape to prevent clogging the hole. Remove the tape after the paint dries.
Load black-and-white or color paper in a darkroom with the shiny emulsion side facing opposite the pinhole on the inside of the camera. Orient the camera to the sight line you wish to photograph, keeping your back to the sun. Open the tape over the pinhole for about 30 seconds and then close. Experiment with length of exposures. With pinhole photography, the length of exposure time can vary from tenths of seconds, to minutes, to hours, depending on film speed, light levels and aperture—the pinhole size.
Process the film in a darkroom or professional photo lab.
For digital photographers drill a hole in lens cap and cover with metal pinhole using electricial tape for mounting and shutter.
Paul Pennington is a freelance photographer, specializing in art copy, action adventure, portraiture, architecture and landscape photography. He teaches art workshops and is an avid hiker.
Maureen May is a fine artist working in oil, pastels, printmaking and drawing.
Contact Paul and Maureen at (970) 259-0176.
