Davidcugnasca.com
Title
DavidCugnasca_PINHOLECAMERA • P I N H O L E C A M E R A I M A G E S
Description
I could write a book about the pinhole camera and its use but there are many books on the subject available for reading. Let me just say that the use of the idea of pinhole images goes back to the times of Leonardo da Vinci and Piero della Francesca dating back according to what I¹ve read to the years around 1420-1950. It was used as a method of viewing perspective in painting. Artists would construct portable dark rooms and position them in front of objects or scenery and trace the image that projected onto the opposite side from the pinhole. At this time the method was called "camera obscura", which is Italian for room dark.
The difference between a pinhole camera and a traditional camera that is used today is that the pinhole camera does not have a plastic or glass optical lens. 35mm cameras and the throw-a-way cameras all have a lens to focus what image you are taking a picture of. A pinhole camera has only a very small round hole that creates an image that can be captured (or exposed) on light sensitive material. I was taught to use photographic printing paper as my negative film paper.
The camera itself can be any light tight container. A box, a can, anything that can be made light tight and is obviously easy enough to open and close when you change the pieces of paper (your negative) once you have taken your picture. The interior of the container must be flat black. This is so light will not reflect or bounce around inside the camera when you take a picture. Next you should drill or cut with an exacto knife (being very careful not to cut you) a hole or square about the size of your finger tip. How you make the hole is obviously dependant on what your camera is made out of......tin, wood, cardboard or plastic. Then take a piece of tin, like a pie plate or a pizza tin and cut a piece that is larger than your hole. The pinhole is the most important part of the camera. That is where you have to experiment with what you are using as a camera, how far away the pinhole is to the light sensitive paper and how large a pinhole is made. I was initially taught to simply use a pushpin. Put the piece of tin on something like a cutting board and take the pushpin and push it through the tin. You can rotate the piece of tin as you are holding the pushpin to make sure it is round. Then take the tin and with a piece of fine sand paper, lightly sand off the ragged edges of the tin of the hole you just made. Tape the edges of this piece of tin ( you can use black electrical tape) to the inside of the camera over the hole you just made. This is your lens. On the outside of the camera, put a large enough piece of tape (like black electrical tape) over the pinhole lens. This tape on the outside is your shutter.
Contact
- Cugnasca photography
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- Andover MA
- United States 01810
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