Pinhole Cameras

What is a pinhole camera?

  A pinhole camera, also known as camera obscura, or "dark chamber", is a simple optical imaging device in the shape of a closed box or chamber. In one of its sides is a small hole which, via the use of light, creates an image of the outside space on the opposite side of the box, and this is where the square/rectangular piece of film will be placed.

Different examples of pinhole cameras

Holga 120 3D Stereo Pinhole Camera

ONDU 135 Pocket Pinhole Camera

Home Made Pinhole Camera

Pinhole Photography

Materials needed to make a pinhole camera

  To make a pinhole camera, you will need:

- matchbox

- electrical tape

- reel of 35mm film

- old 35mm film spool

- marker pen

- drinks can

- craft knife

- pair of scissors

Process of how to make a pinhole camera

Long Exposure

  With all of the following photographs, I took them in complete darkness using an ISO of 3200, a shutter speed of 10 seconds, and an aperture of f/8.

  To take these, the equipment I used was a tripod which was set fairly low to the ground to capture the whole movement of the light.  I also used a 'lightsaber' to create the patterns which you see below.  No other equipment was needed (other than the camera obviously) to complete this long exposure shoot, as it took place in my back garden.

  These are a some others that I captured which are along the same lines (I didn't like these ones as much, which is why they are apart of my contact sheet instead of being part of my final product).

Mock Photographs

For this photograph, I used the Empire State building, and a long exposure of a lightsaber being swung around.  I then layered them to create this swirl of light travelling up and around the building.  I like this one as it almost looks like someone has graffitied up the walls.

This Photograph is of Lady Liberty shining her torch as the sun sets in the distance.  I have put a layer of leaves on top of her, and combined with some filters I have used, gives it this over saturated look, but also still maintains a very detailed fore and back ground in which the colours occupy.

Both this photograph and the one below are using the same two photographs, but moved about to show different lighting and aspects of lighting that would otherwise be hidden if I were to only show one section of it.

In this photograph, I have cut out my friends eye and replaced it with a picture of a light up tree from my back garden.  To fade the tree in to the eye properly, i have gradually rubbed out buts of the blue glow round the edges, and this blends the colour more as you look closer to the centre.  I put a monochromatic filter on my friends face to draw more attention to what is happening inside her eye, as that's the most busy part of the photograph.

For this photograph, I used the same principle as the last one, which is to cut out a section of the top layer, and replace it with another layer underneath.  In this case, it's a door way filled with a sunset, instead of an eye with lights in it.

My Pinterest

My home page:

https://uk.pinterest.com/ellishicksoneh/

  On here you can see a variety of landscape photographs from all over the world.  They vary from cold mountain ranges to warm oceanic sun sets.

Taken at the Vermillion Lake, Banff National Park, Canada

Taken in Portugal

Emulation Plan

 Taken by Sandra Senn

 Taken by Galen Rowell

Taken by Lois Conner

  This photograph was taken in Shanghai, China, in 1999 using a film camera.  I like how the statues are highly detailed in the foreground, and the background is slightly blurred due to a light layer of mist.  This is effective as it directs your eyes naturally towards the statues of the men, almost forcing you to absorb the detail they hold.  I also like how there is a mixture of swirls and curves combined with the straight, rigid lines that some of the buildings hold.  This makes the photograph almost natural, yet it's of an urban jungle.  I also think that the monochromatic colours take away any distractions, and draw your eyes towards the detail within the photograph, creating more of an impact when you view it.

  To be able to do my own photo shoot of a cityscape similar to the one above, I will need to use my analogue camera to be able to catch the same sort of effects Lois Conner has created in his photograph.  As I do not live in china and cannot revisit the place as shown, I will have to look a bit closer to home.  My thoughts on this would be to try and find a similar setting near the River Severn, and to capture my photograph there.  I will try and keep the layout the same, but for obvious reasons, I will have to change the subjects in the fore and background.

Artist Research

Artist Research - Lois Conner

 Taken in China, 1985

Taken in Yuanming Yuan, China, 1998

Taken in Summer Camp Xiahe, China, 2002

  With all of these photographs being taken on an analogue camera, they all possess this look as though the camera has a milky filter on the lens, as they all hold lots very white and not so contrasting layers within the images.  With each photograph, I think that Conner is trying to portray the sense of nature, and because the world we live in is so massive, you can travel it and find new things you haven't seen every time you stop and absorb your surroundings.  The photographs taken in 1985 and 2002 both show off how much space they hold by including a range of mountains.  This gives you the thought of being an ant compared to these huge, toned mountain ranges.  As they are in the background of both images, they are faded and not as detailed as the foreground, but they still hold this sense of them watching over you as you concentrate on what's in the foreground.  All three of the photographs use the rule of thirds well, and contain a good mixture of natural and man made lines.  I also like how the film has been developed in monochromatic colours, as this takes away any distractions within the photograph, and allows your eyes to see the details that Conner really wants you to see, and by doing this it means that the photographs are more real to us, and allow us to make a more fonder memory of the subjects within the shot.

Double Exposure

With double exposures, you take one photograph and lay it over another, but with the opacity turned down so both images show.  In this case, I’m taking my photo of a friend and combining it with the leaves off a tree, and this should give me the effect of the leaves being inside the outline of my friend.

Add these two photographs together and you get...

...This, a double exposed photograph in which you can see both images.

  This photograph was taken by Andre De Freitas, which is the artist I have based my Work on, as he has taken some really good double exposures, such as this one below.