Scanning my Photographs

 I placed all 6 pictures on the scanner, and logged in by using my student card. I then clicked on send, and selected “Send to myself” I also pressed format and changed it to the to JPG option. I then pressed the big green button on the dashboard which completes the process.

Developing my Photographs...

After each photograph I took I then had to develop it in the darkroom. I brought my camera back into the darkroom and only when inside the darkroom I removed the seal and the lid from my box. I then carefully took the piece of photographic paper and placed it shiny side down into “Developer” This is the chemicals used to reveal the photograph; I left my photograph in this solution for about 30 seconds.

I then took my photograph out of the developer using tongs and placed it in the “Stop” for 10 seconds. This stops the developer working and keeps the image the same.

I then placed my photo into the fixer for 30 seconds. After this I took out the photograph and brought it into the light to view my result, if I was happy with it I then took it back into the darkroom and left it in the fixer for another 5 minutes, my picture was then ready to be dried and put into my sketchbook. If I wasn’t happy with the result then I could just bin it straight away without putting it back into the fixer.

                                                  

Ready, Set...GO!

I was then ready to go out and take some pictures with my new homemade pinhole camera. I was anxious to see whether my pinhole camera was going to work. I found different locations that I thought would make a good photograph. I placed my camera on something sturdy when I had the camera positioned in the desired place I carefully lifted my shutter and left it open for the time needed. I timed this on my phone for a hopefully accurate result. I then closed my shutter whilst the camera was in the same position and only after I had done this I moved my camera. All of the 6 photographs I took with my pinhole camera came out successful, whether they were good or not was another matter! But none came out completely black or white, which I was happy about.

How I made my pinhole camera...

Before I began to build my pinhole camera I needed to bring in a box, tin, tub or anything that could be made completely lightproof. I brought in a long shoe box. After this I marked a square about the size of a stamp at one end of my box, I then cut this out using a craft knife. I painted the inside of my box black, including the lid. I needed to make sure my box was completely covered in the black paint for best results. Whilst waiting for the paint to dry, I measured the length from one end (where my hole was) to the other end of my box. I measures 275mm, from this measurement I was then able to calculate the F-stop number which is the amount of time needed to capture my picture, I did this by dividing 275 by 0.8 which was;

F-343.75 To work out how long I needed to leave my shutter open inside and outside, we created a scale for an aperture size of F90 which made the exposure time for indoors, 4 minutes and for outside 30 seconds out) using this information I worked out that to take a picture inside I needed to leave it for 16 minutes indoors and 1minute 20 outside.

Once my paint was dry I cut a piece of foil to size to fit the hole in my camera, this was to be my lens. In the centre of the lens was a pinhole. I also need to make a shutter; I made this from black duct tape. I placed this over my lens lightly so I could still lift this up to reveal the lens or close it to hide the lens, It was still vital that when my shutter was closed it was impossible for any light to pass through the camera.

 The next thing I did was load my camera. This process had to be done in the darkroom. I brought my box into the dark room, and cut a piece of photographic paper to fit the end of my box. I stuck this down using double sided tape. After I made sure my paper was secure and I had stuck it the right way round, shiny side facing out I could then put the lid onto my box. It was vital to make sure that no light could get into my camera at all; if it did it was ruin the whole picture. The lid to my box had tiny gaps so I sealed this with duct tape. I also had to make sure my shutter was closed before I exposed my finished pinhole camera to the light outside the darkroom.

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, tin or chamber. On one of its sides is a small hole about the size of a stamp which lets a small amount of focused light through , this lens can be opened and closed by using a secure shutter, allowing the exposure when needed.  This light is then projected onto the photographic paper at the other end of the camera (box) and a picture is created after by using the chemicals in the darkroom.