Photography literally means drawing with light. When we think about photography we think of a camera with a lens. But what happens when you don’t use a lens? Is that even possible?
When we think of a lens, we often picture tube with glass on the front of a camera. The role of the lens is two fold: to let light into the camera and focus that light on the sensor so the photo is sharp.
But you can achieve both of these roles without a traditional lens. To start, a hole will allow light into the camera. But how can you make sure that the image is in focus on the sensor? The first way to do this is by using a small aperture. The smaller the aperture, the more in focus the image is from foreground to background.
The second way you can make sure your image is sharp is by making sure the edges of the hole that allows light into the camera is not jagged or frayed. I want the edges of the hole that I create to be as crisp as possible.
So I start with a piece of aluminum. Usually I just cut a piece off of a soft drink can. I use a pin to make the hole – that is where the pinhole camera gets its name. But I don’t just poke the pin through the aluminum. In the process of doing that, I would make a dent on the opposite side of the aluminum and I want my aluminum to be as flat as possible. So I push the pin into the aluminum but I don’t push it through.
It makes a little dent on the opposite side so I turn it over and I use rough sand paper to sand the surface. Then I use the pin on that side to push on the same spot. I continue to poke, turn and sand.
Eventually I make a hole in the aluminum and then I start to spin the needle instead of pushing the needle. This process is important and helps me to make a hole that has crisp, even edges. This will help me have a sharp image.
Then you will need an extra camera body cap that you don’t mind ruining. I used a drill to make a hole in the middle of the cap and then I used black tape to attach the aluminum to the cap. I make sure that the hole in the aluminum is in the middle of the cap.
Put the body cap onto the camera. When you capture an image you will probably need to use a tripod as your shutter speeds will be long. Select manual exposure mode to select your shutter speed. Your aperture can’t be changed because it is the pinhole. The other aspect that you can control is the ISO (the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor).
You will have to experiment with your shutter speed and ISO settings Of course it depends on the amount of light where you are capturing an image. I decided I wanted to try to use as low an ISO as I could which meant that my shutter speed when capturing photos outside was around 1 second.
When I looked through the viewfinder everything was dark so one of the most important things that I did to be successful was to use live view to compose my image. That way I could accurately frame my image.
Check out the pinhole challenge movie:
