Making and Using My Self-Made Pinhole Camera

I brought in a tube to make my self made pin hole camera with. First, I drew a small square in the middle of my tube using a pencil, then using a knife I cut the square out. Next, I painted the inside of my tube black so light wouldn’t reflect inside. I stuck foil over my cut out square and taped it down with duct tape to make the lens of my camera. I used a pin to pierce a hole into the foil. I then stuck duct tape over my pot lid so I could cover the inside of the tube, preventing light from getting through. I created a flap over my foil next so I could easily open and close the lid by taping a rectangular black card next to my foil, then taping duct tape to each side of it.

I measured the width at the top of my pot which turned out to be 72mm and divided it by 0.8 to get 90mm. That meant it would take me 30 seconds to develop a photo outside as the light is bright outside and 4 minutes inside. I learnt the process of developing a photo inside the darkroom before cutting out photographic paper and sliding it into the tube. I closed the lid shut inside the darkroom so the photographic paper wouldn’t become prematurely overexposed. It was then finally time for me to go outside and develop my photo!

I left the first photograph exposed for 30 seconds and returned to the darkroom to develop the photo. I left my photographic paper in the developer for 30 seconds, and then moved it to the next tray of water for 10 seconds. Finally I left it in the fixer for 5 minutes. I then moved it to the last tray of water to clean it off. However it turned out pitch black, meaning I had left it developed for too long. I shortened my next time frame outside to 15 seconds because the sun was very bright that day, exposing my photo to light quickly. When I developed that photo it turned out well, so I decided to try developing my photos inside. I left the lid open for 2 and a half minutes, but when I developed that photo in the darkroom, the photo came out white. I left the second photo for 4 minutes with the same effect. The last two photos took me 10 minutes, but the first photo turned out black on one side, while the other side was fine because the light was shining brightly on one side of the photo, while the other photo turned out black once again.