Pinhole Camera

For the first action project in the Light, Sound, and Time class, we were asked to create a pinhole camera and take an image with it. The first unit of this class was called Light. We focused on different light waves and how they work. We went into depth about what kind of light waves there are in the universe and the math that goes along with it. We talked about the electromagnetic spectrum and the different waves you can measure using it and the way colors work. When it came to colors, we focused on the way colors are absorbed and reflected. I learned a lot about waves and the different parts of them and how to measure those. We covered a lot of math and it was all very helpful and useful and I think that I understood it all. This action project is about the way light can be used to take an image and the way that a dark room can create an image itself. The camera itself is just a cardboard canister and it can take an actual picture. I am very proud of the way my camera turned out.
__________________________________________________________________________

Pinhole With Cover. MF, 2016.

Pinhole Without Cover. MF, 2015

My pinhole camera captures light through a small hole in the aluminum. Depending on how big the hole is, the more light will go into the cardboard canister. The light will reflect the image onto the photo paper inside and the paper will show the photo once we develop it. While it does capture light, it is not an example of refraction. This is because as the rays pass through the lens, they don’t meet and come into contact with another medium so they are not refracting.


The camera I created was based on an experiment where the camera was as big as a wall and the room was completely black. The inside is black so you can control how much lights goes into the cardboard canister.The color black absorbs light while the color white reflects it. This is important because the photo paper is very light sensitive so in order for the image to come out, there needs to be no light getting in until you open the shutter. This camera ties into a lot of things we learned in this unit. It demonstrates the wave vs particle idea because it has light waves that pass through the small hole in the tin while it also leave particles behind in order for the image to show up. The light coming into the hole makes an image which uses energy. The electromagnetic spectrum is used because there are a lot of different light waves that come in through the hole.


The distance from my lens to my photo paper is 3.5 inches, the height of my pinhole is 4 inches. I decided to photograph my water bottle and the height of that is 10 inches, and the minimum distance away my camera can be in order to take a good picture is 5.25 inches.

Similar Triangles

My picture did not end up coming out but I still think that it was a great experience and I'm happy I got to try out creating a pinhole camera and developing a picture from it. I think my camera was not 100% light proof. I don't think that I painted the black on thick enough so a little bit of light was getting into the sides. If I were to do this again, I would want to make sure that my canister was completely black inside and that no light could get in except through the pinhole.

Pinhole Fail. MF, 2016.

Works Cited:

Theme, Pinhole. "The Pinhole Gallery." The Pinhole Gallery. Wordpress, 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.