Peep Inside My Pinhole Camera

This unit is about light, sound and time, discovering what each means and how they all work together on earth. We explored our eyes,and looked into what parts make up a camera and eye..This was one of my favorite units this school year because I got to learn so much about light. I learned about why we see colors the way we do, which is because the colors of the spectrum are being absorbed and the color you are seeing in that object is the only color reflecting off of it.

This action project, we had to create a pinhole camera and take pictures with it in a darkroom. I had to use a cardboard box, then had to paint it black inside then create a pinhole to create the camera effect. 

I am most proud of myself for learning such interesting things and understanding all of it in such a little time frame.The pinhole camera captures light through the tiny hole that I created with a tac. It allows the light to pass through, working like a lens and projecting an object on the other side. The pinhole doesn't use refraction, the bending of light or reflection, the reflection of light. Reflection is light bouncing objects, and refraction is light slowing down and changing angle from one medium to another. The inside of the camera is black because the color black absorbs light while white reflects. If it were white the light would reflect the image making the light bounce around consistently, not creating an image. The black is perfect because it absorbs light while keeping the light in. A Pinhole camera works like any camera and functions like an eye: the image is flipped so it comes out the right side up,it absorbs the light then the pupil gets bigger or smaller depending on how much light there is, then light is focused by lens then directed onto the retina that sends signals to optic nerve. The pinhole camera is similar but is a simpler version of that.

The image didn't come out that well, it shows the background but not the elements of the objects.This could've been because of my own errors, such as: letting light in beforehand, not thoroughly painting the entire box black and having the shutter speed be too short or too long.

Height of object: 10 in

Height of pinhole to ground: 7.5 in

Pinhole to paper: 5 in

Shutter speed: 1 minute

My pinhole camera 

LD(2017)Box

Pinhole that allows light in

LD(2017)Inside pinhole

Final image

LD(2017)Photograph

To create my pinhole camera I had to select a box and paint the inside black. After i painted the entire box black, I got a piece of metal and created a tiny hole so light could pass through. After that I created a shutter that wouldn't allow light to go through to ruin my picture. Actually taking the image with the camera was pretty easy, I set up my picture by putting objects together,then placing my pinhole camera a few inches away. The shutter speed (how long the pinhole let light through without the shutter) was around 1 minute. Then I closed the pinhole and got the film processed and developed. My class visited the Latin School and talked to a photography teacher, there, she taught us how to use a darkroom. First, we set up the picture with some of the objects she had in a box. Then, I sat down my pinhole camera next to the object for a minute,after that I went into the darkroom to process the photo.

If I could redo this action project,I would make sure I painted the entire box black and had more time to take more pictures with my pinhole camera.

Math portion explaining similar triangles in relation to the pinhole

LD(2017)Math