I’ve been teaching Boo about traditional photography. We did the film thing….now for the photographic paper and dark room process. I’ve used oatmeal box cameras in the past but I think it’s a much faster process with a metal can….so I’ve substituted with coffee cans and paint cans now. It’s actually really easy to create a temporary mini darkroom in a spare bathroom or a small closet. See the bottom of the post for the complete supply source list.
Note: If you think it’s something you or your kid will really enjoy doing…..I recommend making multiple cameras….out of different size cans. I used to lug over 10 cans around in a box because then I could take 10 photos at one location without having to worry about reloading film paper until I get home. Then you can experiment with exposure times. Number the cans so you can make notes and compare.
The cool thing about the cameras I’m making in this post is that because of the curved shape…..they are the same as a wide angle lens.
A self portrait by Boo with her American Girl dolls:
A photo of Boo’s toy horses:
Driftwood:
The B&W paper produces a negative. I usually scan it into Photoshop (or any photo program) and invert the image to produce the print. I will also be doing a post about making the actual prints from the negative. It’s just involves an additional processing step in the darkroom:
Developing her photos:
To make your pinhole camera you will need a metal coffee can or paint can. It’s nice to make more than one camera because you can reload and develop film paper in batches in your dark room:
Other supplies you’ll need:
Black Spraypaint (flat/matte)
Wood Clothespin
A few small sewing needles
Super fine sandpaper or a fine nail file
A sheet of card stock
A small strip of cardboard (like from a flat mailer)
Electrical tape
A piece of black construction paper
Black Sharpie Marker
