Tin Cans and Sticky Tape

Laney, you are right, I am VERY busy and yes it has been a while since I checked in here. In view of your comments, here is the first instalment of the pinhole camera exercise, that I had written already. I was going to post it after Thursday, when I have had a chance to take my 'negatives' into college and process them to see if I even have an image there. Who knows? Also, I had photographed (with a proper camera) the making of the pinhole camera, but as those photo's are at home, and I am not, you will have to wait to see the visual masterpiece!!!!

So, how did my new little camera work out?

Well, I couldn't find a circular tin with a well fitting lid, but my Mum kindly donated an old hexagonal tin she had that came complete with an hexagonal lid (lucky that really, a square one just wouldn't have fitted the same)!

It was the tin she used to keep lots of colouring pencils in when our kids were all small. She knew that at some point in the first half hour of a visit, usually the first 5 minutes, her grandchildren would want to get out the paper and the pencils and draw some pretty pictures for Nanny to stick on the fridge or the kitchen cupboards to remind her how special she was to them.

Now that they are all grown up, she no longer has a need for them. Mind you, her first great grandchild will want to start her own collection of scribble pictures in the not too distant future. Maybe Mum will treat her to a shiny new pencil box.

So, tin in hand, I smiled sweetly at G and asked him to drill a hole in the side for me about ¼" across. He disappeared into the garage, and emerged about half an hour later. Not only had he drilled the hole for me, but he had lovingly filed the edges of it so they weren't too sharp and had also neatly covered the entire tin in duc...(hmm**) duck tape and the lid too, creating a very tight seal when fitted to the tin.

**At this point, unsure of whether the silver stick-like-s**t- to-a-blanket-tape was actually called DUCK tape or DUCT tape, and wanting to avoid obvious errors like COY and KOI!! I decided to Google it...

I got my answer in the first sentence, but somehow got drawn into the entire page contents... was strangely interesting... or maybe I'm just a little strange... check it out and see for yourself... DUCK or DUCT that is the question?

Anyway, the next stage was to paint the inside of the tin black. I had bought my matt black spray paint the previous weekend, in readiness for producing this masterpiece! The purpose of the matt black is to cut our all light reflection when the tin (sorry, the camera) is in use. I gave the inside of the tin and the lid a generous coating and put them in the cupboard with the boiler to dry. I then repeated this spraying, just to be sure I had covered it properly.

Next item needed is a piece of tin foil. Preferably not the type you wrap your chicken in before roasting as this is a little fragile, but the foil case from a individual apple pie or such like, nice and thick. Cut a piece about 2" square and use the end of a very find needle to make a hole in the very middle. This is where care is needed, the precision and size of the hole made now will affect the overall crispness and clarity of the images taken. This is then stuck to the outside of the tin with the pinhole centrally over the large drilled hole and the foil is held in place with more black electrical tape.

The final part of construction is to make a 'flap' or a lens cover. Just a simple, small piece of square card, thick enough to prevent light travelling through it, is stuck with yet another piece of electrical tape. The tape has to be long enough to go from an inch or so above to an inch or so below the cardboard lens cap so that when taking a photograph you can unpeel the upper part and allow the cover to flop down, exposing the pinhole.

Next installment - Adventures with my pinhole camera - and the question I REALLY want answered - did I produce a photograph with it???

PS - Laney, thx for your email honey, I understand why you deliberated over it, but you shouldn't have, honest. It is heart warming to know there are people out there who would do what he is doing, and more understanding of any subject which affects people deeply can only ever be a good thing. I will defo drop him an email. Thank you. x