Drink Can Pinhole Project

I was given the task to create my very own pinhole camera through the use of a large drinks can. This pinhole camera was going to be left for three months in order to capture the lines of the sun passing through the sky and rising as the months progressed from winter through to spring over time. 

Below is a great example of a pinhole photograph recording the sun over time.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/02/21/article-1358962-0D475B10000005DC-872_634x434.jpg

• To create the Pinhole camera I firstly cut out three card disks from a larger piece of card. The smallest disk being 35mm in diameter, the next disk with a diameter of 60mm and the largest disk being 70mm in diameter.

• I used the 70mm disk as a template to draw and cut out two circles of felt.

• I used a tin opener to take the top off the can, I then rinsed and dried the can thoroughly.

• I made a hole which was 0.3mm in diameter.

• I then sand the hole inside the can so that when the paper was inside the can, it would not scratch the paper or leave unnecessary marks.

• Staple the 35mm disk to one of the felt circles.

• Glue the remaining card disk to the inside the bottom of the can.

• Once I was in low lighting, I inserted the photographic paper making sure that it is perfectly lined up correctly with the hole.

• staple the 60mm disk to the remaining felt circle.

• Tucked the felt into the top of the can with the card on top acting as a lid.

• Use strong tape to tape the lid to the can by using three or more pieces across the top and then two pieces around the can so that no light can get into the can through the top of the can resulting in the photographic paper to be exposed.

• Once I had made the pinhole camera I found a location on top of a porch and made sure that I positioned the can towards the sun to leave for several months.

Below is my drinks can lumen pinhole print that I left on top of the roof of a porch for two months showing the sun's movements from winter into spring as the sun rises. 

This is the original print, pre edit. It took trial and error to get the set up right at first in order to photograph the print before it had completely exposed to the light.

Below is my edited (inverted print). As you can see, the print has got a weird red haze at the top which I think is where light has leaked into the drinks can and exposed that part of the print. However, I really like it, it almost makes the print have quite a sinister atmosphere. 

This was successful because it captured the suns movement and path throughout the day, showing the rising and setting of the sun. This has created an arch where the sun has got higher every day as it nears the spring equinox. As the we have got closer to the spring equinox, the sun has stayed at its optimal point in day before it starts to descend again. You can also see that there are lines that are brighter than others, this is where the sun was uninterrupted and there was barely any clouds in the sky.There are also lines hat are broken, this is down to the sun being covered by clouds. Some days the sun did not come out at all where we had snow in which you can see gaps towards the top of the arch.