pinhole (estenopeic) photography - history and instructions
DESCRIPTION
Pinhole (Estenopeic) Photography - History and instructions - ManualTRANSCRIPT
PNHOI,EPHOTOGRAPHYHISTORY ANDINSTRUCTIONS
3 Linglie Mill, Level Crossing Rood, Selkirk, TDZ sEQ, UKwww. f I i ghtsof foncy.co. uk
O l99B Deryck Henley. All Rights Reserved.
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Who would have thought that
in the twenty first cenfury we
would be cclebrating a
Pinhole Camera?
Since the earliest stages ofthe'Camera Obscura', to the
high-tech modern
35mm camer-
as, the basics
are much the
same.
Here we in-troduce you to
the simplestform
of photography,
where the lens
is a basic pin-
hole. Not that
the resultswill be in any
way inferior.Many pinhole photographs
are exhibited in g,alleries rurd
museums around the world, and
sland up'4ainst more contempo-
raryphotography
With this camela and some
guidelines described in thls book,
you can create your own photo-
gaphs tirne and time again,
We'd'also like to introduce you
to the development which led
to the present day camera.
This progression over the
centuries, pays homage tothe philosophers, scientisls,
scholars, mathematicians
. and showmen who',, all contributed to
prcsent dair pho-
tography.
ln an erawhcre the
digital age
is taking oveq
we must nevef
forget the sim-
pler ways ofpro jectingand captur-
ing a mo-ment in time, to cherish and
keep forever.
You never know, in years to
come your photographs could
be hanging in our galleries and
museums as'lvorls of afi'.Good luck and we hopethis brings you inanyhours offun.
fire BeginningThe hand shadow must be one of image and it appears upside down
the simplest and earliest
ways of projecting
an ima4e. Although
we take this forgranted, itwasprob-
ablythe first step which
led to manyscienfific experiments
leading to simple photography.
This Jamous drawing by Friseiusshows clearly a Camera Obst'ura.
Although these scientists and
mathematicians are too numer-
ous to mention here, we willgive a simple account of the
landmarls which led to pho-
tography as we know ittoday,
We start in t544, vtherc
there was a Dutch mathe-
matician and physician called
Gemma Frisius. He observed and
illustrated the eclipse ofJanuary
24th, t544 using a CameraObscura.
The'Camera obscura' (min for
dark room), is where a real life
image is projected onto a flat
surface through a small hole or
apertnre.
This projection, as in yourpinhole camera, inverts the
2
as illustrated by Frisius.
These earlier Camera ob-scuras wcrc
rnainly usecl
lirr astr<lnomi-
czil llurposes.Onc intcresting
illustration takcn lrom a lgth cen-
tury English lincyclopcdia, depicts
a portahle (;uncra Obscura from
16ll. This w..r"s used by Thomas
Keplcr ( I 57 I - 163(D to observe the
movemenls <il' the planet Mercury.
ln l(r19, Ohristopher Scheiner
( I575- 1650) demonstrated
it rrxlnr-tylc Camera Obscura
in tlrc lirrm of acute.'l'his rilso used a lens to
co r le ct the inverted
itrtitge.
Lrlt it Kcpler's portable('ttntru Oltscura,u,hilr ltclrtu,is
St' ltr i n a r' s rlntu'in g
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
wrote in 1637 abontision and
the eye, He compared the eye to
the Camera Obscura saying the
retinais the screen of the camera.
On the left are various drawings
showing this.
In 1652, Jean-Francois Niceron
was primarily known for hisworkin perspective and drawing.
He gave a full description of the
Canera Obscura and its use.
Niceron wanted to show that the image size had to do with the distance
the subject was away
from the lens.
The top drawing be-
low shows the pyra-
mid closer to the lens
and the inverted im-age larger, The bot-tom drawing shows the
pyramid further away andthe projected image on thesheet much smaller.
Athanasius Kircher (1602-1630)
shows us in his 1646'Ars Magra
lucis Et Umbra' (The GreafArt ofusing a room-size Camera Obscura-
A student of Kircher,
Gaspar Schott (t608-
1666) published his'Mrgia UniversalisNaturae Et Artis'(Wonders of Univer-
sal Nature and Art)in 1557. He clearlyshows on the righthere the image fromoutside the room inverl-
d onftewallinside.
tight and Shadow) experiments
[rom the eighteenth century
onwards, the CameraObscura became more of
a drawing aid. Wittr the
help from a lens it would allow
artists and draughtsmen to
accurately sketch any imagethey required.This meant that to achieve the
required image, alandscape or
building for instance, they had to
become more portable.
By the end of the nineteenth
commercial Camera Obscuras
avzilable. These were simple
boxes with a sliding lens forfocusing. Many ingenious ways
were adapted to draw the image
you could see.
4
Many famous artists are thought
to have used aCamera Obscurato
cr eate an image. The s evente enth
century Dutch painter 'Vermeer'
is thought to have worked this
way. Also the German artist
'Durer' made wood cuts
showing'aicls to clrawing',
These methods were very
helpfrrl with perspective.
Here left and below we have a
picture advertised in 1897 as
'Deans Solar Sketchette'. You
simply put the drawing paper into
the base of the camera and in-
serted your hand through the cloth
sleeve and drawwhatyou sant,
Here we have examples
of some of the old Cam-
era Obscuras, most ofwhich have long gone.
Some though, still re-
main and are still open
to the public such as the
RM Mile, Edinburgh,
WS&rl:rif ;:,':-'t'
the great union callrr"u^^t
Douglas in the Isle of Man,
the Clifton Observalory in
Bristol all in the IIKAgiant cameradfte Cliff
House in San Francisco and one
in Santa Monicain the USA
During the nineteenth century,
several large Camera Obscuras
were built as places of enter-
tainment and education.
A lot of these were built inplaces ofgreat altraction such
as sea-side resorts or places ofgreat beauty.
'llf.1@S$W Tbe sign on tbe side ofthe buikling.-.r ' ' ir,']' on the lefi says;'AIIERA OBSCUM
HE MOST WONDERFUI ANDENCIIAI,IIING F.YHIBITION. Marrelotts
Miniature Yiew s of t bis lrne Iy Cwden
Shouing all the People & CbildrenMouing lihe Faries. Boats, Foliage,
Flying Birds. Catlle. Horses & Cariages, aauing Flags Elc. Friends can
be Recognized altboagb so remarh-
ably small as to a.ppear extremeb)
Iaughable. It Sbous eaerything on
tbe Garden as it appears.
The First images The First Cameras
With thediscovery of'light
sensitive material' during the early
nineteenth century this
was to change the
Camera Obscura
into the simplecunetL.Earlylight sensitive
or photographicmaterials were very
slow to react to light.
To compensate for this a
lens was added to the camera to
increase the 'aperture' or hole
size. This helpedto shorten the time
it took taking a picture without los-
ing the picture darityor focus,
This was to mean tha pure pin-
hole photography took more of
a back seat while photography
using a lens progressed.
There were a few pinhole camera
pioneers though. Sir David Brews-
ter, an English scientist, was one
of the first to make pinhole photo
grapts in the 1850's. He was dre one
to create the word'pinhole'.
5
Tbe earliest known photograPh
is credited to a wealthy French
Ian cnr ner callc d. J o sep h N i ce p h ore
Nie|cs (1765-1839. He crcated
this image called 'View fromthe window at Gras'in 1826,
The photograPb was nnde on
top ofNiepce's bome using a
peutet plate sensitise d u i tb
Judea. Takenfrom a Cam-
era Obscura, the exposure
was eigbt hours long.
William Henry Fox Talbot, be-
tvteen 1844 and 1860 was instru-
mental in advancing the process
ofphotography.
Talbot madc nnny exPuiments.
In kte 1835 at his home inEngland, he produced tbisphongraph ofanindan at his
home tahen ui,tb a Cmnera
Sir WilliamCrookes, John Spiller
and Villiam de WiveleslieAbney, all in England were
all early pioneers to try pinhole
photography.
Probably one of the oldest was
an English Archaeologist called
Flinders Petrie (1853 -1942).
During his excavations in Egypt
in the 1880's, he produced many
pinhole photograhs.
The first cameras
wentmuchinline
with the devel-
opment of pho-
tography. Early
camefas wefe
fairly crudewoodenboxes.
These improved
using beautifultimber such
as teak and
mahogany
with finely
engineered brass fittings.
Although cameraswere
use it. Eastrnan's Kodak
pocket camera was the
fust mass-produced version and
was inexpensive c ompared with
plate cameras. kr 1900, Eastnan
infoduced fte now farnous 'Box
Brovmie u'hich was sold for $1
in the USA and five shillings in
England It sold over 100,000 in
the fintvear.
This was to become the demise of
pinhole photograpfur
Betrly cameras kke tbese ex-
arnples uere band-made.
The picture aboue istbe'tr[ot$etrap' camera
prodaced Kodah
and a'Komhi'
from \ W ffi. S"i***x$u.$ \Pubtisbed in
L* an Amuicanwa 20tbcenturypinlnb
rehyr€alytookotr \ re \cam-ffiffi#:&%ffiwhlmaddnpfiltedcrn-' w:Sllrazsilnwwdesignedto "'-:--#
The PrinciplesHaving shown you the history ofthe camera, here we show you
simply how it works.
FocusThe pinhole c rflera, unlike a
cafircrawith a lens, has an 'infi-
nite' depth offocus.
This means the'pinhole' with the
right size hole will keep all the
image in focus.
You will probably notice if you
take a photograph of a person
close up, the background be-
comes blurued. A clear or sharp
image is known as'in focus'and
a blurred image is known as 'out
of focus'.
Experiment shotaing how the pinhole ueates an inf,nate depth offeld.
To experiment with this, poke a back plate. Insert the black card
pinhole in a thin sheet of opaque and put a sheet of semi{ranspar-
mateial and hold this close to ent paper such as tracngpaper
one eye (if you wear glasses, or household greaseproofpaper
take them off). Hold one of your over the back of the cafircra,.
fingers a few inches in front of In a darkened room point the
the pinhole. You should see your carflera towards a light source
finger and the background both and the image will appear upside
the same clarity, therefore both down and back to frontwill be 'in focus'. This is catled (inverted). All the image
infinite depth of field. proiected ttrough the camera will
A simple scientific explanation be in focus.
8
for this is that the optical image
is made up of tiny 'circles of
confusion'. When the circles of
confusion are small enough, they
are called 'points' and the optical
image is considered to be infocus. Therfore, points offocus.
A pinhole c mera has infinitedepth of field because thepinhole creates areas of confu-
sion the same size as the pinhole
all over the inside of the camera.
These little circles of confusion
are small enough to be regarded
as points of focus.
Experiment by constructing the
camera in this kit and leave off the
tightIn a darkenedroom, it is diffi-cult to see objects
clearly. In fact in a
completely darkroom you canwave your arms in front of your
faceandsee nothing!
Iight rays trauel in strai,ght
..*
In theI' same way
our eyes are
designed to see, a camera needs
fight to work. Any form of white
llght is alright, but like your eyes,
the brighter the light the easier
you see.
With tracingpaper ouer the back oftheopen camera lou uill see the image.
With a camera,the brighter the
light, the shorter
the exposure.
All light travels
in straight lines,
rays travellingoutwards from a light source
whether it is the sun, a light bulb
or candle. When these rays hit an
object they are reflected again instraight lines. What we see withour eyes is the object illuminated
with reflecedlight.
When you create a pinhole in your
clmetl, the light rays diverge
from a light source. They continue
to diverge aft er passing tlrou$ the
pinhole until theyhit the backplate
of illumination.The smaller the hole, the longer the
exposure time is needed, but the
sharper the image will be. likewise
the larger the hole, the shorter the
exposure and the image will be
less sharp.
It is important to get the hole as
round and as clean as possible
to allow the light rays to pass
through the hole as straight as
possible.
Sun ralts trauelling i.n straight lines.
i'"-_" lines through the ;
, " r,;- .- binbole..I ]'. "I a I ":,'"'-.i d I ";.:c,--,! I I '{r'--
Recording the ImageWhat actually records the image
in a currcra is a piece of pho-
tographic film or paper. This is
coaed with chemicals which are
sensitive to light.
Black and white and colour film
differ considerablyin their make-
up so we will con-
cen["Ieon
black and
white being
the simplerof the two.
One side ofblackandwhite
film is coated
with gelatin, thisis called the onthetefiistbe
emUlSiOn. SiuS_ negatiue alongside the positiue.
pended in this are salt crystals
made up of silver chloride,silver bromide and silver iodide.
These are all called silver halides.
When natural light falls on these
crptals they are altered byit. The
more light tha falls on them, the
more they are affected.
Vften a film is taken out of acmnerl and put into developing
liquid, all the crystals on which
the light fell turn into metallic
silver. So where a lot of lightappea$ on the film (for example
a light reflecting on water), there
will be a dense patch of metallic
silver. Where a little or no light
has struck the film there will be
little or no conversion to metallic
r0
silver and this area of the fiknwill
be almost transparent.
This explains why the first part
of a black and white photograph
you have when you do your own
developing is a negative.
A negative is where all the black
parts of an image appear white
andthewhitepars
black.
Thepa-
per that
the final
print ismade on,
just likethe film, is
sensitive to
light. This is
also trealed wittr silver halides.
To make a print from a negative,
light has to pass through the
negative onto apiece oflight sen-
sitive paper. This is usually done
by projecting light through the
negative, but a simpler method
is by contacting the negative
directly onto the paper.
Like the process in creating
a negative, by projecting light
through this onto the second
p^per, the light areas of the
negative are allowed to hit the
silver halides.
Here we are creating another nega-
tive of a negalive, but as you can't
have a double nega.tive, itis called a'positive'.
The ProcessingModern photographic chemicals
have progressed incredibly since
the first stages ofphotography.
All photographic chemicalsmust be used with care and we
strongly advise you to follow the
safety instructions on page 18.
To achieve animage onto pho-
tograhic paper once the filmhas been exposed to light, it ishelful to understand thechemistry of de-
veloping film.
DeveloperPhotographicdeveloper con-
sists of fourmain agents.
DeuelopingAgent: A,chemical
compound capable of chang-
ing the exposed grains of silver
halide into black metalic silver.
There are a few chemicals whichwill do this, but the most suitable
for our use are hydroquinone
and metol or phenidone.
Alhali Accelorafor: Developing
agents work best in an alkalisolution. The degree of alkalinity
controls the quality of the negalive,
Preseruatiue: A solution con-
taining the developer and alkalitends to go brown through oxi-
dtzation. When this happens the
developer is less effective. To
prevent this from happening a
solution, usually sodium sul-
phite is added.
Restrainer: To prevent the de-
veloper converting the halides
which have not been effected by
the light, a restrainer is added.
This is called potassium bromide.
FixerAfter the stop bath, the emulsion
holds amixture of metalic silver
and untouched silver
halides which canstill be affectedby
the light.To remove
the halides, *re filmis put into a so-
ution of sodium
ammonium)This is
called the fixer and may alsohave potassium metabisulphate
added to to stop the develop-
ing action and prevent any
staining,
WashingThe film is finally washed inwater to remove unwanted silver
halides and any chemicalsremaining in it. The image is
now minute grains of silver.These appear black because they
are so small they do not reflect
the light.
The CannsraIhe esmsr* lncludsal in dd$ box drill hole *hcr:ld be * lh*bes be€{r dsrigrsd t0 npleftafthe luge hdf to
workwithrpt alh,E'&sdrr&rcowrsgtrue orn*ils,and of€on$ie
beeom-pletelyligbr fighr,
{*slong*syonkeep the elaSicban&hcldingymrmmerass*&er),There is nothkg to $top y*uthcu$ fom ghitrg {rs sids and
bc*e togetler if yon wa*lsomelhing rnorc permnn*nt.
1 Take the honl piect of the
I ***o (tfte piece with
the fuole cut in it] " Ihe snall
b*scrwedon.Taks cne sf the
*i*e piece* and
frrefulh, lock the
gfooves into the
front piece s{tlrc cffaer*"
Tel$ the
Mt$wofllrc mmera {t&e gm*wn will be
*re wneasfufront$md ffnd
{Saiil lr}rki{rts &e dd* piw d{h*camsa"
Sluingastrip
of paper on top of the
hla* card box will help when
unlmding the phnhgrrphic pqer
from *recarnera
Use &is to sirnply to prll the blaek baxout, csp*cially
if tlm base of thecarnera ts glued-
F ffwuaredulns
) tn. *"irritale one of &e lsstwo pieces {theyshouldbethesffie)and glue onia lhsb*se. Ifyon {f,e rCIt
gluing, danl warrg
iusmmtihe eideson
ihe ba.x,
{fal<e the small tlin vpareO"i*t the bole and scren rhis
into the pilothole ontl*e&u*ofthe *sslera. $tick the iabel
enclod snts the $urer eover"
-7kke the blackcard andfold
/ it along the crcas€s. Fold the
This will rllaw th* phslo-graphic p{per to sltde kio pureamwa*sily, lf you have som*
per glue, itvill hdp if you dektee fixpsdawn.
pleterquxre.
/. tnally the last side piece
t snoufi uasity lock in ro com-
back fl*p* *s ilfu&trated.
fho**/*lar.*io*
OSlide the black paper box
Ointo the camera with the
opmhgbfubtr;kdihetus€*nAThe last piece of wood
7 tn. hd) should simply
drop ontc the c*mera and
nalrc it li$t {S1!Fnt both 0f
ths slartic bands *rcnrd the
$des, the base and t&e CIp oflhe casrcra" Ifyou haven't
used Sl$e tlth qill hold itall*ryethm"Ifyouhme
used glue, you sllneed lo hsld &e lid
$llh knepirlishrsghll
13t2
*ac&rdll*c* *e;
Ihe Darkroom
Essentials:Safelight, whitelight, J Trays,
Developer, Fixer, Small acetate
Sheet, rilflater, Photographic Paper
ond finally a'Darft troom'.
HelpfulWaterproof Gloves, theezers orTongs, a Clock or Wach *rat shows
Seconds. Measuring Container,
Pegs or Clips.
Non Essentials (but nice)Music (but no Telwision)
Before you can proceed with the
first task of 'loading' the camera
to take your first picture, you need
a darlaoom and a safelight.
A word of caution; no safelight
is totally safe for light sensitive
materials. Some light sensitive
malerials are only safe wi*r a red
to orange light for only a few
minutes. This should be sfficienttime to load the paper in the
cameta and develop it. Though
with the photographic paper
enclosed you should have a bit ofextra time if you need it.
The DarkroomThis sinplyis aroomyou
can completely darken
whidr no w{rite ligfrt can
perleft?Ie.
In thewinter, almostanyroom can
he used at nightwith the curtains
closed. During the lighter months,
a room with a small window which
can easilybe'blacked' out, such
as a bathroom which is ideal as ithas runningwater. In older houses
there is usually a cellar or base-
ment or a cupboard under the
stairs which may be suitable.
Please ensure though that the
darkroom is completely dark as
the slightest light wil spoil your
photographic paper.
The SafelightAs we mentioned before, a safe-
li$t can be red to orange which
wa4e bulb inside (the recom-
mended maximum is only 7
watts).
Be careful that the plastic is red
and notjust painted as this is usu-
ally not safe enough.
You will need to get used to work-
ing in a low red light and it may
take a minute or two for youreyes to acclimatise them-
selves to the dark.
WhitelightA bedside light or desk lamp are
idealwith a 60 waft bulb.
A ceiling light would also
work but it is better
to take off the
will generally protect the shade.
photographic paper while
loading the cameraand developing the im-
age. Ifyou are using a room
with a small hole, you can
put red cellophane over
it to create a safelight.
Other easy methodsare covering a torchwhich is eqpecially usefirl
in areas without electricity Also
a red bicycle lamp or red
tajl light from a car
would work but itneeds a very low
I5
hole without making it any
bigger thantheneedle.
If your hole becomes ragged
or you need to $e te a small-
er hole, don't worry. A littlestrip of insulation tape (elec-
tricians black vinyl) is good.
Plerase make sure thal the mate-
rial for the hole is not too thick
t6
Loading the LightSensitive Material
cuneta as
shown onpage 13.
Open thephoto-graphicpaperpack
and inside
sensitive paper. Pull one sheet
out and slide it fully down the
back of the camera. Make sure
the shiny side (emulsion) isfacing the front of the camera.
Put back the camera lid and
replace the fwo elastic bands
around the camerato hold the lidon firmly. Don't forget to close the
as pos- ,l
sibleturnin$.l
the needle
carefirlly
Taking a PhotographNow you should have aCanerya Darkroom and Safelight. Now
its time to make the'pinhole'andloading the camera for your firstpicture.
Creating the PinholeYou shouldnowhaveyour Make sure your eyes become
to working incamera completed acclimatisedwith the blackcard insert inplace. Now you
need to find the
needle from the
box.
this light,
You needto have the
Nowpush the
pin through
the black
card as close
to the centre
of *re hole
cametaready withthe opening
of the black
box to theback of the
asyou can.
Make as
clean a hole:;
there willbe a black bag
to'round'the and as cleanly as possiblecontaining the light
photographic paper pack before
switching on the whitelight.
Nowyou're ready to shoot!
Thking a PhotographBefore you take your photograph,
you need to determine how long
you need to expose the paper to
get a good print.
The pinhole in photographic terms
is called an'Aperture',
Technically there is a formula
for determining the correctexposufe.The focal length is the distance
from the pinhole to the photo-
graphic paper. So if the hole is
one inch in diameter and the
focal length is 3 inches (distance
from the hole to the photograhic
paper), the ratio is 1:3, or F/3.
For example, a number 10
needle is .18" and if used with a
5" focal length, then:
.018 - tntt5.00
Complicated isn't it,bui don't worrv!
We don't expect you to make
these sort of calculations, so we
have created some approximate
guidelines depending on bright
sun, sunlight, overcast, dulldayltght and interior roomlight.
Remember, these are onlyguide-
lines and experimentation is
encouraged, particularly withyour pinhole size.
In the darkroom, load the paper with the shiny side towards the front of the cam-
era.The safelight should not be closer than4-5 feetfromthe light sensitive paper.
17
Exposure guidelines basedon size 10 needle (pin).
Do you remember the bit about'circles of confusion'?
The smaller the pinhole with lets
say a number 7, the finer the
definition but the exposure time
is longer.
The bigger the pinhole with forinstance a number 16 needle,
you will need to shorten the
exposure time.
The'Shoot'Never try to hold the camera inyour hands when you areexposing the paper, Rest it on a
wall, table, ground or arything
that is solid and won't move.
Vhen you're ready, put a finger
on top of the camera to holdit steady and open the shutter.
When the desired time is up,
close the shutter and keep the
carnera shut until you get back
to the darkroom.
It may help if you draw an arrowon the lid so you can accurately
aim your cnmeraat the subject.
18
What to PhotographWhatever takes your fancywithin
reason, but there are afewthings
to remember,
Pets are favourite subjects forsome budding photographers,
but with long exposure times itis dfficult expecting your pet to
'pose' for 30 seconds withoutmoving. Likewise moving racing
cars are definitely out!
Family and friends are good
subjects as long as they can stay
still long enough,
The simplest thing is to choose a
'still' subject. Be artistic and
experiment with differenttexfures.
You will find you get betterresults if the subject is of'highcontrast' which you will get infull sun. A dull daywill generally
grve a dull photograph.
Try standing still in front of the
carnenand quickly move out ofthe way half way through the
exposure and you will appear on
the photo as a ghost!
Have Fun!
Here we show the'ghost ffict' as described above
SafetvWe must first outline that the dJveloping agent is an
irritant, fiust like many household chemicals) and must alwals
be handled with caution and kept out of children's reach.
Ifyou follow these safety guidelines, you will experience
hours of fun instead of possible hours at the doctors!
Although some of these mfety must not be put near the mouth.
rulesareobvioustomostread- 1n ive yourself plenty o fers, there will probably be \fti*e to follow thesomething below which you instructions and don't rush.
didn'tthinkof(odrerwisethere f)unning water should be
would be frr fewer accidents). I\close to hand for cleaning
and safety.
A lwavs clean work areas and
,fLquipt.nt with water after
use and keep all animals from
any activi!/ arca.
f)rotect vour eyes with glasses
l. and use the gloves and
tweezers povided when handling
chemicals. Always wash your
hands after use.
ff andle your chemicals with
Ilr.spect and care at alltimes.
\Zou are now ready to embark
I on the exciting science of
producing your ownphotographs.
lease read it all so nothing is
left to chance.
ffave a solid sudace, clcar of
I lobstacles to work on uhich
should bewelllit andwellwrtilated.
A nlv commence developing(rl*t.n you have everything
you need ready to hand and you
have read all the instructions.ffthis kit is suitable for children
Iou., 12. Adults shouldexercise discretion on which
activities are safe and suitable
for any child to do.
A pen all containers with grea
Ll i.. and never store them
near food or drink and chemicals
Ifan accident should occur please follow these guidelines.
In the case of eye contact'. wasb the eye uitb plenfi of clean wa'
terfor at least 15 minutes and imnrcdiatelit seek medical afiiice'
kr case of skin contacf wasb area uith smp and waterfor 5 minuta'
If Chemicals are swallowed: wash the mouth and, drinkfreshwater. Do not induce uomiting and seek medical ad'aice.
In case of Inhalation: ntoue outdoors turtesh air.
In cases of Iniury: seek medical aduice
t9
Developing the ImageNow you have 'exposed'yourimage on your photographicpaper. Before you can process
it you will need to mix thechemicals.
It is not neces-
sary to mix the
chemicals withthe safelight,these will not'spoil'immedi-
ately. However,
the developerand fixer ismost effectiveat a comfortable
room tempera-
ture. Too coldand the chemi-
Mixing chemicals in whitelight
Once you have determined the
dilufion, take off ttre seal under
the bottle cap. Then use the cap
to put the desired amount of'capfuls'intothe1ray.
Start off withthe water and
addthe chemi-
cal. This ismuch safer ifthe chemicals
start to splash.
You needenough liquidin each tray to
allow the pho-
tographic pa-
cals react slowly, too hot and
the chemicals 'go off' quickly.
Always wear gloves whenhandling chemicals.Both developer and fixer are inconcentrated form. Differentmanufacturers recommendtheir own ratio of dilution,so it is always advisable tocheck the instructions on the
bottles.
perto submerge.
Don't forget to replace the cap
on the bottle, we don't wmt arry
accidents!
Start off with the developer tray
at one end, the fixer tray in the
middle and the water ffay attheother end.
Usually you work from the left,
but it really doesn't matter as
long as you remember whichis which.
Developing the Negative
Camera at hand, remove the pho-
tographic paper. Ifyou followed
the suggestion about gluing a
20
strip of paper on the card box,
simply pull the box up.
If you didn't, you will need totake the base off the carnera topush the box up and removethe photographic paper.
Make sure you have your gloves
<rn and the tweezers athand.
Holding the photographic paper
with the tweezers, slide it into the
developer emulsion (shiny side)
down and look at the time.
After 10 seconds, turn the nega-
tive over to watch it develop.
While in the developer, gently
move it back and forth to remove
any trapped bubbles.
The negative will look slightly
darker than it actually is due to
the red light. Allow a few seconds
more to compensate for this.
Generally it will take between Iand 2 minutes for this to develop.
Remember how long it took.
Developing the negative with the safelight.
Put into the mixf(tce down for ten seconds and turn over and watch the image
appear. The image will appear darker as you are working under a safelight.
Fixing the Negative
Once you think you have the 10 seconds anda$tnteagainfor
desired negative, lift it out of the about 2 minutes before putting
developer and put into the fixer, the whitelight on to check the
agunface down. Titrn over after result.
Fixing the negdtive with the safelight.Again put into the mix face down for ten seconds and turn ovet and gently
agitate for about 2 minutes.
2t
WashLift again and rcpett process Well done! Now hang your mas-in the water for between 1-2 terpieceuptodry.Ifyouhaven'tminutes. got a line and pegs, just lay itDo not overwash as the photo- on a surface to dry naturallygraphic paper will deteriorate if or carefully use a hair dryer orwashed too much. awarm rudiator.
Wash the negative in water for between I and 2 minutes.Do not ovenyash as the photographic paper will deteriorate
Contact PrintingYou now have a dry negalive. Now
you have to create a positive or'print' using the negative. The
easiest way is to make a' contatt'print.
photographicpaper and close the
bagagun.Place thisnew sheet
on top ofthe camera lidemulsion (shiny
side) up. Place thenegative, image
facing down directly onto the
photographic paper (emulsion
to emulsion).
Take the sheet of clear acrylic and
place this on top and use the two
elastic bands to hold everything
in place. Make sure the elastic
bands are not covering the back
of the negaive or this will show inyour print. The negative and new
photographic pa-
per needs to have
as good a contact
as possible.
Hold this towards
your 50 watt light,
nonearer than 1.5
met€s(4frd)nnldg
sureyourfingers are
clear of the top.
Switch on the whitelight(or ask a friend to do it) for
only 2-3 seconds.
0runt 1001, 1002 and switch
the whiretght off.
You can also expose the
contact print by opening the
d'arkroom door. If it is not a
bright light outside you willneed to extend the time to4-5 seconds.
Repeat exactly what you did
to create the negative -
develop, fix and wash.
Tips and
Developer once mixed will last
only one day in normal tempera-
ture. Once it starts to 'go off', itwill turn from a 'pale straw'
colourto brown. Thisis causedby
oxidisation and the chemical has
become srhausted (unumble).
The ftrer will go from clear to pale
yellow when it goes off, L very
subtle change. This will usually
last a few days in normal room
temperatufe.
TipsA slightly under exposed negative
will result n a pale image. If anegative is very pale, you will need
to increase exposure time.
A slightly over exposed negative
will result in a denser image. Ifthe negative is too dark or dense,
you will need to reduce the
exposure time.
You can always adjust the
contrast of your finished print
Problems
from a slightly underexposed
(pale) negative,
The old saying goes, 'the abilityto
produce a well exposed negalive
is learned by experience'.
So be patient and experiment, but
keep a record ofrdratyou've done
so you shouldn't make the same
mistake twice.
COMMONEXPOSUREPROBLEMSIf the paper rernains white orthe image is very faintIhe gaperwas loaded in the camera
the u'rong way round andrery lide
liglnt got *rou$r to the emulsion.
The exposure was far too short.
You forgot to open the shutter.
If tlre inrye is very dak or bhkThe camera has a light leakThe paper has been exposed to
light by mistake.
Your exposure was far too long.
Good luck
Take out a new sheet of
22 23
Further Informatianwt*trs YOu mlT u$s$ tlptk'rluR ptrsTt){;aApr$e rapxlttso et{{$11$1"*, }'*fR
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** ynu will ner:d to {tif it kt tiiac }$iltg sci*$ns urder the rafill'ight"
itlterilndyeh thE ehemie*l$ *an be ab*ri$ed fft$nlL:K ft)tryislJlr!$l*xr*rlrl, fir'rv:ipl*m*i llrulir:ti{trlr{xnr.$iklilil}:i9IS ft* {}lll5,1i$5$$
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illx* **rmmyintere*ing lxnk *n lmh $ritognphy ltnd pinhdeplr*i*gnrphlr Sbret*mmntlyou check*ith pur loeal libmry or b**lctore.
Many $kneums xnl gnlleries ktve colie*li$n-c of {dd cfrstexs and exhibits tfpho*graph*rs nrldr
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Thc Sox tnlbai *{*seffrl*cock, Chippirgh:ux, $'iftshire, $Nl5 ][ti. &l t]l?49 7]$ 4i9
The Yi*tori*&xl *Ib*rt $tu*ewxr$*rth lk*si*gtan, londnn. $\T] ?RI" lbt {}]{}? 94il i,iilt
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*Iu*euru of Plrotogtnpbie Artr1$99 lil Prailo, $albo* Pnrk, &an *i**{}. *\ S'Il0t. lbl: 61Jl :}* :t51}
The{B *r'r *l$i} * numb* *f gr:r:d *'eh*lt*s on th* hisrorl of phr*ogrrrphli {x&er*1pinhcte photogr*ph1'{tc, fix loo ouroer\}ur !n rnenlion.
Pletrs cleckm:rlleb hlnq..*n"sut* as eoogie fur *pecific l*funrxitkx.
StlptxghtO lt){}{} l}eryck }lenley. Ali ftight$ Sc*erry*d
Wth nrarq' tlxrnl* to rl*r{reiv Thomnr firr his hdp xith &e proces*ing informn{ion.
?4
M
PINHOI,EPHOTOGRAPHYHISTORY ANDINSTRUCTIONS
3 linglie Mill, levelCrossing Rood, Selkirk, TD7 sEQ,www. f I i g htsof fo ncy. co. u k
@ 1998 Deryck Henley. All Rights Reserved.
Stick this on the wall in your work area
We must firsfly oufline dnt the developing agent is an
initant, (iust like many household chemicals) and rnust alwap
be handled widr caulion and kept out ofchildrens reach.
Ifyou follow these safety guidelines, you will experience
hours offun instead ofpossible hours at the doctors!
f)lease read it all so
l- left to chance.
nothing is instructions and don't rush.
ffroe a solid surface, clgar of
L lobstacles to work on udrich
Sould be well lit and well wdlaed"
A nlv corilnence developing(,1*t .n you have everything
you need ready to hand and you
hurercad all the instructions.lTlhis ht is suitable for children
I ou.. 12. Adults shouldexercise discretion on which
activities are safe and suitable
for any child to do.
A pen all containers with great
\,1.*. and never store them
near food or drinkand chemicals
must not be put near the mouth.
R:,:::"f,xffi'';I#l;and safety.
A lwavs clean work arcas and
A.qipr.nt with water after
use and keep all animals from
any acffity nea.
Drotect your eyes with glasses
-l and use the gloves and
tweezers provided when handling
chemicals. Always wash your
hands after use.
TTandle vour chemicals.Flri,tt reipect and care at
all times.
$ou are now ready to embark
I on the exciting science ofproducing your ownphotographs.
ive yourself plenty oftime to follow the
If an accident should occur please follow these guidelines.
In tlre case of eye contact:ua,sh theeJ)ewithplenty of cbanwater
fw at least 15 minutes and, immediately seek medical aduice.
Incasedskin conlacl;uash areawith soap ard,waterfu 5 minutes.
If Chemicals are swallowed: wash the moutb and drinkfreshwater. Do not induce uomiting and seek medical adaice.
In case of Inhalation'. mu)e outdoors to fresh airIn cases of Iniury; seek medical aduice
If you seek medical advice regarding any chemicals, plzue take the bottle with pu.