Lauren and Craig Make Pinhole Cameras

Programme Outline

Lauren and Craig make boxes from thick, black card. They cut a small hole in each box and cover the hole with foil. They put a tiny pinhole in the foil and then cover it with black masking tape. Their cameras are finished!

Outside, by a sunny wall, they make two 'scenes' with Action Man and My Little Pony as the stars. They decorate their scenes with twigs, stones and leaves from the woods. Then they grab their cameras and go into the darkroom.

The ordinary light is put out and a red light is switched on. Lauren and Craig put sheets of photographic paper into their cameras. Before they can go back outside, they make sure that no daylight can get into the cameras, otherwise the photographic paper will be ruined.

Later, they set up their cameras on bricks about one metre in front of the scenes they have made. They take the tape away from the pinholes and wait. Then they put the tape over the pinholes again.

Back in the darkroom, with the red light on, they can safely open up the cameras and take out the photographic paper. The paper is dipped into a tray of a chemical called a developer and a picture appears. The paper is dipped into another chemical called a fixer to stop the picture from fading. Then Lauren and Craig rinse the paper under the tap.

Back in the sunshine, they enjoy their finished photos.