Re:Teaching Pinhole to 7th graders

Forgive me if i am repeating any info that has already been mentioned.
       One material that is very helpful for making cameras is aluminum foil
tape (found at Home Depot in the heating section) It is light tight, strong
and malleable.
       Also self adhesive foam insulating strips (for around doors) makes a
nice light tight seal especially around shoe box lids.
I have my kids wrapcloth tape around the tops of needles - enough to make a
comfortable handle to assist drilling. If you hold the point end of the
needle with a piece of masking tape - folded - it is quite easy to wrap the
cloth tape - masking tape and duct tape also work.
       Someone mentioned using black layered garbage bags for the tops of
cans. The plastic envelopes that developing paper come in, also works great
and it is obviously light tight, you can use a heavy duty rubber band to hold
it on or the original lid scrunched on top of the plastic. Wide rubber bands
are also great light blockers for altiod can cameras.
To test a new camera for light leaks, I have everyone load their cameras with
a paper neg. and place the cameras in a strong light source without opening
the pinhole. Mark or cut a corner of the neg. so it can be replaced in the
camera in it original position. After development, if there are light leaks,
you will know where they are coming from.
       In my workshops, I have been getting excellent results with paper RC
neg. and Decktol. Mabey the contrast comes with a too short exposure time so
that only the strong light areas are being exposed. See if longer exposure
times helps. Our negs can look rather dense or at least middle grayish. We
generally have to use a 4 or 5 filter when making positive prints.
       If you have a hair dryer, you can quickly dry the negs.
       If you want to be a little adventuresome, it is not difficult to
enlarge small paper negs from 35 mm cassette or Altoid cameras. Cut two
pieces of glass to fit in the negative carrier space of the enlarger. They
can be hinged together with clear tape, smooth the edges by sanding with
rough sandpaper. To eliminate excessive light through the enlarger, cut a
piece of the plastic developing paper envelope to the same size as the glass
negative carriers and cut a window in the center of the plastic a bit larger
than the negative. Place the whole contraption (with the neg.) in the
enlarger, move it around until the negative is centered. Check for unintended
light from the enlarger. I usually focus by looking at the resolution of the
edge of the negative - you can observe a bit of grain with a grain focuser
but it is quite subtle. Start with a 5 filter and don't enlarge the image too
much - say no more than 3" x 5". The positives can be on the soft "dreamy"
side.
good luck
Rusty

> Subject: [pinhole-discussion] Teaching Pinhole to 7th graders
> Reply-To: pinhole-discussion@pinhole.com
>
> Hi,
> My wife has given me the opporitunity of teaching a class of gifted
> (meaning
> 'divergent thinkers' in teacher lingo) 7th graders to build and then
> photograph with pinhole cameras. The proposed budjet is $50 to $75 and the
> length would be 3 to 4 weeks. I have done this 3 times before with 3rd
> grade
> classes. Each time we have had limited success.
>
> Building the cameras with shoeboxes or storage boxes has never been a
> problem. A pinvice and 600 grit is used for aperatures. Liberal use of tape
>
> and flat black paint corrected most construction problems. Getting usable
> negatives and controlling contrast has been our downfall. Previously we
> have
> used Ilford Mult. (for both the negative and the final image) and Dektol as
>
> the developer (along with other kodak products for stop and fix). The
> results were mixed at best, the few exposures that did print were had
> extreame contrast.
>
> Does anyone have a recommendation for what paper and developer to use. I
> have also noticed some people on the list are using Ortho Lith film, what
> developers and ASA would you suggest?
>
> If anyone has a fovorite site or a list of pinhole or howto sites, I sure
> could use it (you never know what a 13-14 year old will find with a random
> internet search using 'pinhole'). I have lost my book, "The Pinhole Thing",
>
> so any refferances to aperature vs focal length, paper negatives,
> developers
> (low contrast for paper or ortho lith), appropriate (for children)
> portfoleos, camera ideas, etc. would be appreciated.
>
> I appoligize for not keeping notes, sites, or prior discussions filed for
> referance. I have a week or so to get everything together. Thanks in
> advance
> for any help or suggestions!
>
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Received on Sat Mar 9 18:13:57 2002