PUMPKIN CAM!

YES, this is a pumpkin. YES, I made it into a pinhole camera. YES, making it and shooting with it was probably one of the funnest experiences of my weekend.

 

I was inspired after seeing this, and spent some time figuring out how to make it work!

 

I will explain how I made this happen, so maybe I can inspire you all to do the same thing or something similar! (Note, my friend in the photo made one with me out of a watermelon, so anything is possible here.)

 

***DISCLAIMER: I did this completely on a whim this weekend and my methods of construction were very "trial and error". I have not developed the film yet as I shot it tonight, so I do not know if this works. My plan is not foolproof.

 

 

YOU WILL NEED:

-a pumpkin, watermelon, or other similar object that you can easily hollow out.

-thick cardboard

-thin cardboard (the film boxes work perfectly)

-a roll of film you want to shoot, and an empty roll of film to use to advance your film/feed it through your camera (as far as an empty roll of film goes, I got plenty of expired film from my mom and my friend's mom that they hadn't shot and had no use for, otherwise, you can probably ask for these at any photo lab- they usually throw them away.)

-a LOT of black electrical tape (since it is basically your BFF as far as covering light leaks goes)

-clear tape

-scissors

-a pin

-a box cutter

-a ruler

-a black sharpie

-a knife/spoon/all materials necessary for pumpkin carving

 

First, I carved out the pumpkin and such. Made sure it was really clean.

Then, I went through the following procedure (I basically constructed it as you would construct a matchbox pinhole camera, but with, you know, a pumpkin.)

 

1. Cut a 24x36 mm box in the center of your pumpkin

2. Get some thick cardboard (I used some cardboard that was leftover from a frozen pizza) and cut that into a 24x36 mm rectangle as well. In the center of this square, cut a 6mm square.

3. Cut a piece out from an empty soda can. Again, make this piece 24x36 mm. Color one side black with a sharpie, then tape it to the piece of cardboard with black electrical tape. (Tape so the colored black side touches the cardboard)

4. Facing the colored black side, use the pin to carefully poke your pinhole on the aluminum. Try to poke your pinhole as close to the center of the 6mm square as you can. When making your pinhole, carefully place the pin and then twist it back and forth as if "drilling" a hole, to get a good size.

5. Cut yet another 24x36 mm (sick of these dimensions yet?) rectangle out of the thin cardboard, with another 6mm square in the center. Tape it over your thick cardboard + pinhole piece on the bottom and two sides, but NOT the top.

6. Take a rectangular shaped piece of thin cardboard (I didn't even cut this, I just took one of the small flaps from the film box) and slide it down through where the top of the thin cardboard has not been taped to the thick cardboard + pinhole piece. This should be able to easily slide up and down. Congratulations, you have now made your shutter.

7. Fit this entire contraption you just made into the 24x36 mm rectangle you cut in your pumpkin or other object. Now go crazy with black electrical tape to make sure it stays and that there are no light leaks! The trickiest spot is on the top of the square, taping in between the thick cardboard pinhole and the thin cardboard shutter.

8. Cut two slits with about a 1 cm width on either side of your pumpkin or other object. Make sure these are located at about the same height on either side.

9. This is by far the most difficult part of making the camera, so remember, be patient! :) Take your empty roll of film and pry off the top with a can opener, as you would if you were taking film out to roll it in a light safe box. Take out the film and cut out most of it, but leave enough in that when you put it back in the canister, at least 3 or 4 inches sticks out. Put the top back on and tape it up really well with your good friend, black electrical tape. Make sure there are no areas for possible light leaks. Slide this little strip of film through the slit (make sure the emulsion/shiny side is facing you and not the pinhole!) and hold the canister to the side of the pumpkin in place. Now, LOTS OF BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPE. Go nuts! Make sure the canister is totally secure on the side of your object and there are no places for light to leak in. When you finish this step, you should have a canister attached to one side and a tail of old film feeding into the pumpkin, which you can see through the open top of the pumpkin from carving it out.

10.Take your film that you plan to shoot. Feed the film through the slit of the pumpkin as you did with the other roll, and again, tape the canister to the side like crazy to make sure it is both secure on the side and that there are no possible light leaks.

11. I lied, this is actually the most difficult step. Pull your good film out until it reaches the old film. Make sure the sprocket holes line up, then using clear tape, attach it to the old film. You now should have one continuous film strip going through your object being supported by two canisters on either side. Take a flat screw driver and use it on the top of the old film canister, and turn to the right until you see your film advance far enough through the slit until tight.

12. Last but not least, take the top of your pumpkin and tape it on! Again, LOTS of tape and make sure there are no potential light leaks.

 

Now you should be ready to go out and shoot! Slide open your shutter and keep it open for a minimum of 2-3 seconds (bright daylight) and up to 10 minutes (night time/long exposures). Since it was getting dark by the time I was shooting, I left the shutter open for anywhere between 5 and 10 seconds. After you've exposed the film and closed the shutter, take a screwdriver and advance the film in the same fashion you did to load the film (turn to the right if you are facing the front of the camera, and to the left if you are facing the back of the camera). As an estimation, I turned the reel two full times before shooting again.

 

When you are done shooting, use a screwdriver on the reel of the good film canister and rotate to the left. If everything is connected and working properly, you should see the reel on the other canister rotating as you rewind your film. Once everything it rewound, remove the tape to get to your roll of film. The old piece it was attached to should break off in the process of rewinding, but if it doesn't, you can simply remove it once your good film is removed from the pumpkin.

 

In summary, I have no idea if this worked or not. I will honestly be super excited if I get even one image out of this, so I can say I took it with a pumpkin. The only thing I was unsure about was that if the pumpkin itself would let any additional light in since it is permeable, but I don't have any black spray paint nor could I purchase any because I'm not 18. If you are unsure of this any want to try it, spray paint your pumpkin black both inside and out before starting the process. One other thing that makes me a little nervous is how well I lined up my film strip with the opening. Again, I'll be happy if I get any trace of an image as this was all an experiment.

 

And if I get no images? I'll be okay. Because the process of building this camera was still really fun and will only make me better at making more pinhole cameras in the future. I might want to experiment with making pinhole cameras out of unconventional objects, and I'll only get better at making them from learning as I go.

 

Longest. Caption. Ever.

 

Done