Photography, regardless of your camera of choice, typically involves a lot of expensive equipment. While each commercial camera offers its own range of benefits and results, if you've got a little time to get more involved in the process, pinhole photography is a fun and cheap way to capture an image and learn about how photography works.

A pinhole camera can be made out of any receptacle; big or small, it's basically just a lightproof container for your film with one small hole (a pinhole) which is uncovered to expose your film to a flash of light. The light passes through the pinhole to capture a reversed image onto your photo paper, which will appear when processed. For a more accurate definition and scientific explanation, read photo.net's really, really long description. The results of pinhole photography are not usually predictable; the images tend to be polarized and distorted with light leaks. For best results, try many different homemade cameras to learn what works best!


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To learn how to make your own camera, although there are many methods, here's a fairly basic tutorial. The more lightproof your camera, the more crisp the results will be. For more consistent results, pick up a cheap Holga camera and make your Holga into a pinhole camera. Whatever your results are, be sure to share them with fellow photographers to learn about your camera and how your next can be improved. The SG photography group is a great place to start.