Walking Stick Pinhole Camera - Takes Multiple Photos

Recently I have been taking some black and white photos using a pinhole camera. I have also made a walking pole from some aluminum beverage cans. This project combines the two into a walking stick which can take multiple black and white pinhole photos.

Nine, 250 mil empty Beverage cans

Pin

Black mat spray paint

Black electrical tape

Wider black tape

Photographic paper

Photo developing and fixing solutions.

Darkroom

Mark off a 250-mil aluminum beverage can into quarters. At the first and last quarter mark sand the aluminum with some 180-grit sandpaper for 40 seconds to make the metal at these points thinner.

Where you sandpapered the can, make a small hole through the aluminum using a pin. Only push the pin a millimeter through the metal, rotate the can while you make the hole to create a small round hole which will act as a lens when taking a picture.

Cut the can in half with a box cutting knife, then trim both edges with a pair of scissors to make them straight with no jagged bits.

With some sandpaper, make the pinhole smooth on the inside of the can.

Push the drinking tab back up into place and cover with the wider black tape for the top halves.

Repeat steps 2 - 5 with the other 8 cans.

Cover all the pinholes with a double layer of black electrical tape. I like to fold one edge over onto itself so it is easier to remove. These will act as camera shutters, removed the tape to take the photo and replaced afterwards.

Load each can with light sensitive Photographic paper cut to size. Do this in a darkroom, a red lamp can be used to see what you are doing. Then join the cans together with a double layer of black insulation tape.

Point one of the pinholes at a subject, remove the tape to expose the photographic paper. As can be seen, 3 weighted cans acted as a tripod to keep it steady while taking a photo. Once all the photos have been taken, develop in a darkroom using developing chemicals. You will probably need to experiment with exposure times. The photo above of the car had a 60 second exposure while the one of the bike on the balcony took 4 minutes.

Another walking pole camera was made which could take up to 17 photos. Here's some of the photos taken with it. As can be seen, many were under or over exposed. Photos taken later in the day require longer exposure, while in the middle of the day exposure time needs to be dialed back. This is probably due to the amount of UV light at different times of the day. I had used a concrete base to hold the walking stick camera when taking photos but if there is wind it would move a little. A better way is to tape it to a pole with masking tape. To know which photos had been taken a blue marker tape was moved to the back of the can. I also found a shorter combo capable of taking 6 - 8 photos to be more user friendly for taking photos.

As part of a morning walk the 'stick camera' was taken along and a few shots taken. The negative images were changed into positive ones with an app on my phone called 'Negative Image'.

These photos were taken in bright sun, with exposure times of between 10 to 20 seconds. Taking pinhole photos in bright sun is a challenge to get the exposure right, about 15 secs seemed to be about right with these beverage can cameras. The other challenge is the vast difference between light and shadow, you will probably get better results by taking photos on overcast days.