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Just thought I would share this with you as it was lots of fun and the results are actually quite impressive.
You need a cardboard box (free with delivery of something big like crate of beer):
Cut a hole in one side of your cardboard box. I did this roughly with a pair of scissors, then taped the ends back to make it a bit more neat.
And make the inside of the box dark, with one light area on the base opposite the hole. I did this using spray mount, lots of black tissue paper, and one large sheet of white paper (cost £2 from Wilco).
This is the clever bit I picked up from a demo at my local museum. Use a lens from a pair of reading glasses as a lens rather than a pinhole. It makes the image much brighter and you can see it much easier. Cheap reading glasses cost about £3 from Wilco or ebay, strength plus 2 is ideal. I sawed my reading glasses in half so I can make two obscuras. And I threaded a bit of picture wire through the hole the arms attach to so I don't lose it.
You might have noticed my box hole had a little plastic sheet over it, that's from the packaging from some bootlaces that I use later. It fits the reading glasses lens in perfectly, and holds it right over the hole in the box.
Now the obscura will make a perfect image of the ceiling - which I didn't find very satisfying. So I got myself a folding thing (which was a desk tidy made like a laundry basket only smaller, and tied that bootlace to the bits of the frame so it stood open or would fold shut okay - cost £1 from a pound shop)
Slotted into the folding frame a cheap 10" by 8" mirror (Wilco, £3.49) that rested nicely on the folding thing.
Stuck that combo over the hole in the box
And bob is your uncle - a bright camera obscura!
In case you've never seen on, there is something magical about looking down to see the view out of the window. And weird when you see birds flying past in real time...
It's like TV but with many fewer channels! And when you get bored with it, its just a cardboard box, a mirror and a couple of little bits to store.
Next I want to take photos with it... see this thread.
Sue
You need a cardboard box (free with delivery of something big like crate of beer):
Cut a hole in one side of your cardboard box. I did this roughly with a pair of scissors, then taped the ends back to make it a bit more neat.
And make the inside of the box dark, with one light area on the base opposite the hole. I did this using spray mount, lots of black tissue paper, and one large sheet of white paper (cost £2 from Wilco).
This is the clever bit I picked up from a demo at my local museum. Use a lens from a pair of reading glasses as a lens rather than a pinhole. It makes the image much brighter and you can see it much easier. Cheap reading glasses cost about £3 from Wilco or ebay, strength plus 2 is ideal. I sawed my reading glasses in half so I can make two obscuras. And I threaded a bit of picture wire through the hole the arms attach to so I don't lose it.
You might have noticed my box hole had a little plastic sheet over it, that's from the packaging from some bootlaces that I use later. It fits the reading glasses lens in perfectly, and holds it right over the hole in the box.
Now the obscura will make a perfect image of the ceiling - which I didn't find very satisfying. So I got myself a folding thing (which was a desk tidy made like a laundry basket only smaller, and tied that bootlace to the bits of the frame so it stood open or would fold shut okay - cost £1 from a pound shop)
Slotted into the folding frame a cheap 10" by 8" mirror (Wilco, £3.49) that rested nicely on the folding thing.
Stuck that combo over the hole in the box
And bob is your uncle - a bright camera obscura!
In case you've never seen on, there is something magical about looking down to see the view out of the window. And weird when you see birds flying past in real time...
It's like TV but with many fewer channels! And when you get bored with it, its just a cardboard box, a mirror and a couple of little bits to store.
Next I want to take photos with it... see this thread.
Sue
