MORE PHOTOS

NOTHING BUT SUN

Fail.

MUD, SHOOT!

These were taken along the Thames Path on the Isle of Dogs from the 30th July - 1st August 2009.

HOW TO...

Get yourself a beer and drink it. Then cut the top off.



Make sure you snap off the ring pull as its easier to seal up the drink hole this way. I generally tape up both sides, but as duck tape isn't really that light proof I like to place some thick card under the tape.



Now you'll want to make the pinhole. Generally the rule is that you try and make the pinhole as small as possible as it creates a sharper image. If you want to be more precise, then you can make a crude hole in the can and use some tin foil to get something more accurate. But I'm lazy and I think piercing the can works just as well and its not as fiddly. These are fairly disposable. Not something I'm going to worry about if some fucker comes along and rips it off a tree. Make sure you tape up this hole after you've made it though. That's going to be your shutter. When you've placed your camera out in the field you just peel the tape off to start the exposure. Also when you go to collect it, make sure you tape it back up to stop the exposure.



Now you're ready to load the can. I got myself a safe light off ebay for a fiver. It's shit, but it works. Cut the paper to size using scissors and make sure you leave a little room around the pinhole in case the paper shifts slightly once you've sealed it up.



Now tape the top back on. You're ready to go. Tape it to anything you can facing the sun and be patient. Give it at least a whole day or its not gonna work.

I STOLE THE SUN (for the very first time)

This one was in a field. My second camera caught the sun. Taken from the 25th - 27th July 2009.

LONG EXPOSURE TIMES

All I am using is black and white photo paper. I do not have access to a darkroom or any chemicals, I am just loading the photographic paper at night, however it does help to use a safe light which I purchased from ebay for a fiver. Because I'm exposing the photographic paper over such a long period of time, the images are visible on the paper without the need for developing. All I do is then scan the image into my computer. Photoshop is then used to invert the color and flip the images horizontally. Also due to the long exposure times, as you will see if future posts, the photo tracks the suns path across the sky.

TEST

This is the first photo I took using a beer can from my bedroom window. The exposure time was from the 22nd - 24th July 2009. This can saw approximately 23 hours of daylight. I've included the original scan also in this post (top), which was then inverted in every sense. I was surprised to get anything out of this at all.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGES BELOW TO VIEW FULL SIZE >>>

I'VE BEEN MAKING CAMERAS OUT OF BEER CANS!

Nothing but a beer can, a shit load of duck tape and photographic paper.
Please check back regularly as this is an ongoing project. Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy viewing my work.