Can pinhole photography paper go bad?
I tried using a pinhole photography kit but an image never showed up on the paper when I tried to develop it. The kit is at least twenty years old. Did the paper go bad or was I doing something else wrong??
The paper should still work, but the chemicals would be completely bad and worthless now.
Just buy new paper developer. You can buy it from any decent photography supply shop or order it online. You just need the chemicals for developing photographic paper…any kind will work, you don’t need special chemicals just because it’s for a pinhole camera. It’s the same kind of paper and chemicals you would use to make enlargements from negatives in a darkroom.
Buy black and white paper developer and fixer. It will cost around $7 each, so about $14 total. And you can develop a LOT of pictures with that, because you mix the chemicals with water and you only need to use a little bit of it in the trays when you develop prints. If you want to buy new photo paper, you can get a pack for about $20. But the old photo paper should still work, as long as you haven’t exposed it to light. I’ve actually used really old photo paper to develop pictures before. The contrast is really low and the details aren’t as sharp…but it does work. You will get an image. It doesn’t look that bad, actually.
ILFORD Pinhole Photography Kit
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The Sunlight Print Kit: Materials, Techniques, and Projects for Homemade Photography $9.87 Sun prints, also known as cyanotypes, are some of the earliest forms of photography, and are exquisitely detailed images created using just three basic ingredients: light-sensitive paper, water, and sunlight. This kit provides everything you need to make versions of these masterpieces. Create impressions from found objects like leaves or coins, or use the included templates to make more fanciful i… |
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The Pinhole Camera: A Practical How-To Book for Making Pinhole Cameras and Images $31.53 The Pinhole Camera is a practical how-to manual for making pinhole cameras and images.The techniques contained here are not difficult to master, and soon you will find yourself constructing your own cameras and making wonderful, innovative images. The content is divided into four parts, spanning fourteen comprehensive chapters.The Beginner Track, Advanced Track, and Creative Opportunities serve as… |
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The Beginner’s Guide to Pinhole Photography $17.95 Pinhole photography requires no camera, no lenses, and no focusing—just a tiny hole in a can or box provides the light to make images on photographic film paper. Richly illustrated with pinhole photographs, this book teaches the principles of photography. Starting with step-by-step instructions for building a camera out of household materials, it gives details on shooting images; developing; … |
