Egg shell pinhole camera.

nhemann · Apr 26, 2011

This is not my work, but I saw it on the Make site (via Lomo) and thought I would pass it along to the rest of us...Pretty cool.

http://www.lomography.com/magazine/...egg-my-journey-to-build-an-egg-pinhole-camera

I'm not an expert on the methods, but for those of you that are - how cool would it be to reverse process or POP these little guys and end up with photographic Faberge eggs?

My list of skills to aquire keeps getting longer.

sokrasins · Apr 26, 2011

This is so cool, I wish I had thought of it myself!

bblhed · Apr 26, 2011

I wonder how large of a negative you would have to photograph with it to get a positive photo in the egg?

Jeff Kubach · Apr 26, 2011

I don't do pinhole, but that is great!

Jeff

ntenny · Apr 26, 2011

It is a great idea. I'm having a hard time thinking of a reasonable direct-positive process that would work, though; the easiest thing might be to "solarise" (Sabat(t)ier effect) the egg during development, which sometimes produces a fairly normal-looking positive image (and sometimes extremely weird stuff instead). I like the fact that the curvature of the eggshell compensates for the curved field.

But why, O why, couldn't the author have photographed a chicken??

-NT

mhcfires · Apr 26, 2011

Too bad ostrich eggs are so expensive.

sokrasins · Apr 26, 2011

mhcfires said:
Too bad ostrich eggs are so expensive.

Oh, I like this! The thicker shell would make the egg camera a bit more resistant to the perils of construction too!

Perhaps emu eggs are cheaper? I don't know, I've never bought either

Jim Jones · Apr 27, 2011

I've accumulated burned out incandescent light bulbs for years, thinking of doing something like this. The glass might be less fragile, would permit easier viewing of the image, and would waste less food.

Worker 11811 · Apr 27, 2011

Whether you're cutting egg shells or glass, submerge the object under water while you cut.

The water will dampen any vibration induced by the cutting tool and prevent shattering.

You will, of course, have to either use hand tools or use a Dremel tool with an extension cable so you don't risk electric shock but, if you can figure out a way to do this, it will work. I have done it. Done carefully, you can even cut a pane of thin glass with a large pair of scissors.

Just make sure that everything, the glass and the tool, are completely submerged in water.

The question I have about using a light bulb is that it's transparent/translucent. You'll have to put the bulb inside a light tight container.

You could cut the appropriate aperture in the side of the light bulb then slide it into a cardboard tube with the correct pinhole. I think that will work. Otherwise, you could paint the outside of the light bulb with a heavy coat of black paint. But then, you would have to worry about getting the paint off the bulb.

...Unless you like the idea of turning the light bulb into a "dark bulb."

spacer · Jun 30, 2011

I know it isn't quite in the spirit of the article, but what about projecting a negative image into the egg on an enlarger? That'd give you the
in-egg positive.

Jim Jones · Jul 1, 2011

Worker 11811 said:
. . . You could cut the appropriate aperture in the side of the light bulb then slide it into a cardboard tube with the correct pinhole. . . .

I had thought to cut off the neck of the bulb and place the pinhole there for a full 360 degree coverage.

Thanks for the tip on submerging glass in water before cutting. This would also work on light bulbs by breaking the glass tip concealed in the base and filling with water before submerging.

Monito · Jul 2, 2011

A true fanatic would suck the egg white and yolk out through a pinhole, inject the emulsion into the pinhole with a syringe, roll it around to coat the interior, wait a week for it to dry and then use the pinhole to make the image.

A negative image from the inside of an eggshell could be "de-fished" with appropriate software and printed as a positive, but that probably does not meet the level of fanaticism inherent in the concept of eggshell pinhole photography.

mr.datsun · Jul 2, 2011

It's a nice idea. I'd reversal process it so there'd be no digital or other trickery.

But has anyone tried it with an ant's egg?

http://s3.hubimg.com/u/662526_f248.jpg

Egg shell pinhole camera.

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency