Pinhole Camera Reading Photography with a Pinhole Camera Robert Alber Back to Basics Taking pictures with a pinhole camera is one of the simplest forms of the photographic process. But wonderfully, making and using a pinhole camera provides the student with an understanding and appreciation for not only photography, but human physiology, chemistry, light physics, mathematics, art and possibly, a little magic. All cameras, from the most sophisticated to the pinhole, rely on the same elementary principles, performing in similar fashion to the human eye .Like your eyes, the camera needs light to operate.
Light moves into the eye through the pupil , a hole that is made smaller or larger by the iris .
Light gets into the camera through a hole called an aperture that is made larger or smaller by a diaphragm . The camera can also shut out all light with a shutter , similar to closing your eyelids, or opening them to let the light pass. Recall what happens when you enter a movie theater on a sunny afternoon. It takes some time for your eyes to adjust to the low light. At first you cannot see anything, but soon you began to make out objects and within a short time you can see pretty well, even in that darkened room.