Pinhole Cameras: 10 Common Problems

1. The picture is completely white.

• The pinhole is clogged or blocked
• The pinhole did not line up with the shutter
• The photographic paper was put in backwards
• The picture was EXTREMELY underexposed

2. The picture is completely black.

• The container has a large light leak
• The photographic paper was somehow exposed to natural light before or after you took
the picture
• The picture was EXTREMELY overexposed

3. The picture is blurry or an object has a ghost-like glow around it.

• The camera moved during exposure
• You held the box instead of securing it on a steady place
• The subject moved during exposure
• You will get a ghost like image when an object is not moving for most of the exposure and
then moved for the other part of the exposure

4. The picture has dark or hazy marks in the corner or part of the picture.
• There is a small light leak somewhere in the camera
• The paper was partially exposed to light other that through the shutter.

5. The picture is spotty or brownish in tone.

• The developer may be old or no longer working
• The chemicals were not washed off thoroughly, thus turning photo brown or other colors
• May have exposed paper to light before photo was in the fixer

6. There are white spots or a weird line throughout the picture.

• The tongs or your fingers were held over the paper too long during the developing-this
keeps that part of the photo from developing at the same rate as the rest of the photo
• You did not press paper evenly and quickly into the developer- this leaves lines and areas
lighter and darker because of the different developing times (photo will be two-toned)

7. The picture is too DARK.

• The exposure time was too long.

8. The picture is too LIGHT.

• The exposure time was too short

9. One area is just right, but one area is too dark or too light.
• The exposure time was correct for one area of the scene, but not the other
• If you have a scene or subject matter that is partially in bright sun and partially in dark
shadow, there will be one area too light or too dark. Adjust your exposure to the area you
want to be the center of interest or change angles to have even lighting.

10. There is mostly sky or mostly ground in the picture.

• The camera was positioned or aimed in the wrong direction.
• The camera was not close enough to the subject matter