The Royal Institution
Make your own developing solution with household liquids, make your own pinhole camera, and create completely DIY photographs. A perfect summer science activity.
Download step-by-step instructions here: http://bit.ly/1MIaFGe
Download the camera templates and get more information here: http://bit.ly/1UpDlX5
Make your own photograph developing solution out of household liquids. You can use dried mint, coffee, or basil – anything with caffic acid, which converts the colourless silver ions in the photographic paper into dark silver to produce a negative image.
If using mint, make a strong mint tea by stirring 10g of dried mint leaves into 200ml of hot water. Leave to brew for 15min, then strain through a coffee filter into a new container. In another glass, measure out 200ml of cold water and add two 1000mg vitamin C tablets. Then gradually add 10g of bicarbonate of soda while stirring to help break down the bubbles. The bicarbonate helps the vitamin C dissolve and creates the alkaline conditions needed for the developer to work.
Mix the two solutions together and leave to rest. Make an acidic stop solution to halt the chemical reaction started by the developer. Just mix 5 ml of lemon juice with 200 ml of water.
For more information, and links to download the template and instructions, visit the L’Oreal Young Scientist Centre webpage: http://bit.ly/PinholeCamera_Ri
Thanks to Dr Sean Thurston for creating the solutions.
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Will this also work on 35mm film
What about fixing the photograph ? Don't you know that if you don't fix your image it will become black in 10 minutes !
Sorry but your video is terrible…
Hi, I cannot find the template on the webside anymore…Could you please send me a working link? I'm having a pinhole workshop on Tuesday and need this particular one. Thank you very much for your collaboration :)!
Why doesnt my pinhole camera work. when i go to develop the photopaper it just turns the a pretty sepia color. no image
I made my picture it looks amazing.
Thanks Royal institution
The beauty of this is that the materials used in the developing solution are non toxic. You won't have any issues with municipal or your building manager's regulations, if you rent. Great video!
I'm a little confused, do we add dried mint to tea or to water only?
Could I use citric acid instead of lemon juice?
thanks for sharing. if that's ok i'd perhaps use this information to organize free workshops for kids from the area 🙂 could be fun!
After making the photographic paper and keeping it inside the camera , will it automatically print the photo ?
I live in bush ak where getting some of these supplies is difficult. Does anyone know how many times the developer can be reused?
Am I the only one who noticed that you can't see anything on her finished photo?
Well that was a waste of good mint…………………
does not even work
Is this a joke? There's nothing on the print.
i need help how do i invert the negative without any kind of computer program phone app or anything like that please tell me. becuse i see it as lazy and unprofestional to use a photoshop tool on a old techneique
So what about the fixer?
So what about the fixer?
how about fixer
Absolutely fascinated.!! Love your enthusiasm and thank you for sharing.
What kind of photo paper do you use? positive direct ?????
This video is awesome but my photos keep fading. How do I prevent that?
Hey does anyone know what the film they used was called?
can u use this recipe to develop negatives
I'm gonna have to start learning how to develop photos myself with kodak going away.
hi i just want to ask how many time you can reuse this stuff?
What is with the fixer?
Thanks for the video!
Does matte photo paper work Plz answer asap
could it be possible to use this development method with 35mm film (not for any serious photography though)?
How do you make film paper to develop in the first place?
She didn't fix her photo, so will it not just fade?
IF SOMEONE IS STILL READING THIS: What type of paper is photographic paper? Any photographic printer paper? Or its some kind of "special" paper sold only in photography stores?
Thanks for the demonstration. Beauty is in the ??. Questions : Is it possible to get a perfect line from the explosure which later on devolope/transfer to the paper?
Question : May I know the sourse of light, in the photo r coming from which direction? Left/Right or Right/Left.
Lastly to better understanding is the photo over/under expose? Tq?
Old vid I know. I have made a pinhole camera out of a tea caddy. Now I wanted to make my own DIY paper developer chemicals. Tested this recipe. It works! Tea caddy loaded with Ilford Muligrade IV RC De Lux paper (what a name). Developed with “your” DIY-mix. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtVtlADlMlO/
Next I will be trying coffee instead of mint tea…
Thanks
If I use fuji film could I just flap it around to develop it like in fuji film cameras?
How do know when it is ready in the mint tea solution.
what camera are you filming with?
I have been trying this for several weeks for a science project and it still does work
I am trying this with my class of children. We have followed all the instructions to the letter, but we are not getting any pictures, only brown sepia coloured splodges on the photographic paper. Any ideas what we could do?
cool
I would like to know if it is possible to reuse and if it is possible to store the solution to use a few days later.
What kind of photographic paper do you use? I can't figure out what kind.
Ah yes, the metric system.
Good presentation
I have been playing around with different exposure times and have been having mixed results – no good pictures yet and have also noticed the photo paper remains light sensitive and eventually all turns brown. Is there where a fixer is required?
Thanks for getting me started but … don't follow this advice if you actually want it to work. For starters, not sodium bicarb (baking soda), but sodium carbonate (washing soda). You can google formulas that work with coffee instead of mint. I may try it with mint again because I bought a shed load of it for this purpose … or I'll just drink the mint while I develop with the correct coffee/vit c/washing soda formula. (oh, and you're better off using diluted vinegar rather than lemon juice as a stop bath)
It doesnt work