A couple of weeks ago, this blog post was in my Feedly feed.
I got as far as “Solargraphy” in the title of the article and instantly Googled “solargraphy”.
I watched the first video I could find on the subject, which I have embedded below for your viewing pleasure. As an FYI, it is a 13 minute video.
In short, solargraphy is the art of photographing the sun’s path through a pin-hole camera.
As the seasons change, the sun’s elevation (solar elevation) in relation to the horizon changes. This is more noticeable the farther North you are in the Northern Hemisphere, or the farther South you are in the Southern Hemisphere.
You can capture the change in solar elevation by following the instructions in the video above and creating a pin-hole camera to take a very long exposure.
All materials were very easy to find/purchase, except for the 5 x 7 photographic paper. I ended up finding a 25 pack of it on Adorama’s website for $9.95, plus $3.00 shipping.
Tidbit Time: The last time I touched photographic (enlarging) paper was in Ms Walker’s film photography class my senior year in high school (2002).
I used Gorilla Tape instead of gaffers tape, because it is cheaper, and it is easier to find. I bought my roll at Meijer, but I know they sell it at Lowes and Home Depot.
I ended up creating my first camera out of a 16 ounce aluminum beer can (a Brewery Vivant beer can, to be specific) and set it up on one of the wood posts that holds the aluminum awning up over the back porch of our house.
The exposure officially started on Sunday, February 15th, 2015 at 9:42 AM Eastern.
I am going to let this first exposure go for exactly 30 days, or 2,592,000 seconds. On Tuesday, March 17th, 2015 at 10:42 AM Eastern, I will cover the lens to stop the exposure and scan the results. 10:42 AM Eastern because of losing an hour via daylight savings time on Sunday, Match 8th.
So, until then, I leave you with a photo of my first pin-hole camera zip-tied to the post.
For more information on solargraphy, and to view outcome photos from a camera like this, click here.