Solargraph

[squirmelia]

I attempted to make a solargraph following instructions. I removed the top of an empty can of cider, made a lid out of black card, stuck black gaffer tape over it, pierced the can with a pin, and put in the photographic paper. I stuck eyes on it and gave it a purple hat, so that it would look slightly less like a suspicious device.

It sat on my windowsill, from 4th January to 4th July.

Today I removed it and scanned it.

In conclusion, I think I need to use a scanner with higher DPI, and perhaps put a camera somewhere more interesting, but at least in the picture you can see the sun's arc. It didn't seem to capture that much detail, so that's something also that I can improve on.

Comments

[aellia.livejournal.com]

Amazing!
I know it's not the same but I am fascinated by the camera obscura.
x

[flavius-m.livejournal.com]

Ooh, interesting. No quite the same as an analemma but connected, you can tell the change of position of the sun through the year.

[gnommi.livejournal.com]

oh that's neat!

[katsmeat.livejournal.com]

This little project has been on a vague, to-do list for a while. It looks like it came out well, and I'm impressed you managed to avoid accidentally moving it for six months.

Is it a one shot thing? Is the unfixed photographic paper wrecked by the light of the scanner? I wonder if a bigger can and a larger sheet of paper would give better detail.

[katsmeat.livejournal.com]

I wonder if a bigger can and a larger sheet of paper would give better detail.

Darn, I'm an idiot; your resolution is governed by the size of the pin hole....

Perhaps a Jeweler's Drill (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-Archimedes-Drill-95mm/dp/B005DQA7MM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341476550&sr=8-2) and a 0.1mm or 0.2 mm micro drill bit would be your friends. Given that a pin must have a diameter of at least 1mm.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Yep, a smaller hole would help. Thanks for the suggestion of a jeweller's drill!

A larger sheet of paper/bigger can would make a bigger picture though, which would be cool also!

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I'm also fascinated by camera obscuras and stare at them in wonder every time. :)

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Just reading about how to take photos of analemma - looks cool, but rather tricky! Exact same location, at a scheduled time, every few days for a year.

[blue-mai.livejournal.com]

not too small otherwise diffraction makes it fuzzier again. you can find a formula for the optimum size hole for a given depth between hole and paper. it's not too small if using can-sized things..

[nickmurdoch.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's nifty! Thanks for updating, I was curious to hear how that'd come out when you first wrote about it!