Equinox Solargraphy

Moose22 · Dec 21, 2021

This is the best thread to see come back out of slumber.

I like the unicolor one, too. Followed by last December's on the adorama RC paper.

NedL · Dec 22, 2021

Moose22 said:
This is the best thread to see come back out of slumber.

I like the unicolor one, too. Followed by last December's on the adorama RC paper.

Thanks! It's fun to see what comes out of it every 6 months!

Herzeleid · Dec 22, 2021

Hello Ned,
Thanks for sharing all the steps of these works, I was curious how to do similar solargraphy works.
Beautiful results and thanks for sharing.

Sirius Glass · Dec 22, 2021

Interesting project. I am not sure I have the drive to do it myself. Thank you.

NedL · Jun 24, 2022

21 December 2021 through 20 June 2022 Solstice to Solstice
One corner of the paper had popped free from the paper holder and curled in, and I thought it might be ruined, but it was fine. It's kind of amazing how different the colors can be even using the same kinds of photopaper. This was the unicolor paper again. I guess every 6 months has it's own temperature and humidity, rain and sun...

NedL · Dec 25, 2022

20 June - 22 December 2022

DWThomas · Dec 25, 2022

Cool stuff!

Daniela · Dec 26, 2022

This is great! Beautiful results!

NedL · Jul 2, 2023

When I brought this one in, I thought I'd made a mistake and installed it backwards... but now I remember doing that on purpose to get a little different view. This is 21 December 2022 through 20 June 2023.

Grandpa Ron · Jul 2, 2023

This reminds me of just hiking into the woods and sitting down to silently listen and watch. Something, you never know what, will happen.

Congratulations on your ingenuity and persistence.

NedL · Dec 22, 2023

Thanks Ron.

After these years out in the yard, the paint on the can is starting to fail and there is some rust.

Maybe I'll paint it at some point.

June 21 - December 21, 2023

Daniela · Dec 23, 2023

Another great image! Well done!

Synthon · Nov 2, 2024

Now this is a completely different perspective from what i have seen before on the interwebs. I am eager to see more, are you still in, NedL?

NedL · Dec 5, 2024

Synthon said:
Now this is a completely different perspective from what i have seen before on the interwebs. I am eager to see more, are you still in, NedL?

Hi Synthon... just now seeing your message. Yes I'm still around!

I was out of town at the Summer solstice, so I did not change the paper. In a couple weeks, it will have a full year, and I'll change it then!

NedL · Dec 21, 2024

Update winter solstice 2024:

I just changed out the paper. This time was a little different... there was about 1/4 cup of water inside. It wasn't touching the paper, but everything inside was very damp. I'll let it dry and then flatten it before scanning .... will post in the next couple days.

Two things happened. The drain hole rusted, and was partly clogged by the rust. The bottom is dented from various animals jumping on it over the years, and the drain hole was not at the lowest point. The foam covering the drain hole was hard but I don't think that affected drainage. I cleaned it and tried to un-dent the can and replaced the foam, but the whole can is starting to rust on the outside and probably won't last much longer unless I paint it. We'll see. Its had a pretty good run for something that only took a couple hours to set up. I kind of want to try this type of solargraph without the paper being curved... so maybe I'll replace it with something new.

NedL · Dec 22, 2024

This is a full year, Winter solstice 2023 to Winter solstice 2024.
Especially compared to that last clean one, this shows what happens when water gets in and the paper gets damp. I still think it looks interesting... these are always a surprise.

Daniela · Dec 23, 2024

Very interesting image indeed. No apparent turkey intervention this time!
Just looked at the map again. What a cool project!

NedL · Dec 23, 2024

Thanks!

Col-Ray · Jan 20, 2025

NedL said:
Part II

Now install the drain:

View attachment 202600

By the way, that foil tape stuff is awesome to have around for making pinhole cameras: it's waterproof, it sticks like crazy, you can form a tight seal by pressing on it, and it's 100% perfectly lightproof. Great way to seal edges when you need something to be light tight. And you can open it by slitting with your thumbnail. I also sealed the lid edges at the top of the can with it when I was done.

Then I went into the "dark closet" and put a piece of photopaper in the holder, and positioned it inside the can so that it was aimed at the pinhole.
I also put a tape "shutter" in place so that I can start the exposure Wednesday night.

Here I'm mounting the camera on a post. I put two small pieces of wood underneath so that the drain would not be obstructed:

View attachment 202601

Mounted with cable ties and leveled:

View attachment 202602

It's held pretty tight but there is a lot of leverage if you push on the end of the can, so I added that little crosswise piece of wood and I'll glue it in place tomorrow so it will dry before I open the camera.

you get the idea... I did this until the line was perfectly vertical:

View attachment 202603

Almost done, it just needs to have the cable ties trimmed and that last piece of wood glued:

View attachment 202604

And here's what it will see, looking due South:

View attachment 202605

Actually, I doubt the field of view will go all the way to those trees, maybe it will just get the treetops. Next year I'll figure out a way to make the FOV wide enough to see all the sun streaks and all the way to the horizon ( already got an idea about that... I shouldn't have centered the paper at the pinhole, because the FOV does not need to include anything past the zenith... so keep the pinhole aimed the same, but rotate the paper in the camera a little.... )

In six months, we'll see what happens.

I really must give this a go.

NedL · Jan 21, 2025

Col-Ray said:
I really must give this a go.

Have fun! An aluminum drink can is easy and only takes a few minutes to make.....

Col-Ray · Jan 22, 2025

NedL said:
Have fun! An aluminum drink can is easy and only takes a few minutes to make.....

Yes another project

Synthon · Mar 4, 2025

NedL said:
This is a full year, Winter solstice 2023 to Winter solstice 2024.
Especially compared to that last clean one, this shows what happens when water gets in and the paper gets damp. I still think it looks interesting... these are always a surprise.

View attachment 386059

That's beautiful, nice to read from you!
Yes when water gets inside, things can get very interesting. Really gives the images a lot of character.

NedL · Tuesday at 12:17 AM

21 December 2024 through 20 June 2025. Paper was damp again and there was a little water in the bottom.... might need to work on the "drain"... but the can is dented and rusting pretty badly so I'm not sure how much longer it will last. Still fun to open it up and see what's in there. Unicolor positive paper.

Equinox Solargraphy

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