Solargraphy (Photography)

Earlier in the year, we were lucky enough to be put through a Solarcan workshop.  During this we learned about solargraphy and got to make our own Solarcan cameras.  The process was reasonably simple, and we were each tasked with setting up our Solarcan to take the best images possible.  We had to ensure the lens was facing South and I tried to get mine as high up as possible with as little obstructing the view as I could manage.

I decided to climb a reasonably high hill outside my home town, and secured the Solarcan to a telephone mast.  I was planning on using a compass to find due South, but my compass did not work, and I had to rely on guess work to position the Solarcan.

The can was fastened as above, and I'd planned on keeping it up there for approximately two weeks.  As you may see, I planned to bring it down on the 17th of January.  At the time, the weather was wet and windy, so I was battered round a bit.  I apologise for the quality of these photographs.

The above image is where on the structure I had mounted the camera.  lightly to the left of the shot is the end of that fence, meaning it would not be within the Solarcan's frame.

Again, sorry for the terrible image, but this was quickly taken to show just what the Solarcan was pointed at.  I tried to get as close to South as possible, based on what admittedly was an educated guess.

Due to heavy snow, the Solarcan was left up for an extra week.  I collected it on January 24th.  Earlier today, I opened the can and scanned the image it had produced.

I was immediately concerned about the results.  The image was wet, and it had clearly affected the image.  The middle of the image seemed heavy affected by the moisture in the can.  To top it off, the black lines on the right of the image tell me my estimates were off slightly.  As a result, the Solarcan was left facing closer to South East.

 First I simply inverted the image to produce a clearer image.  The white lines represent the trajectory of the Sun as it rises and sets.  At this point, not much else can be made out, apart of the huge discolouration just off to the centre.

I played with the levels to try and bring the image out a little more.  You can see the outline of the hills in the image now, and the light from the sun is clearer.  It seemed the streak down the centre is where water got into the can.  We can also see several white markings on the left and right sides.  I'm not entirely sure what these are, but it's possible they are reflections of some kind.

I equalised the image to create this version, which increases the exposure and brightness of the image and it's colours.  The white markings are more visible now, as is the obvious marking in the centre, shown in the bright orange.  The contour of the hill is also clearer now, as well as some white fracture lines on the lower right and middle left.  At first I was unclear what these were, but having examined the original afterward, it appears they were small hairs left on the scanner.

 I took the previous image and played with the levels and the hue slightly, to try and bring the image a little closer to reality.  I intentionally tried to correct the orange part in the middle, which hasn't really worked.  Finger prints on the image are clearer, and I find all of the images faults to be really interesting.

Ultimately, this did not work as well as I'd wanted it to.  But I do find the final two images to be incredibly interesting and wonderful to look at.  If I were to do this again, I think I would make some modifications to the can.  Insulating it for example.  That being said, I do feel these images possess a certain surrealism to them, but at the same time, are incredibly real.  It's an odd feeling.  I think the images have a personality of their own, and although it may not look like a landscape, it's definitely an interesting image.