Good Sol Solargraph

A solargraph exposure ended prematurely when the subject matter--a sundial on a stand in the foreground--fell over after about three months. The result shows the sun rising from the east, or left in the image, and arcing high in the late July sky before descending back down toward the west, or right. As days ensue, the rising point shifts slightly further to the right around the compass, yielding a flatter, shorter arc through early November 2023. Gaps in the arc reveal intermittent cloudy days.

Notice how the leaves in the central tree are dense up high during the summer weeks, but appear more diffuse as the tree thins in the fall. The pinhole camera is looking across the Galien River Marsh in New Buffalo Township, MI. On the distant horizon are some trees with significant foliage, whereas a few foreground trees are now dead trunks after the high water of recent years drowned them.

The dark, brooding color on the upper third of the image resulted probably from a curl in the paper when it was on the flatbed scanner. Spooky!

You can make a solargraph by punching a small hole in a 16-ounce aluminum can, which is visible in the right edge of the Good Sol can. Insert and secure a curled sheet of 5x7 black and white photographic paper so sunlight can enter the pinhole and strike the active side of the paper. Seal it, mount it facing the sun, and relax for several months.

With the Good Sol can I had been hoping for a prominent gnomon silhouetted by solar arcs , but the pinhole was aimed differently this time. No two solargraphs are alike. The solargraph image does barely show the edge-on rim of the solargraph base to the left of the tree base.

After the original scan, I turn the image right side up; flip the image horizontally; and drag the Color Adjust sliders. Below is the original scan of black and white photographic paper after 3 months outdoors.