Camera Placement and Orientation​​​

• Important: Your camera will be in place for a long time (perhaps months or up to a year!). So keep this in mind when selecting a location for your camera.

• Much like a plant, the camera must be placed in a sunny area.  It doesn't need to be full all-day sun, but complete shade (like under an awning or covered patio) will not work.  The camera needs to be able to "see" the sun at least some point during the day.

• Don't place the camera facing North since it will not capture the sun's path.  Face it South to capture the full sun arch.  Or you can place it facing East or West to capture the sunrise and sunset.

• Placing the camera high off the ground will result in a better image than closer to the ground.​​You don't necessarily need to get on a ladder, but try to mount it at least at eye level or as high as you can reach.

• You'll notice that the pinhole may not be centered on the front of the camera tin.  If this is the case with your camera, the camera should be oriented with the pinhole closest to the top.​  The reason for having the pinhole off-center is so that the camera captures more sky and less ground.  If the pinhole is right in the center of your camera then you can orient it any way you want.

• The adhesive I use on the camera is weatherproof and quite strong. Sometimes a firm twist of the camera is needed to remove it from its mount. Be careful when putting it on painted surfaces since it could damage the paint.

• Instead of using the provided adhesive, you can attach it to a pole or tree by wrapping electrical tape around it to keep it in place.

• Instead of placing the camera outside, you can put it in a sunny windowsill and just leave it undisturbed. Just make sure the pinhole can “see” the sun at some point during the day so it captures the sun trails.

Handling the Camera and Image

• The paper remains light-sensitive after it is removed from the camera. Keep it out of sunlight and bright indoor lighting to preserve the image. This is especially important before you digitize (scan/photograph) the paper. 

• If the paper is wet, you can let it air dry in a dark area like a closet or cabinet before digitizing.​

Exposure Time

• The longer the exposure time, the broader the sun trails will be.  But you could run the exposure for just a day or two if you wanted.  For your first solargraph I recommend at least 30 days.

• Many people like to begin the exposure on or near a solstice, when the sun is at its lowest or highest point in the sky, and let it expose until the next equinox or solstice.

• Running the exposure from solstice to solstice yields the widest band of sun trails.  You can certainly expose for longer or shorter than that, it just changes the overall effect.

• The image on the paper is negative, meaning that it is a mirror image and the colors are reversed.  After you digitize the image you can use a photo editing app to flip it horizontally and invert the colors.  Adjusting contrast, brightness, etc. will enhance the final image.

  • My recommended photo editing app: SNAPSEED

• The easiest way to digitize the image is to simply take a photo of the paper with your phone.
• If you have a flat bed scanner that can scan photos, you can scan the paper instead. But try to complete the scan in one pass since the paper is still light sensitive and the light from the scanner will darken the paper more and more with each pass of the scanner.
• My recommended photo editing workflow for solargraphs once digitized is as follows...​
  • Flip - rotate the image as needed so that it is correctly oriented.  Then, since it is a mirror image, flip it horizontally.​
  • Crop - particularly if you took the photo with your phone there will be some stuff you need to crop out.
  • Invert Colors - the image on the paper won't look terribly exciting.  But once you invert the colors it will be a dramatic difference.  The boring brownish-white areas will become blue or green or even dark orange.  The sun streaks will turn from drab gray to bright yellow, green, blue, or even red.  Nature will do unexpected things to the paper (that is a good thing).
  • Contrast & Brightness - tweaking these settings will bring out the landscape and sun streaks.
  • Get Nuts - you can use the creative tools in your app to change the colors or add texture  There is no wrong way to go about it.

• Need help? Contact me through the contact form in the Bio page​
• Want more cameras?  I can sell you more cameras at a fair price. Contact me through the contact form in the Bio page.  Or, if you'd like to make your own cameras let me know and I can point you in the right direction.
• Want to reuse your camera to take more solargraphs? You basically just need tape and photography print paper.
  •  Light-tight tape: 3M 33 Electrical tape is great and readily available at a hardware store such as Nazareth Hardware.  Cheaper electrical tape tends to fail when out in the weather for long periods.​
  • Resin-coated Photo Paper: Ilford RC papers are easy to get.  Fisk Camera Shop in Easton will have some.  I recommend matte or non-glossy paper but glossy works great too.  Important: only open and handle this paper in darkness or very, very, very dim lighting (absolutely no sunlight, not even through a window).
  • Double-sided Adhesive tape: this is optional since you could simply use the electrical tape to mount the camera by wrapping it around a tree or pole.  But if you want to use double-sided tape, Gorilla weather-proof tape is fantastic, strong, and weatherproof. 
    • Reusing your Camera
      • In very, very, very subdued dim light (as dark as you can get the room while still being able to kind-of see) cut the photographic paper to size with scissors (use the original piece from the camera as a size template).​
      • Use masking tape to stick the photo paper into the camera (you have already realized that the camera is just an Altoids tin, right?) so that the coated side is facing out.  The coated side will be the glossy side if you're using glossy paper.  If you are using matte or pearl finished paper it is more difficult to tell which side is which. But the coated paper will have a bit of a smoother surface.
      • Close the tin (camera) and place a piece of electrical tape over the pinhole.  Then seal off the seams of the tin with more electrical tape.  Use enough tape so that no light can get in the camera tin.

• Check out the Solargraphy section of my website in the menu above.  Most solargraphs are from local Lehigh Valley areas.​
• Heather Palecek - An amazing artist inspired by nature. She has written some books about solargraphy which may be available for sale on her site.
• Christian Fiedler - An artist from New Jersey who recently completed a solargraphy project focusing on lighthouses of the east coast.
• Solar Cross Worlds - An international collaborative solargraphy project.