Solargraphy is the art of long exposure photography that captures of the image of the sun moving across the sky.  These exposures can last days, months, even years.

This Instructable will show you one design for solargraphy pinhole cameras.  Any pinhole camera will work, but this design has a few important advantages:
 - Cheap.  Beer and soda cans are only "worth" 5 cents (10 in some states), and are filled with tasty beverages.
 - Durable.  These cans are nearly waterproof, and resistant to the weather.
 - Easy to make.  It only takes a few minutes to make one, and it can easily be done in an assembly line process.

NOTE:
This design is not my original idea; I got the idea from here: http://www.pinholephotography.org/Solargraph%20instructions%202.htm
 
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Step 1: Tools and Materials

DSC_2209.jpg
Tools:
- Can opener,
- Sewing Needle,
- Scissors.

Materials:
- Aluminum cans,
- Electrical tape,
- Enlargement paper(http://www.adorama.com/ILIS5725P3.html).

Notes:
I used 16oz. beer cans because they fit a whole 5x7" sheet of enlargement paper without cutting.  You can easily adapt this design for 12oz. cans.

Last summer I tested out 25oz. Fosters cans.  If you go with the larger diameter cans, you'll need another large can to make the lid.
crazyg says: Dec 20, 2012. 10:40 AM
no chemicals required ,is that right? ,great images, i have some b/w photo paper from years ago. i guess it will work the same what you rekon?
Cartermarquis (author) in reply to crazygDec 21, 2012. 8:31 AM
Right, I actually did develop another one but it just turned out black. The image is literally burned into the paper! I bet the paper would still work if you're going to do a months-long exposure.
action pig says: Feb 2, 2012. 11:28 PM
Very nice indeed! A friend and I are just starting to set these up, and we made the mistake of trying to develop our 24 hour exposure trial runs :) Hopefully ours will look as good as yours!
rimar2000 says: Jun 1, 2011. 3:11 PM
1) What these upper left angle waves are?
2) Can you make a sort o photographic paper for this?
Cartermarquis (author) in reply to rimar2000Jun 1, 2011. 5:07 PM
Thank you for your interest!

1) The lines in the upper left corner of the main photo are the drawn by the sun as it moves across the sky. At the summer solstice, the sun is at it's highest point in the sky. As the winter solstice approaches, the sun becomes lower in the sky.

2) I used store-bought photographic enlargement paper as the film for my cameras.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
rimar2000 in reply to CartermarquisJun 1, 2011. 6:40 PM
Thanks!

Good work!
jam BD says: Jun 1, 2011. 2:01 AM
It's a pretty cool idea :D
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