Some things take time, as I have now noticed for the second time in a few days. An actually well recognizable film error in Jurassic Park, which I have overlooked for almost 30 years, follows the photo with what is probably the longest exposure time in the world, which was taken at the end of 2020 has been published. So far it has passed me by, but both the picture itself and the story behind it are still more than worth a look in my eyes.
The photo in question immediately reminded me of aliens and a UFO. But if you know the history behind it, it quickly becomes clear that this is a very secular phenomenon. But let’s have a look at the said photo first:
It was created using a Lochcamera, which was implemented via a very mundane object: a beer can. The combination of a tiny pin-sized hole and photographic paper housed inside the otherwise well-sealed can opposite the hole ended up with the result seen above. But what exactly can you see on it?
Here comes the Sun
These are the paths that the sun takes in the sky over a period of eight years University of Hertfordshire
The image itself and the ups and downs of the sun’s paths already show that the pinhole camera was aligned almost exactly to the south. Here you can see what the same perspective looks like in a photo when it is captured digitally and with a very short exposure time as usual:
link to Twitter content
If you want to know the exact coordinates of the pinhole camera (51.774869, -0.09458) you can also use a map service like Google Maps call.
In the view with satellite images, both the observatory on one side and the scaffolding on the other quickly catch the eye from a bird’s eye view zoomed in close enough.
You can take a completely different perspective with Google Maps if you look at the exciting variant for the Roman Empire. You can find out more about this in the following article:
Route planner in Latin
This is what Google Maps would have looked like for the Roman Empire
Who installed the pinhole camera and how was it discovered?
According to an official post from the University of Hertfordshire, who is now without access data only accessible via web archive is, former student Regina Valkenborgh attached the beer can to one of the telescopes at the local observatory in 2012.
Valkenborgh was finishing her studies in fine arts, with a particular interest in taking photos without the use of modern technology. This brought her an entry about a year earlier with a similar procedure using a pinhole camera Astronomy Picture of the Day bei der NASA one even if this picture only
developed over a period of six months.
However, she forgot the beer can camera from the picture above. It was only in September 2020 that the technical director of the observatory, David Campbell, noticed it. The fact that the long-term recording was still in such good condition after all this time was very fortunate, says Valkenborgh:
It was fortunate that the picture was left untouched to be saved by David after all these years. I had tried this technique a few times at the observatory, but the photos were often ruined by moisture and the photo paper curled up.
How the construction looked exactly can be seen in the following picture:
Incidentally, the Europe artist Michael Wesely was previously considered the record holder for the photo with the longest exposure time. It was created and shows over a period of four years and eight months the construction of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.
If you’re looking for images that are more suitable for use as a desktop wallpaper, you should take a look at the recent images from the James Webb telescope. You can find out more about this in the following article:
Complete galaxy in one photo: James Webb telescope delivers unprecedented images from space
Are you enthusiastic about analogue photography and have you perhaps even experimented with a pinhole camera? Are you fully in favor of the advantages of digital photography or do you think that both have their right to exist? Feel free to write it in the comments!