Last winter I came across some Youtube videos about Solargraphs (most notably this one https://youtu.be/7n3iBW8SkXA, although I opted mostly for chopped tomatoes than beans).
This in turn led me to an amazing collection by Al Bryson http://www.al-brydon.com/solargraphs
I spent some time around the winter solstice making eight Solargraphs of my own and placing them in locations around a farm and woodland. I then waited six months for the results.
My big concern was how easy it would be to scan the resulting images. For these long exposures a sheet of photographic paper is used behind the pinhole, and this is light sensitive. I didn’t know how the process of scanning them would work. I need not have worried as a simple scan (300dpi) seemed to produce good enough results, and not impair the paper before the scan had finished.
What I hadn’t considered was the design of the tin can pinhole camera. Three of my eight had a significant amount of water in them by the end of the six month exposure. A couple of them also had light leaks. Of the eight, five have produced images of some interest, the remaining three are fascinating but don’t have any sun trails to show.
Processing the images was as simple as the video suggests. Photoshop does a great job of inverting the image and then come colour correction and split toning in Photoshop or Lightroom can take place quite easily.
I am going to rethink my design and work on a more precise and smaller pinhole, as well as trying to make the capsules more water and light-proof. I had been trying to work out how to make smaller units as well - I liked the idea of being able to hide them in plain sight in a more urban environment.
I am now posting the resulting images in a separate project on this site.