View from the top of the Tower with a fish-eye lens:


 

Derek Shanks (outstanding Science Communicator) and his 2003 aphelion creation:

 

Image © Mario Di Maggio

The Moving Sun

This photograph is a six-month exposure of Glasgow Science Centre taken with a pinhole camera from the opposite bank of the river Clyde. The home-made pinhole camera was positioned with its shutter open for six months - from 21 Dec 2003 (winter solstice) to 21 Jun 2004 (summer solstice).

The Sun's slow path across the sky above the science centre is beautifully captured in this unique image. Note how the Sun's altitude (height) increases progressively from December through to June, reaching its peak in midsummer on June 21st. The missing trails are due to the Sun being obscured on overcast days. One outstanding feature of this photograph are the reflections captured in the water.

The term "pinhole camera" was coined by Scottish scientist Sir David Brewster, who was one of the first to make pinhole photographs in the 1850s. Pinhole photography is lensless photography. A tiny hole replaces the lens, and as light passes through the hole, an image is formed on the film at the back of the camera. Pinhole images are softer and less sharp than pictures made with a lens - yet pinhole images have a nearly infinite depth of field.

For more information on how to obtain a free pinhole camera contact Tarja Trygg (http://www.uiah.fi/~ttrygg) of the University of Art and Design, Finland; who is co-ordinating an international project bringing art and science together.


Below: with Tarja Trygg in Helsinki in March 2005
 

May 2001