Getting Ready for the Day

December 22nd 2007 was a freezing cold Saturday morning in Basel and it was so cozy and warm in bed. But I managed to conquer my laziness and I got out in the cold to be ready to shoot at the exact time of the solstice at 7:08 am.
I chose a location with a visible clock, so that everybody could see that the photos were taken just at the exact time. Unfortunately the contrast of the lighted clock to the surrounding area is too big and now the clock just appears as a white spot (on the house behind the tree).
The newspaper stand just opened a few minutes ago, the bakery already an hour ago. The other shops around the square are preparing to open. Except for the employees at the shops not many people are around yet.

It was much fun to think of all the other panographers all over the world shooting their pictures at the same time.

My contribution certainly is no master piece. But after going through the hassle of getting up in time for the solstice I really wanted to go all the way through and submit the panorama. It turned out to be quite an endeavor to get it done in time!
As I'm still using analogue techniques I'm always a bit worried that I don't get the slides developed in time for the entry. This time this was particularly true due to the holidays. Therefore, I immediately brought the slides to a photo shop downtown where they assured me that I would get them back on Friday, just one day before the submission deadline. I was very disappointed and frustrated when I had to learn Friday morning, that this first information was wrong and that I would only get the slides in a week from today! At least they gave me a hint that I might be able to get the film developed the same day at a special lab in Zürich. After a confirming phone call I jumped on my bicycle and 20 minutes later I sat in the train heading for Zürich (about a one hour train ride). Usually they don’t accept single films for walk-in express development there. But they were kind enough to make an exception for me and two hours later I had the developed slides in my hands. I hurried back home …and after all it looks like I made the deadline!

Europe / Switzerland

Lat: 47° 32' 48.76" N
Long: 7° 33' 52.91" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Hardware: Nikon FM3 on Nodal Ninja SPH-1i, very cheap low-weight tripod, Sigma 8mm fisheye lens, slide film scanned on Nikon Coolscan 5000
Software: PTGui, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Pano2QTVR