Catching Sunlight / Alan Friedman

My photographs comprise a solar diary, portraits of a moment in the life of our local star. Most are captured from my backyard in Buffalo, NY. Using a small telescope and narrow band filters I can capture details in high resolution and record movements in the solar atmosphere that change over hours and sometimes minutes. The raw material for my work is black and white and often blurry. As I prepare the pictures, color is applied and tonality is adjusted to better render the features. It is photojournalism of a sort. The portraits are real, not painted. Aesthetic decisions are made with respect for accuracy as well as for the power of the image. –Alan Friedman

Alan Friedman captures images of the sun with mesmerizing detail. Only aided by a small telescope and special filters attached to his camera, Friedman shot these photographs in the backyard of his Buffalo home. Initially, these images were blurry and colorless, Friedman spends a great deal of time adjusting the images to reveal the ornate surface of the sun. You can find more high resolution images at his website.

Also, see the video below for Alan Friedman’s recent TEDTalk on his photography.

–@ybaynes

images via Colossal.