Schrödinger’s Photography

Nikon F100, Fuji Velvia 50

You have heard of his cat.  But have you heard his stance on proper tripod use?

Google is celebrating Erwin Schrödinger's birthday today with their doodle.  Schrödinger's famous cat paradox has been used to illustrate the limitations of practical interpretations of quantum mechanics for almost 80 years.

However, reading up on him just now I was fascinated by the end of his original paradox statement:

"There is a difference between a shaky or out-of-focus photograph and a snapshot of clouds and fog banks."  —Erwin Schrödinger, Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik

Clearly he was well versed (as you would expect from the 1930's) in the proper use of a tripod to capture long exposures!

The above multi-second, tripod-rooted shot of my own was taken over nine years ago in the mountains just north of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Erwin would have been proud that the hills in the distance are nice and sharp.