It would take a full day's worth of daylight to expose the plate. We have no record of exactly what Nicephore did to pass the time that day, but given his strong interest in the draisienne, a two-wheeled, steerable, human-propelled pre-bicycle, better known as a "hobby horse" or "dandy horse," and made entirely of wood, it's likely Nicephore took a ride.

After a long wait, like waiting for the latest Battlestar Galactica episode to download via BitTorrent, it was time for Nicephore to make nice to his pewter plate. He got off his hobby horse, climbed back up the stairs, removed the plate from the camera obscura, and washed it with a healthy mix of lavendar oil and white petroleum. This dissolved away the parts of the bitumen which hadn't been hardened by the light of the day.

The result was what is widely considered the first permanent, direct, positive picture, shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

It's not much worse than some of our modern-day camera phone pictures. Click picture for a larger image.

If you look carefully, you can see the outbuildings, courtyard, trees, and surrounding landscape as Nicephore saw it through his window, all the way back in 1826. And the rest is history.

And that's the story of the first photograph.

Mike McHugh is Australia's Premier Photoshop & InDesign Trainer and co-author of the new How to Wow InDesign book. As a Certified Adobe Expert and Certified Training Provider, Mike has been partnering with Adobe for almost three years. Mike is often called upon by Adobe Systems to speak at functions and provide support for Adobe customers. Wayne Rankin is the recipient of many awards, both in print and new media, and has been published in many Australian and international publications. Wayne co-founded the Australian Graphic Design Association {AGDA) in 1988, and served as National and Victorian president for four years. He is also a member of the National School of Design's Advisory Committee at Swinburne University of Technology. For more information visit http://www.software-cinema.com.