A short history of heliography - Zach Porter  In 1826 Nicephore
Niepce produced the oldest known example of an image recorded
onto a light sensitive surface in France with a material called
asphaltum. In 1839 Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre perfected a
photographic process using silver halide coated copper plates,
fumed over iodine crystals, exposed for several minutes in a
clunky camera and then processed out using a hot mercury bath.
It sounds real easy, yes, but certainly not as easy as using
your new camera phone that fits inside the hip pocket. You photo
enthusiasts, you passive dabblers who fancy yourselves
virtuosos, you've got it made. Taking just one photo used to be
an all-day ordeal for our beloved pioneers of what Sir John
Herschel dubbed photography (or heliography if you prefer the
Greek root).  Soccer moms, imagine getting your kid to hold that
dramatic pose for upwards of 15 minutes, not to mention
preparing that hot mercury developer bath at 60 degrees
centigrade. Imagine utilizing your entire F