Homeless in Vancouver: No shadow of a doubt when this photo was taken

Time was when people used shadows cast by the sun to determine where they were in the course of a day. Most, however, have long since ditched the sundial in favour of speed dial—preferring to use up-to-the-minute smartphones to get such information.

I understand though that there may still be some people possessed of the specialized knowledge needed to determine the hour and minute simply from the length and position of shadows alone.

It’s enough to tell such people that I took the above photo of the Cambie Street side of Vancouver City Hall, early Sunday afternoon (October 4)—they can work out the exact moment for themselves.

Happily, for the rest of us, not schooled in such arcana, there is the EXIF data which digital cameras embed with each and every image and which records that the photo was taken at 1:48 p.m. and 44 seconds precisely!