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Ronny,
I know I implied that I am not fond of cell phone fossil photos for fossils but sometimes even I do it. Here is a cell photo of a stromatoporoid that I cut and polished. I needed to send this photo to another expert for help in determining the locality for the specimen. This piece was very soft and porous so it didn’t take a high polish. The patches that look pink/orange are remnants of the cerium oxide powder abrasive I use in the final polish that got into the pores. I think the impromptu photo turned out fairly well. Lighting was daylight from a window behind me. The professional background is vinyl place-mats 🙂
Thank you Jack for that info @jkallmeyer. That is exactly what I am talking about … it depends on the object and for what we need the images and sometimes a cell phone camera can work quite well.
what do you think about the new video???
cheers
Ronny
Ronny,
I think your video was really good. I was impressed with the range of information that you covered.
Jack
Hey Jack @jkallmeyer, Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it and feel very pleased. That is just the right reward for all that work. Once again: Thank you very much!
all the best
Ronny
Here is the picture from the back of the brochure. I finally found the microscope online:
http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Magnifier-Clip-On-Microscope-Samsung/dp/B00Y7SOD9A.Hey Tynessa (@tmorgan),
it was fun seeing you guys at the SE GSA meeting and talking about the possibilities that smart phone cameras have. It was very cool to test your attachable macro lens and the resulting photo is really impressive. I am curious how images of tiny teeth will end up with that set up.
all the best
Ronny
Hey Jack, (@jkallmeyer)
please check that macro image that was made with Tynessa’s clip on microscope for her cell phone … I think the result is really great … the letters are actually just 3 mm high and it is astounding how sharp and detailed it appears. Very nice tool for a few Dollars.
all the best
Ronny
Ronny,
It is certainly a close shot. I see focus fall off towards the edges. Since this is a flat object and not a three dimensional fossil, I would have expected better resolution all across the image if this were a high quality optic.
Also, this appears to be a fixed magnification 30X microscope attachment. That is way too high of a magnification for most things I photograph.
Sorry that I am so critical. That comes from being a perfectionist.
Jack
Hey Jack (@jkallmeyer), there is nothing wrong about being a perfectionist (I got the same problem … lol). It is just the circumstance that this device costs just 5-10$. I have seen multi 100$ setups with results not better than this. The market for such devices is rapidly growing and that will give some of our folks new opportunities, especially when you work in places such as a low income school system (like Tynessa does in Texas). Such devices can help to engage kids for science and increase their education.
Btw: My wife is actually an engineer in optical physics working for a big German manufacturer of high precise optics. She thinks (like all the other engineers in the business) that the potential of modern cell phone cameras is enormous, and by the time the attachable devices will increase their quality we might expect some surprises 😉cheers
Ronny
Hey Tynessa (@tmorgan),
have you done some more imaging with your cell phone microscope? Some deeper objects like gastropod shells maybe? Let us know if you had some more fossil experiences with your students.
cheers
Ronny
Hey Joy, @joy-rushing,
you said you would like to improve your skills in photography … just check the video tutorial under resources here at the myFOSSIL website.
If you would like to digitize fossil plants like the lycopods from Alabama, which are more or less flat objects, very blackish and embedded in more or less black matrix, you will need to use a light that comes from the side (grazing light) and enhances the shadows (cast shadows), just like pictured at the jpeg I have attached. You also might want to move the light around the object and check what angle is best to get best contrast. You can also discuss your experiences here with us and step by step we will figure something out 😉 … ahhhh and please post your pics.
Cheers
Ronny
Hey Bill, @bill-heim,
I know that you have done some work in digitizing shark teeth, do you also have mounted teeth sets from Great White Sharks with known Body Length? That would be very interesting for me.
regards and welcome to myFOSSIL
Ronny
@jan-pullum, Hey Jan, since you were quite interested in photography, I would like to ask you for some images from the fossils you found at the field trips at the Cincinnati mini conference. I am curious since I saw your very nice pictures from our field activities.
Thanks
all the best
Ronny
@rleder I’ve had my head down for a few months trying to plow through so I haven’t touched the microscope. I think that I have finally decided on the scope and sequence for the PIT Crew and the fall is going to be dedicated to more of a curation theme. I love that every time I am at the FMNH I get a different tour. I think that is what really sparked the curation theme. We will be photographing our own finds and then discussing the cataloging aspect.
I’m ruined now! I’m a photo snob!
Hey Tynessa (@tmorgan), that sound fantastic and I guess we have just accomplished what we wanted – to make people sensitive for professional curation and all the steps that are related to it 😉
Can’t wait to see the results. Have fun with your PIT crew and btw there is nothing wrong about being a photo snob.best wishes
Ronny
Hey Jack,
Now I have all the stuff I need to put together for a nice video about cutting and polishing rocks. I enjoyed your comments in the video about how the rocks, from a superficial glance, seem to present “fossils only a mother could love” but after cutting and polishing, actually present beautiful internal structures and colors.
Thanks again. I will update you as I make progress editing the video.
best
Ronny
Hey Matthew,
I really like your close up images … what setup do you use for it? What lens/objective combination? With or without lightbox?
all the best
Ronny
ahhh and Jack (@jkallmeyer),
would you please upload the beautiful closeups from Solenophora within this forum and add it also to the fossil gallery
everybody should see it especially with the arrows for the growth directions – it is a nice example in the category “every fossil has a story to tell, you just have to listen quite carefully”
Thanks
Ronny
Hi Ronny,
I use a Voigtländer 90mm f/3.5 SL II APO-LANTHAR lens, usually stopped down to f/8 or f/9. While this lens is out of production for Nikon and Pentax mounts, it is still available for Canon. Scroll to the bottom of this page for more information on the optic. Please be aware that this lens is manual focus only, and is adjusted for each specimen by confirming focus using the camera’s live-view function.
For lighting, I use a floor lamp with a single PAR 20 Solux bulb and two collapsible white/silver reflectors to provide a little bit of shadow fill. This bulb has a consistent color temperature, full spectrum reproduction, and very good illumination. With this lighting, images are always made using a tripod. Fossils are placed on a black towel to minimize backscatter and an X-Rite ColorChecker Passport is used to indicate scale and provide a neutral color balance point in the image.
@rleder Ronny, here are the three images you asked to be posted here. These are all of the same specimen of Solenopora that I cut and polished for the video. You will recall that the un-cut specimen looks a lot like a petrified brain with growing lobes all around making it a puzzle as to how these were attached in life. The photos all have the upper “life” surface at the top. The section was not cut exactly on center and if you didn’t know better you would think this cut was done horizontally through the specimen rather than vertically as all growth appears radial.
Jack
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