Salt in a Different Light
I travel around as much as I can. Seeing the things I want to see. Looking for things that I didn't know existed. But sometimes those things are right under our noses, no travel required.
I've started a new series of photographs recently, so over the next while, I thought I would share what I came up with. I took this photo through a digital microscope. Microscopic photography can be a very interesting experience. I've learned that it's nothing like conventional photography. There's no setting the aperture, or shutter speed to aid in finding the perfect photograph. No filters unless you come up with some fantastic way to attach them to your lens without obscuring the ability to magnify.
Your only variable is the light. Will you take the photograph with light from below? Or from above? Will you use a bright light? Or will you dim it down for maximum detail? Should you use natural light, or artificial?
Your depth of field is a tricky issue as well. You have no options, because the concept of depth just doesnt exist at that magnification. You have a singular plane of focus, and basically you choose the best part to focus on, and very carefully do so.
These particular photographs are (you guessed it) salt. At 60x magnification, it resembles uncut diamonds. I found my main problem was trying to get enough detail without too many hotspots. If I gave it too much light, The refractions burned out parts of the photograph, and obscured alot of the natural planes of the crystals. If I took away too much light, it was difficult to maintain the focus.
In the end I thought this first photograph was the best way to show the crystal beauty of it. I diffused the top light, and eliminated the bottom light completely, then brought it into the best focus I could, considering it's a three dimensional subject. I thought it turned out rather well. The crystals that are out of focus give it an ethereal quality that I like, while those that are in focus give the detail I was after.
In this second photograph I went for the opposite approach. Lit from the bottom, and maximized the light, then brought it into focus. I got a totally different result. the second looks more like an Xray.
As you can see, the crystals haven't moved, or been touched. If you were to put one on top of the other, they will match perfectly. The difference is amazing though, and no I did not use Photoshop to achieve this. They are two different photographs, and I just played with the light.
I've started a new series of photographs recently, so over the next while, I thought I would share what I came up with. I took this photo through a digital microscope. Microscopic photography can be a very interesting experience. I've learned that it's nothing like conventional photography. There's no setting the aperture, or shutter speed to aid in finding the perfect photograph. No filters unless you come up with some fantastic way to attach them to your lens without obscuring the ability to magnify.
Your only variable is the light. Will you take the photograph with light from below? Or from above? Will you use a bright light? Or will you dim it down for maximum detail? Should you use natural light, or artificial?
Your depth of field is a tricky issue as well. You have no options, because the concept of depth just doesnt exist at that magnification. You have a singular plane of focus, and basically you choose the best part to focus on, and very carefully do so.
These particular photographs are (you guessed it) salt. At 60x magnification, it resembles uncut diamonds. I found my main problem was trying to get enough detail without too many hotspots. If I gave it too much light, The refractions burned out parts of the photograph, and obscured alot of the natural planes of the crystals. If I took away too much light, it was difficult to maintain the focus.
In the end I thought this first photograph was the best way to show the crystal beauty of it. I diffused the top light, and eliminated the bottom light completely, then brought it into the best focus I could, considering it's a three dimensional subject. I thought it turned out rather well. The crystals that are out of focus give it an ethereal quality that I like, while those that are in focus give the detail I was after.In this second photograph I went for the opposite approach. Lit from the bottom, and maximized the light, then brought it into focus. I got a totally different result. the second looks more like an Xray.As you can see, the crystals haven't moved, or been touched. If you were to put one on top of the other, they will match perfectly. The difference is amazing though, and no I did not use Photoshop to achieve this. They are two different photographs, and I just played with the light.
posted by cowtownchick at 6:19 AM
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