Jo-EH Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Hey. I have been wanting to put up some pictures of my finds but it has not come to be yet. I tried Last night with a fairly good camera under a chandelier and you could barely make out the fossils in the rocks. I could sure use some advise how to do this. The rocks are light brown to a gray color. Any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Jo-EH.... Try again in natural daylight first, outdoors is best... and experiment with lighting when you get happy with that... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Here are some useful discussions: "Photographing Fossils": My link "Better Fossil Photography": My link 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Sunlight certainly makes for great lighting. But it can make it tricky to shoot different angles without getting a shadow of your head and camera. You might need to trade off very bright light, which gives you a fast and less blurry image for less light and a stabilized camera. You can get some really nice LED goose-neck lamps that work well for directing light where you want it and close in. (IKEA sells one for just a few bucks) Also, sometimes you need a bit of shadow to bring out definition, so play around with the angle of the light to get the best image. The stability issue can also be fixed with a tripod, even one of those mini desk-top models. So with the camera in "macro" mode for close ups it's either very bright (sun) light and a fast shutter speed; or lower light (desk lamp, chandelier) and a stabilized camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palaeopix Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Hey. I have been wanting to put up some pictures of my finds but it has not come to be yet. I tried Last night with a fairly good camera under a chandelier and you could barely make out the fossils in the rocks. I could sure use some advise how to do this. The rocks are light brown to a gray color. Any help is appreciated. You say you used a fairly good camera but you didn't mention whether it was a Point and Shoot (P&S), Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) or Bridge (intermediate between a P&S and DSLR) model. I'll take a wild guess here and say you didn't use a tripod either! It's almost impossible to get good results with artificial light unless you put the camera on a tripod or use very bright lights. As an example I regularly use a 13 watt compact fluorescent bulb to illuminate my fossils but my exposure times run up to 30 seconds on occasion. In contrast a portable construction light with a 125 watt halogen bulb drops the exposure down to three to six seconds. As you might imagine it is impossible to hold the camera still during a three to six second exposure let alone a 30 second one! Another thing you didn't mention was whether you set your camera to macro mode, on a P&S (the tulip icon) or what type and focal length of lens you used (more of an issue with a DSLR). And if you used a DSLR what aperture was used? Yes there are many things to consider when taking macro photos but once you've got the system figured out it can be very easy! I recommend you check out the links provided by Auspex. If you're still having problems I'm sure we can figure things out for you. Dan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 The one indispensable item that I always use when taking pictures of fossils is a good, steady tripod. I photograph most of my fossils with an 'old' Fuji Finepix camera set on 'macro' and mounted on an old studio tripod that I've had for over 25 years. Sometimes I'll use the on-camera flash (often covered with a thin white handkerchief to avoid harsh shadows) but more often I'll break down and set up an off-camera lighting unit so that I can control the angle of the light to illuminate the fossil to its best advantage. Even with a relatively simple setup I do reasonably well at depicting some of my finds. -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palaeopix Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 That's a great photo Joe and it just goes to show you that a tripod is indispensable for macro photography! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Sharks Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I don't have any fancy equipment, and just a relatively simple camera (Pentax Optio S60). It seems to have a decent zoom and macro setting, and works fine for anything larger than 2 mm or so. What I do highly recommend is Photoshop. Any problems with shadows or brightness are easily fixed, and text can also be added directly to the image, If I can learn it, anyone can. It just takes some time and effort There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Great thread everyone.... good pictures is 50% equipment and 50% (technique + persistance, effort) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I've been messing around a lot lately with photographing specimens, especially since minerals can be so much more difficult to photograph. I'm also on something of a small budget, so cost was a definite factor. So, this is what I've come up with very recently, and it's working quite well for me so far. This is on the bottom shelf of a 2-level iron aquarium stand. There's a piece of cardboard on the bottom for support, and then draped with a black cloth. I use a piece of glass for smaller pieces, as it makes it much easier to keep the base clean, so there's less retouching later. Using the stand is also nice, so I can use clamp lamps, and position them anywhere I feel gives the best lighting for a particular specimen. The position in the picture gives me the best lighting for most specimens, though some minerals need adjustment to properly show the faces of the crystals. As for the actual lighting, they are 13W daylight compact fluorescents. You absolutely want a daylight bulb...regular household bulbs will not give you great color rendition. I find the camera isn't all that important (other than having one with a macro setting, though mine happens to have a super macro). What IS important is stability! As everyone else has said, get a tripod. They're not expensive. They're actually very cheap. Another note...when I'm actually taking the picture, I take it with a timer. I don't trust myself to not mess it up if it's not allowed to settle for a moment. After you have the picture, it's time for editing. I use GIMP, though most people probably use photoshop. Now, don't think this means you're trying to be dishonest and modifying things. Most cameras auto adjust things one way or another, and end up getting the color wrong. In GIMP, I find that going to "Colors" then "Levels" gives me the best options, and the "Auto" button usually does a good job. A little tweaking on the bars, and it's good enough for me. Here's a picture of the setup, and some pictures I've gotten with it. The pictures aren't perfect, but I'm still learning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 nice results and several people have said 13w bulb, I will get a couple. "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Yea, I used to have VERY bright lights over it, but found I get better results with lower wattage bulbs, especially on a black background. I should also note that I take the pictures with all other lights in the room off. It helps a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Great setup Darwin Ahoy! The results speak volumes. Best of the Best, Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehunt Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 When taking fossil pictures recently, after a lot of trial and error, I ended up with a setup that looked remarkably similar to Darwin Ahoy's. I'm in complete agreement with the use of tripod and timer (don't try pushing the button yourself, inevitably even the tripod will sway slightly). Hadn't tried the low wattage bulbs, but that makes a lot of sense (especially since I had to use Lightroom to eliminate a lot of burn-in spots) and I will do that next time. Great advice all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palaeopix Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Here's a great little setup that is indispensable for all types of macro photography. I have a store bought version but as you will see one may be made for next to nothing from an old box, some tape and a few sheets of tracing paper! Link to The Strobist: http://strobist.blog...oto-studio.html Be sure to view the video near the end! The Strobist blog is the site to visit if you have any lighting questions, everything is covered there! Dan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 That's cool, Dan. Nice ideas from everyone. Now all I have to do is find some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I had a fairly good camera, but it was a few years old. Now I have a knew one, it is much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Hi, Darwin Ahoy, is your blue mineral a cavansite ? Very nice result for your pics. This thread is very interesting ! Thanks. Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Ahoy Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Hi, Darwin Ahoy, is your blue mineral a cavansite ? Very nice result for your pics. This thread is very interesting ! Thanks. Coco Close, it's pentagonite. Not a whole lot of difference between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo-EH Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 WOW I was unaware that i would get so many helpfull replies! Thankyou so much! Looks like i have a shopping day to take care of this stuff. Yea my fossils are mostly in lime stone and some shale. I found thin in a road cut in Fenimore, WI. They are not just one specific fossil they are big rocks clustered with fossils all over. Thanks again and hopefully ill get some pictures up soon! -Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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