Some Peace River bones

[Conner8484]

Hello everyone, as the season winds down I’m trying to ID some mystery bones I’ve found through the year, help with which animal is greatly appreciated!Bone #1 a hand/finger bone I thinkBone #2 some kind of magnum 

 

[Conner8484]

bone #3 heavily worn so may be unidentifiable but worth a shot Bone #4 a damaged vertebrae bone #5 some sort of toe bone

These we’re all found in the peace river, thank you to all that help 

[Harry Pristis]

#5 is a medial phalanx from a bison.

#2 is a horse magnum.

#1 is a human thumb.  

Seriously for a second, some of these images should be cropped and brightened.  You'll get better ID results if you make the effort.

 

DON'T OBSCURE details of the fossil by pinching it between your fingers. If you want to use fingers to provide scale, support the fossil from below ... that is, on top of your fingers. To improve the focus, rest your hand with the fossil on a stable surface like a table or desk.

 

SCALE is important.  Provide measurements of your fossil in millimeters and inches for the widest audience.  Don't use a coin for scale; there are many foreign subscribers who don't know your coin's size.

 

LIGHT IT UP. Use as much ambient light as possible to reduce shadows...two light sources are a minimum. Eliminate yellowed images caused by tungsten filament bulbs by switching to the new compact florescent bulbs. CFLs come in a "daylight" (6500K) version that you can use in any (non-dimming) fixture and produce very little heat. Some LEDs produce a near-daylight effect.

 

ELIMINATE SHADOWS by elevating the fossil on a glass or colorless plastic stage a couple of inches above the background. Illuminate the fossil AND THE BACKGROUND in this configuration. There are numerous things around the house to use for this purpose, from scrap window-glass to disposable plastic food/drink containers.

BRIGHTEN AND CONTRAST. BRIGHTEN the image until the fossil appears slightly washed, then adjust the CONTRAST until the fossil is bright and sharp and is a good color-match. Practice this until you get a feel for it.

CROP, CROP, CROP. Again, use the image-editing software to crop the image to only what is pertinent. Leave only a narrow margin around the fossil. The more of your kitchen counter-top in the image, the smaller the fossil image will be.

[Conner8484]

6 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said:

#5 is a medial phalanx from a bison.

#2 is a horse magnum.

#1 is a human thumb.  

Seriously for a second, some of these images should be cropped and brightened.  You'll get better ID results if you make the effort.

 

DON'T OBSCURE details of the fossil by pinching it between your fingers. If you want to use fingers to provide scale, support the fossil from below ... that is, on top of your fingers. To improve the focus, rest your hand with the fossil on a stable surface like a table or desk.

 

SCALE is important.  Provide measurements of your fossil in millimeters and inches for the widest audience.  Don't use a coin for scale; there are many foreign subscribers who don't know your coin's size.

 

LIGHT IT UP. Use as much ambient light as possible to reduce shadows...two light sources are a minimum. Eliminate yellowed images caused by tungsten filament bulbs by switching to the new compact florescent bulbs. CFLs come in a "daylight" (6500K) version that you can use in any (non-dimming) fixture and produce very little heat. Some LEDs produce a near-daylight effect.

 

ELIMINATE SHADOWS by elevating the fossil on a glass or colorless plastic stage a couple of inches above the background. Illuminate the fossil AND THE BACKGROUND in this configuration. There are numerous things around the house to use for this purpose, from scrap window-glass to disposable plastic food/drink containers.

BRIGHTEN AND CONTRAST. BRIGHTEN the image until the fossil appears slightly washed, then adjust the CONTRAST until the fossil is bright and sharp and is a good color-match. Practice this until you get a feel for it.

CROP, CROP, CROP. Again, use the image-editing software to crop the image to only what is pertinent. Leave only a narrow margin around the fossil. The more of your kitchen counter-top in the image, the smaller the fossil image will be.

Sorry about the thumb in the pics, only way I could keep it standing to get a photo of the ends

[Harry Pristis]

37 minutes ago, Conner8484 said:

Sorry about the thumb in the pics, only way I could keep it standing to get a photo of the ends

 

There are SO MANY ways to prop up a fossil to photograph it, let me mention a few:

I frequently use a small blob of modeling clay to hold a fossil in an otherwise unstable position.  For a stable view of a long fossil (like the end of a bone), I use a colorless glass vessel -- anything from a shot-glass to a baby food jar.  I often use a colorless Lucite commercial stand.  A short length of copper wire can be bent into a spiral to make a temporary stand.  And so on . . . the only limit is your imagination.