Sjfriend Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 Has anyone found an easy way to project an image of a fossil assemblage to allow tracing onto paper to map and label multiple specimens on same rock? I have a plate made of 2 large pieces with about 30 trilobite cephalons and 1 upside down complete one on the surface. They do not contrast at all against the matrix. So, not really a good example to just photo and map. I'm guessing the easiest way will be to borrow a digital projector to project a photo onto a sheet of paper? Wait, just came to me. Part of the problem with just using a photograph is changing the directional lighting to bring out each specimen as well as possible. So, maybe use camera hooked to projector and do live display so I could change the lighting as needed in real tiime? Now I'll just have to get ahold of a projector. Thanks for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 There is an app for that if you have an iPhone or iPad called Camera Lucida. 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 7 hours ago, Kane said: There is an app for that if you have an iPhone or iPad called Camera Lucida. I don't but have access to family that does I'll look into it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 On 1/3/2022 at 5:47 PM, Kane said: There is an app for that if you have an iPhone or iPad called Camera Lucida. Interesting. I will have to check this out. FYI, Look up "camera lucida" and see how this was done before cell phone apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 I found the Google Play has a few apps for Android phones as well. We'll see how they work when I get to that rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleoflor Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 A Camera Lucida approach would probably work best here. Alternatively, you could consider mounting your camera on a stative and take a series of photographs under different lighting conditions. With all photographs taken from the exact same viewpoint (hence the stative) you can combine the visual information on them much more easily. Programs like Adobe Illustrator even let you add the photographs as different layers, so you can combine and skim through them during tracing. Some time ago, I tried to trace a Devonian plant fossil that was penetrating different layers of rock. Here I mainly needed the stative for the second layer of rock, but I also took pictures with different lighting per step, which really helped with tracing. Two photographs of first block with different lighting: Similar photographs after adding second layer of rock: Searching for green in the dark grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted January 11, 2022 Author Share Posted January 11, 2022 8 hours ago, paleoflor said: A Camera Lucida approach would probably work best here. Alternatively, you could consider mounting your camera on a stative and take a series of photographs under different lighting conditions. With all photographs taken from the exact same viewpoint (hence the stative) you can combine the visual information on them much more easily. Programs like Adobe Illustrator even let you add the photographs as different layers, so you can combine and skim through them during tracing. Some time ago, I tried to trace a Devonian plant fossil that was penetrating different layers of rock. Here I mainly needed the stative for the second layer of rock, but I also took pictures with different lighting per step, which really helped with tracing. Two photographs of first block with different lighting: Similar photographs after adding second layer of rock: Really like how that brings out the different finer details. Without tracing that would work great for photo cataloging of fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bringing Fossils to Life Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 I didn't think to use different lightings; I take one picture and trace, probably not the best approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share Posted January 14, 2022 Unfortunately the android version that was rated best does not allow for zooming in. I tried contacting them and other app developers but have received no responses. Guess I have to steal... I mean borrow, my grandson's iPhone. That will be like pulling teeth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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