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Devonian mortality plates


matgerke

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I have a number of mortality plates that I collected from the middle/upper Devonian Hamilton formation near Ithaca New York.  In case the photos aren't clear, it's mostly brachiopod and crinoid hash. Would be interested in trading for any vertebrate material.  Or invertebrate that lies outside the Devonian (maybe a similar mortality plate from the Ordovician or Silurian, so I could compare).  Anyone interested?  Make me an offer.

 

MattResized_20170101_105141.jpgResized_20170101_105631.jpgResized_20170101_105208.jpg

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It might help if you can get some better pics. Some hash plates are quite nice but others can be so fragmented and eroded that nobody would be interested. Yours could be either, for all I can tell.

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Not sure how to get better pics than those, given the attachment size limitation of the site.  I have to compress them horribly.  Any thoughts?

 

Matt

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25 minutes ago, matgerke said:

Not sure how to get better pics than those, given the attachment size limitation of the site.  I have to compress them horribly.  Any thoughts?

 

Matt

 

Matt, you can upload much larger images.  The limit is around 4MB per post.  Your largest image above is only 878KB.  If you want to add a single large images in Replies below, you could greatly enhance the details of the plates.  ;)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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I'm not sure what's going on in your pics, they seem overly grainy/pixelly/compressed?, even viewed at 'actual size'.

I don't know what software you're using (I only know about mine), but usually you can choose the compression level for jpegs. You want a less compressed/pixelly option, and larger file size. You should be able to do this and still be under the 4MB limit.

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Matt, I would take a photo of each of these under bright light, considering to get much out of the plates I have from you  I needed to use a  flash instead of my normal lights. Then I'd upload a picture of each plate individually. 

Then you can have nice 3mb photos like this one, that show what all fossils are in the rock better :) (and this photo was taken using a smart phone with flash on, rather lazily haha)

IMG_5826.JPG

 

note: I received this plate in a trade with @matgerke from the same group shown, it is no longer for trade :) only using it as an example photo.

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To get good relief you will need to use a light at an angle to the surface, which can't be any light/flash attached to your camera because the camera needs to be face on. I find the best thing for this is sunlight. My camera also does better in terms of color accuracy under sunlight than any other light, even cloudy-skies daylight. But you might get good results indoors with artificial light.

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Okay, I'll post some new ones this weekend.  Will have to fiddle with my jpeg compression settlings -- would be more convenient if the Forum just automatically saved my photos at the appropriate size.  Just a thought.

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On 1/10/2017 at 8:25 PM, matgerke said:

Okay, I'll post some new ones this weekend.  Will have to fiddle with my jpeg compression settlings -- would be more convenient if the Forum just automatically saved my photos at the appropriate size.  Just a thought.

Hi matgerke!

 

Here's what works for me to get big files down to more manageable sizes for posting here on TFF:

- Right click on the thumbnail image

- Choose "Edit"

- Click "Resize"

- Depending on the original file size, I change the Horizontal and Vertical values both from 100 to either 25 (if it was a very big file) or 50 (if it was only a somewhat big file)

- Save the re-sized picture

 

Good luck!

 

Monica

 

 

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Yes, much better.

I wonder if that 'trough' in the last one is actually a nautiloid (orthocone).. it seems to taper.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not sure how to tell if it's an orthocone.  It doesn't have much taper to it -- looks more like the imprint of a cylinder than a cone.  Having said that, it's completely straight, as is the other, shorter impression just to the left of it.  Any suggestions as to how to determine if it's an orthocone or a burrow?

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I guess if there is no shell or, lacking that, no discernable ornamentation to the cast, and you're sure it doesn't taper, then it's more likely to be a burrow. It looks suspiciously straight to me, only a minor kink, maybe, which could be post-burial, and seems to taper down toward the bottom.

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  • 7 months later...

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