Photography

Photography

This article describes the process of imaging insect specimens in a museum setting. It will describe general set up techniques for imaging systems and enumerate example systems. This article gives information on how to use related common software as well as tips and trouble shooting. This article will discuss general matters and give system specific examples in related articles.

=Principles of Montage Photography=

=Specimen Preparation=

=Imaging=

Lighting
Problem with image sizes. Delete remaining 4000x Powershot ELPH images of lighting techniques. Text saved in the Ant Wiki Protocol Images folder.

Canon EOS 7D
The Canon EOS 7D allows the user to take images with an interface on the desktop. The interface allows the user to control virtually all of the camera's features. Instructions on how to use the 7D directly from your computer can be found here.

Naming Images
=Image Processing=

Montaging
Montaging/Focus Stacking is the process of combining multiple source images from different focal planes into a single source image.

Software Available
The list of programs below are the programs we are currently aware of. Prices and functionality vary widely. Consider your current and future needs before purchasing.


 * List of Program
 * Auto Montage
 * Zerene Stacker
 * Helicon Focus
 * Combine Z (Freeware)
 * Photoshop CS 6 and higher
 * Leica Application Suite

General Features

 * Source Images - raw images used to create the final image. They should be stored in a single, isolated folder with no other source image sets. Image names should have sequential numbers corresponding to their position in the set of images.


 * Radius/Patch Size - Area of the image that the algorithm processes at any given time. The area increase with the number.


 * Smoothing - This process reduces artifacts left over from the montaging process. Larger number means it will soften the sharpness of images.


 * Retouching - This method allows the user to fix parts of the image the were damaged during the montage process.

Photoshop
This section describes the photoshopping process for images. Before you start processing a large set of image it is recommended that you make a backup folder in case something goes wrong. It is considered best practice to leave the original image as an unaltered TIFF image in case you need to refer back to it. The original image should never be saved over.

Processing

 * Crop - Trims away unnecessary parts of the photo and allows the specimen to be better framed.
 * Levels - Adjusts the lighting levels to enhance the visibility of details. It improves contrast as well.
 * Sharpen/Smart sharpen - Detects and sharpens edges and removes blur.
 * Image Size - Pixel dimensions of the final images.
 * Export Format - The image format the final product is saved as.
 * Spot Healing Brush tool - Removes halo artifacts from around the specimens. A good montaging software can eliminate the need for this step.

How to make montage images through a microscope

Equipment A microscope with a trinocular head is preferred. If a trinocular head is not present, modifications will attach a camera to one of the eye pieces. This extra port allows the user to set up specimens using the eye pieces and then switch to the photo-tube for images. A microscope with a fine focus rail/stand in addition a coarse focus allows for more precise source images. A grey card (40% neutral) is a standard background in photography. Diffuse lighting can be achieved using several methods: 1) a light dome using LED lights can be attached to the microscope objective and pulled down over the specimen during images 2)

Example: Leica Application Suite

=Imaging Systems=

MCZ Leica Imaging System
System Components (used for ant images in Entomology Department, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University)


 * Microscope


 * Computer
 * PC Dell Studio XPS using Windows 7 Enterprise
 * Processor 2.93 GHz ; RAM 6 GB ;


 * Software
 * EOS Utility Canon Driver software
 * Helicon Focus 5.3 (frequent updates per year)
 * Photoshop CS6


 * Other
 * Diaphram set to maximum open position [Image]
 * Neutral Gray background card [Image]