تصوير المتحجرات -٤- الازهار بين عمق المجال والتسجيل الواقعي للألوان ..

Photographing fossils -4- Blossoms between depth of field and realistic color recording

Fossils.. a new facility that we go to for photography in the jungle or in similar locations: These fossils are of various types and should be identified with identification of the circumstances of their formation and therefore the methods that must be followed to photograph them

If we can bring flowers into the studio, this means that we can overcome most of the difficulties that we face with photographing these flowers in their natural locations.
That is because in the studio we can choose any background we need to improve the appearance of the flower, and there is no fear of a wind shaking it during a long exposure. More than that, the luster of flowers depends on their shape and color, and the inscriptional contents that they emit can be highlighted more easily in the disciplined atmosphere of the studio.

- Make the background effective
In almost every case, it is advisable to work with a background that isolates the flower and makes it stand out as much as possible. Out-of-focus leaves and random blurs in flowers photographed in the wild or gardens may hinder the subject very much, but in the studio we can easily remove these obstacles. all of them .
This, and most flowers stand out with greater clarity when photographed against a dark background. Especially those that are characterized by light color gradations, and for the most dark backgrounds, they work with black velvet, which absorbs light more effectively than practically any other surface. Even colored velvet is generally better than paper that shows cracks and wrinkles. Another method to secure a background is to use a color that contrasts with the color of the flower. Thus, the blue background of a yellow flower, or a green flower background.
A red baker will give us the greatest color contrast. The danger here is that the result may be disturbingly ornate.

- Depth of field
As with flowers in outdoor locations, one of the major technical drawbacks is the large depth of field needed to bring every part of the flower into sharp focus. But by increasing the amount of light or by taking longer exposures, it is always possible in the studio to narrow the lens to its smallest aperture - which is usually at / 22 or f / 32 - it is a method that makes every part of the flower appear clear with the larger flowers, but it is impossible to work with it With small flowers picked from a very close location. The only solution in this case is to move away from the flower and accept a smaller magnification. Or accepting the emergence of some parts of the flower, such as the stamens - the organ of the petals, and the leaves being inconspicuous, by concentrating on an important male part of the flower.

- lighting
The electronic flash here is much better than the tungsten lighting,” as long as the heat emitted by the tungsten lamp, such as the photo flood buld, is sufficient to cause the flower to wither within a very few minutes. Even with a studio flash unit, the formation light must be diluted to preserve the flower for as long as possible, and the optical quality plays an important role in the final image result. Dispersed lighting, such as that reflected from a window reflector, gives the image a natural and soft quality, and there are no sharp edges here in the internal shadows resulting from the “petals.” . However, if the flower is very small, this light scattering may remove shadows more effectively than it should, and to the extent that any formation disappears with it.
As for the strong direct lighting, it imitates the strong sunlight, but it emits harshness that is unpalatable and unavoidable. It also causes the appearance of annoying radiances sometimes. We point out here that most of the saturated colors are achieved with diffused light.

As for the lighting angle, it can emphasize highlighting certain parts of the flowers, and it also gives an atmosphere. The light placed behind the flower and to one of its sides, away from the view of the camera, can be adjusted to give a bright edge to each of the petals and the stamens. In this case, we emphasize On the use of reflectors made of white cardboard or silver-colored foil placed against the flower to lighten the shadows.

Realistic color recording
The color of the flower is one of its most important characteristics, and as much care as possible should be taken to record it on film as accurately as possible.

It is necessary to conduct a series of color experiments on the lights inside the studio and on the composition of the film that you use, and this calls for choosing a small studio equipment that includes lights like what we intend to use. We strengthen a large strip of white paper as a base and background, arranging the light so that part of the paper falls far into the shadows. Then we put a few things under the light, including the Kodak Color Separation Guide, found in most photographic stores.
Then we do the experiments, taking a few pictures with different low-strength color trap filters (CC10, CC05) and using blue, green, and red filters first, and judging the acidified film by viewing it on a lightbox. Then, we will be able to reproduce most of the colors with total accuracy, by using the filters that gave the most accurate color in the test whenever we use the studio equipment.
With this, we will go through some occasions, and with flowers especially. It happens that faithfully reproducing color may still be very difficult. The reason for this is the fundamental difference between color films and the color response of the human eye. Films use dyes, and these are designed to reproduce most common color gradations perfectly - skin tones, blue skies and grasses for example - while non-standard colors are mostly of lower quality. In addition, color films are sensitive to a range of positive lengths that differ slightly from the field of the eye. In particular, we find that most films capture reflections in the red and infrared part of the light spectrum, where the eye is characterized by insensitivity there, and since some flowers, in fact, emit light with this Positive lengths. We find them recorded on film in colors different from the colors we watched - and this is interpreted as an error - some filtering may help solve this dilemma, but we must be careful because some colors of flowers cannot be produced with complete accuracy. However, one should be able to approach these colors to a degree that satisfies everyone . except the extreme idealists