An Exhibition not to miss. Microsculpture by Levon Biss

I know I only just blogged about this but at the weekend I went to see the exhibition by Levon Biss at The Museum of Natural History in Oxford. Yes I know you realise it was madness, the place was full of kids and I could have gone any day of the week when the little ones were at school but there you are I had time, it was a nice day to ride my bike and I had an hour or two spare. I had seen Levon’s pictures on screen, zoomed into them a bit and was wowed but I was not prepared for the size of the images on display, the multi-coloured grasshopper thing is about 4m wide and the jewel bug thing the same high, these are huge and utterly fantastic. What is more they have the actual specimens that were photographed to make the photographic images on display they are literally this big XXX I am not one for exaggeration and any form of wild life photography leaves me cold but the techniques involved, the precision and quality of work is breath taking. When you go, and you must, then make sure you listen to the video explanation and do have a play with the touch screen thing.

It is at The Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford. Here is a link to the previous post with all the exhibition details

Levon Biss Microsculpture Exhibition at Museum of Natural History Oxford

I have seen a number of the images Levon has created and have to say I am blown away by the beauty and technical expertise.

Levon Biss is a British photographer based in the UK who has been shooting campaigns for international brands for the last 18 years.  His work has graced the covers of publications such as TIME Magazine and he has produced a best selling book on the global game of soccer titled ‘One Love’.

Here Levon explains how he works on his Microsculpture project

“Each image from the Microsculpture project is created from around 8000 individual photographs.  The pinned insect is placed on an adapted microscope stage that enables me to have complete control over the positioning of the specimen in front of the lens.  I shoot with a 36-megapixel camera that has a 10x microscope objective attached to it via a 200mm prime lens.

I photograph the insect in approximately 30 different sections, depending on the size of the specimen.  Each section is lit differently with strobe lights to bring out the micro sculptural beauty of that particular section of the body.  For example, I will light and shoot just one antennae, then after I have completed this area I will move onto the eye and the lighting set up will change entirely to suit the texture and contours of that part of the body.  I continue this process until I have covered the whole surface area of the insect.

Due to the inherent shallow depth of field that microscope lenses provide, each individual photograph only contains a tiny slither of focus.  To enable me to capture all the information I need to create a fully focused image, the camera is mounted onto an electronic rail that I program to move forward 10 microns between each shot.  To give you an idea of how far that is, the average human hair is around 75 microns wide.  The camera will then slowly move forward from the front of the insect to the back creating a folder of images that each have a thin plane of focus.  Through various photo-stacking processes I flatten these images down to create a single picture that has complete focus throughout the full depth of the insect.

I repeat this process over the entire body of the insect and once I have 30 fully focused sections I bring them together in Photoshop to create the final image.  From start to finish, a final photograph will take around 3 weeks to shoot, process and retouch.”

Microsculpture The exhibition
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
27 May – 30 October 2016

Microsculpture presents the insect collection of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History like never before. The result of a collaboration between the Museum and photographer Levon Biss, this series of beautifully-lit, high magnification portraits captures the microscopic form of insects in striking large-format and high-resolution detail.

Levon is holding a workshop at the Museum:

Photography Workshop with Levon Biss
Levon Biss’ photography is a masterclass in lighting. Pick up some expert techniques using specimens at different scales from the Museum collections. Special workshop to coincide with the Microsculpture exhibition.

Details to follow after Microsculpture exhibition opens on 27 May.
Saturday 9th July

Microsculpture

Formed at scales too tiny for us to perceive and with astonishing complexity, the true structure and beauty of insects remains mostly hidden. Their intricate shapes, colours and microsculpture are dizzying in their variety, but it takes the power of an optical microscope or camera lens to experience insects at their own scale.

At high magnification the surface of even the plainest looking beetle or fly is completely transformed as details of their microsculpture become visible: ridges, pits or engraved meshes all combine at different spatial scales in a breath-taking intricacy. It is thought that these microscopic structures alter the properties of the insect’s surface in different ways, reflecting sunlight, shedding water, or trapping air.

Alongside these elements are minute hairs adapted for many purposes. They can help insects grip smooth surfaces, carry pollen, or detect movements in the air, to name but a few. The shape of these hairs is sometimes modified into flattened scales – structures so small they appear like dust to the naked eye. In some insects, such as butterflies and beetles, these scales scatter and reflect light, creating some of the most vibrant and intense colours seen in nature.

The evolutionary process of natural selection should account for all this wonderful diversity of microstructures, but for many species their specific adaptive function is still unknown. By observing insects in the wild, studying museum collections, and developing new imaging techniques we will surely learn more about these fascinating creatures and close the gaps in our current understanding.

Dr James Hogan
Life Collections, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

 

15 of the best photography blogs to help you become a better photographer

It’s difficult finding the best photography blogs to learn from – there are so many to choose from! Here we share the ones worth your time!

Source: 15 of the best photography blogs to help you become a better photographer

3 Ways Photography Alters The Mind

I keep saying in class that an understanding of photography, of image making, of communicating in a visual way changes the mind. As the saying goes ‘mind stretched never goes back to the same shape’ Therefore seeing better, understanding your world through a visual medium has to be a great advantage. You will not be surprised then when I champion this article by Dzvonko Petrovski on Lightstalking

Visual perception, or the ability that allows you to observe a certain situation, is shaped and molded by you and your experiences in your surroundings. The way you see things, observe, take note of details and so forth defines your visual perception and how detail oriented you are.

Let us take a neurosurgeon for example: his visual perception is highly tuned towards details. The surgeon should be able to notice things which regular people wouldn’t even be able to see.

Psychologists, on the other hand, should be able to catch various micro expressions by the people they are working with in order to be able to help them; their visual perception is highly tuned towards noticing small differences in the facial expressions, which often occur for a split second. Along with this, they should also be observant of the bigger picture.

Us photographers are a different breed. Our visual perception is separately tuned towards different things that we are supposed to observe…….

Light

Though it’s very difficult to fine tune your perception for light, this is something you start doing right away. Due to the limitation of the camera (the amount of light it needs to generate a decent picture) you first start evaluating the amount of light you have and whether it is hard or soft.

Generally, you do this by trial and error. First off, all you start with sources you’re familiar with e.g. fluorescent lights – and you generally learn which settings work in that kind of a setup, this can then be used in other scenarios.

You can ascertain whether the light is harsh or soft by looking at the shadows and observing their shapes i.e. whether closer or further away from the light source.

I think you should read more of this article, it is not long but it is worthwhile

I cover much of the conceptual aspects of these ideas in my Intermediate Photography, we have the next course starting on the 12th May and we have places

Best monitor for photo editing: 10 top models tested and rated

One of our most popular posts has been about monitors and which is the best for photo editing. You may be aware that the monitor you use to look at your images can have a substantial effect on how they look. That is not that they look better or worse more that they are accurate. If your monitor is too bright and you edit your images based on what you see then when you send your images for printing they will come out darker. The same of course goes for colour balance. So if you want some sort of accuracy you should always use the operating system software that is designed for monitor calibration, if you don’t know how just google monitor calibration on a (mac) or (PC). However if you want much better image fidelity you have to get away from a general purpose monitor which is OK for everything and get one that is designed for graphic work. This article on Digital Camera World lists the top ten as at October 2014.

MOnitor

Good luck

Here are some more up to date recommendations but not from sites that I regularly use so cross check what they say

Best Monitor for Photo Editing and Photography 2016

Photo Editing Monitor Buyer’s Guide – May 2016