Wallaby Grass Seeds

[peterkinchington]

Whilst photographing indigenous wallaby grass seeds for the National Herbarium of Victoria using digital cameras and stacking technique I decided to take an image using my 4x5inch view camera.

I used a 121mm angulon lens at a marked aperture of f/45 on 570mm of bellows extension yielding an effective aperture of f/211 and magnification of 3.7X on the film. I took both the dorsal and ventral views of the seed on different sheets of film. I then scanned and processed the negatives in photoshop.

The image:
179839

The set up:
179840

peterkinchington.com (http://peterk.2ya.com)

[B.S.Kumar]

Nice! Reversed lens? How did you attach it to the lens board?

Kumar

[peterkinchington]

Hi Kumar,
The lens is reversed however there is no need as the lens is symmetrical but I used a step up ring glued to the lens board to attach the lens.
Cheers Peter

[Tin Can]

Nice image.

Thanks for posting.

So many here say using a lens like that is soooo wrong.

I like it! :)

[peterkinchington]

Hi Randy,
Thanks. I use the small aperture to get maximum depth of field in photomacrography - I am willing to trade off diffraction for dof.
Cheers Peter

[JMO]

Peter, You might be interested in the LF images of botanical subjects by Gayle Moore here in the US (http://www.pottermoorefrassphotography.com/p904467047#h8198924). However, she developed a technique of placing the subjects on a back-lighted translucent panel (like a light table), so the backgrounds in her images are a creamy (dreamy?) white, instead of black as in your image.

[peterkinchington]

Hi JMO,
Gayle has some nice images. I chose black as a background so the seed images with their fine hairs stood out. I did toss up whether to use a white background or not - I think I will try it with this subject with frontal fill flash and post it on this thread for you.
Cheers Peter (Kanga)

peterkinchington.com (http://peterk.2ya.com)

[scheinfluger_77]

Peter, You might be interested in the LF images of botanical subjects by Gayle Moore here in the US (http://www.pottermoorefrassphotography.com/p904467047#h8198924). However, she developed a technique of placing the subjects on a back-lighted translucent panel (like a light table), so the backgrounds in her images are a creamy (dreamy?) white, instead of black as in your image.

Peter—love the photo! JMO I went to Gayle’s site and looked through, they are lovely but are you sure they are not actually a negative representation?

[JMO]

Gayle is a member of the Midwest LF Asylum and has shown images at each of the last several Print Reviews in January. One year she showed mostly her botanical images, for which she has published a book, and explained to our group about her technique. I confess I don't recall the details of her technique, but I don't believe they are negative representations. Rather, she makes her silver gelatin prints from 4x5in B&W negatives through enlargement onto traditional B&W papers (so yielding a positive image). Since her subjects are back-lit, any leaves or other thin tissues transmit some of the light, which adds interesting lines, texture and details to the images.

[Neal Chaves]

I used a 65mm f8 Super Angulon, a 90mm 5.6 Super Angulon and a 58mm 5.6 Grandagon very successfully to photograph rare stamps and coins 1:1 for a national company. I still have transparencies packed away somewhere. I don't see how they could have been any better with special macro lenses. The film can only resolve so much.

[peterkinchington]

Peter—love the photo! JMO I went to Gayle’s site and looked through, they are lovely but are you sure they are not actually a negative representation?

Hi Steve,
Thanks I tried to give a Victorian era naturalist feel to the image.
Cheers Kanga

[peterkinchington]

I used a 65mm f8 Super Angulon, a 90mm 5.6 Super Angulon and a 58mm 5.6 Grandagon very successfully to photograph rare stamps and coins 1:1 for a national company. I still have transparencies packed away somewhere. I don't see how they could have been any better with special macro lenses. The film can only resolve so much.

Hi Neal,
I think technique is more important than lens choice. I regularly use apertures that go well into diffraction territory for photomacrography but for 3D subjects I would rather trade off resolution for depth of field.
Cheers Kanga

[peterkinchington]

Peter, You might be interested in the LF images of botanical subjects by Gayle Moore here in the US (http://www.pottermoorefrassphotography.com/p904467047#h8198924). However, she developed a technique of placing the subjects on a back-lighted translucent panel (like a light table), so the backgrounds in her images are a creamy (dreamy?) white, instead of black as in your image.

Hi JMO,
This is the wallaby grass seed with white as a background I have not finished working in photoshop and the texture of the backlit paper that I used is showing through - a white translucent plastic or glass panel would have given a result more like Gayles. But I have posted this image for your information.
Cheers Kanga
179882

[dsphotog]

In California, we have a similar thing (but not as ornate) called foxtails. They catch in dogs fur, and in clothing, a real nuisance

[peterkinchington]

In California, we have a similar thing (but not as ornate) called foxtails. They catch in dogs fur, and in clothing, a real nuisance

Hi dsphotog,
Foxtails are found in Australia they are an introduced grass species here and are weeds they can out compete native grasses.
Cheers Kanga