Posted by Pat Sampson on February 27, 2011 at 9:48 AM
I think most of the Florans are aware that I started scanning in an attempt to imitate Harold Feinstein's processing style in One Hundred Flowers. It's been about six months now and I'm still at it but here are some of the things I think I've learned. Some of them seem pretty obvious but I thought I'd state them anyway, just in case.
At scanner resolutions of 16K and above the areas in focus will show exceptionally fine detail. This is obviously desirable but it means that the subject, where in sharp focus, needs to be perfect and that any dust on the scanner bed is going to show up in the image. You've got to concentrate on every image to make sure the bed is clean. A lens cloth and wash will get the worst of it but the scan will still need to be cleaned.
Images created in DNG format at resolutions above 16K may be larger than two gigabytes. Processing will be extremely slow and some PS plugins simply can't accommodate the size. Some fail gracefully with "inadequate memory space" errors and others cause PS to crash or they appear to loop indefinitely when selected.
I'm using circular metal washers as weights to control the distance of the subject from the scanning bed. I have several sizes of washers and by choosing the right combinations I have gotten to the point where I can usually weight the subject to get the distance I want. The downside of course is that if you weight the subject so as to bring a particular part of it into sharp focus, you may compress another area enough that it looks smashed and unnatural. Also, the silhouette from the washer may be visible through a delicate petal.
I have a couple of different strength LED flashlights that I use on occasion for side lighting.
They're useless for lighting the center of the scan but can provides some help on the outside for areas that are farther from the scanning bed.
Subject selection and placement may take several hours. In stacks I rarely spend more than five minutes arranging a subject. Most of the work happens in creating the stack and in post processing. For scans on the other hand, it's not uncommon for Terri and me to spend an hour or more trying to find the best subject and then getting it arranged and weighted the way we want it. We're still learning what does and doesn't work of course.
The $79 Vuescan scanning software saves lots of time. It provides all the functionality for the scanner that's normally available via the display on the back of a camera as well as some of the camera controls - zooms, orientation, color control, resolution selection, preview mode, file naming and a variety of actual scanner mode settings. Now given that the scanner only costs about $150, $79 software may seem expensive but if you think of it as getting a limited large format camera for less than $250, I'd argue it's cheap, if you can make your subjects work in this technique.
Summary:
Pros
Ability to create large format images (for instance a miniature rose (half inch in dia) creates a scan that's 42 inches by 42 inches at 240 resolution in PS when scanned at 32K resolution)
Low cost equipment - Scanner and software cost less than some filters.
Noise in scanned images is extremely low - consequently, I can post process to my heart's content.
Scanned captures produce incredible detail in areas of sharp focus
Shot setup is easy and natural for small subjects. ( flowers, shells, insects)
Cons
DOF is constrained by the shape and size of the subject.
Exposure control is limited.
Subject size is limited by the size of the scanner bed.
Current Conclusion: Scanning can be used very effectively for subjects of a proper size. I generally find the scanning light acceptable and not overly intrusive and I've yet to have the scanner create a bad exposure with blown high lights. DOF is constrained but can still be controlled to some extent by subject placement and arrangement, Studying the subject for the best presentation is enjoyable as is arranging image elements for me. In some respects this is a lot like building miniatures, fletching or fly tieing.
I thought I'd probably use this thread going forward as a general scanning info thread, so please feel free to add to it. I'll edit it from time to time to try and keep the content organized.
pat
Posted by Lorna Taylor on February 27, 2011 at 9:57 AM
Thank you Pat for the in-depth detail on how you go about your scan work. I figured the weight thing out in my playing around ,but you tip helps refine it on a much smaller scale and a more controlled scan. Thanks again!
Discussion
1 repliesAt scanner resolutions of 16K and above the areas in focus will show exceptionally fine detail. This is obviously desirable but it means that the subject, where in sharp focus, needs to be perfect and that any dust on the scanner bed is going to show up in the image. You've got to concentrate on every image to make sure the bed is clean. A lens cloth and wash will get the worst of it but the scan will still need to be cleaned.
Images created in DNG format at resolutions above 16K may be larger than two gigabytes. Processing will be extremely slow and some PS plugins simply can't accommodate the size. Some fail gracefully with "inadequate memory space" errors and others cause PS to crash or they appear to loop indefinitely when selected.
I'm using circular metal washers as weights to control the distance of the subject from the scanning bed. I have several sizes of washers and by choosing the right combinations I have gotten to the point where I can usually weight the subject to get the distance I want. The downside of course is that if you weight the subject so as to bring a particular part of it into sharp focus, you may compress another area enough that it looks smashed and unnatural. Also, the silhouette from the washer may be visible through a delicate petal.
I have a couple of different strength LED flashlights that I use on occasion for side lighting.
They're useless for lighting the center of the scan but can provides some help on the outside for areas that are farther from the scanning bed.
Subject selection and placement may take several hours. In stacks I rarely spend more than five minutes arranging a subject. Most of the work happens in creating the stack and in post processing. For scans on the other hand, it's not uncommon for Terri and me to spend an hour or more trying to find the best subject and then getting it arranged and weighted the way we want it. We're still learning what does and doesn't work of course.
The $79 Vuescan scanning software saves lots of time. It provides all the functionality for the scanner that's normally available via the display on the back of a camera as well as some of the camera controls - zooms, orientation, color control, resolution selection, preview mode, file naming and a variety of actual scanner mode settings. Now given that the scanner only costs about $150, $79 software may seem expensive but if you think of it as getting a limited large format camera for less than $250, I'd argue it's cheap, if you can make your subjects work in this technique.
Summary:
Pros
Ability to create large format images (for instance a miniature rose (half inch in dia) creates a scan that's 42 inches by 42 inches at 240 resolution in PS when scanned at 32K resolution)
Low cost equipment - Scanner and software cost less than some filters.
Noise in scanned images is extremely low - consequently, I can post process to my heart's content.
Scanned captures produce incredible detail in areas of sharp focus
Shot setup is easy and natural for small subjects. ( flowers, shells, insects)
Cons
DOF is constrained by the shape and size of the subject.
Exposure control is limited.
Subject size is limited by the size of the scanner bed.
Current Conclusion: Scanning can be used very effectively for subjects of a proper size. I generally find the scanning light acceptable and not overly intrusive and I've yet to have the scanner create a bad exposure with blown high lights. DOF is constrained but can still be controlled to some extent by subject placement and arrangement, Studying the subject for the best presentation is enjoyable as is arranging image elements for me. In some respects this is a lot like building miniatures, fletching or fly tieing.
I thought I'd probably use this thread going forward as a general scanning info thread, so please feel free to add to it. I'll edit it from time to time to try and keep the content organized.
pat