GigaMacro Photography Experiments - Test 1

One of the more challenging and important parts of our project is capturing ultra-high resolution, focus-stacked images ("GigaMacro" or "GigaPan" images) of fairly tiny specimens of the macroinvertebrates in our growing teaching collection. Part of making sure we are generating a high-quality online teaching resource is making sure that our equipment and, perhaps even more importantly, our techniques, are utilizing the best possible practices in all respects. This means experimenting to figure out what works best for the different sorts of insect specimens!

For the first experiment, our image specialist and entomologist, Andrea, prepared the insect specimens to be photographed by placing them in small, round containers. The camera takes the photos from the top, so there are were several options we wanted to test: do the images look better (in terms of lighting, etc) if the insects are photographed in an opaque container, or one with clear sides? There was no definitive answer to this question as far as we could find, so Andrea conducted this (and other) experiments to find out. Most of the aquatic insects to be imaged for this teaching collection are preserved in ethanol, but because it evaporates so quickly, and the specimens can move around in it, Andrea uses a mixture of ethanol and alcohol gel (aka hand sanitizer) to capture the images.

Here is Andrea's description of the technical aspects of this experiment: Both trials were in gel and ethanol, DOF 0.05, ISO 100, flash at 1/16, shutter speed 1/100, and F aperture 6.3.

Here are the results:

Test 2: Dorsal view of order Ephemeroptera, Family Polymitarcydae, Genus Ephoron in clear container.

Test 1: Dorsal view of order Ephemeroptera, Family Polymitarcydae, Genus Ephoron in opaque container.