Shark Tooth Fossil

[dkCambridgeshire]

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This shark tooth fossil is just under 2cm in length. To photograph the specimen it was supported on its underside with a fine wire and a tiny spot of blu-tac with the wire piercing the velvet background and thence into a cork under the background. When viewed from above ie "plan view" the wire is invisible . The wire elevates the specimen above the velvet background to ensure that background is out of focus - the objective being to create a "floating" effect. The black background also ensures that the wire does not cast a visible shadow. A glass table could have been used but that would have given rise to dust specks. Lighting was via a triple fibre optic goose neck and a Schott fibre optic projector. The goose neck illuminators have focusing lenses and lens hoods enabling soft and hard lighting effects which can be further softened by the addition of white tissue attached to the hoods. Fujichrome 64T tungsten balanced film was used and this is a scan from a Cibachrome print from same. Camera was Leica R4-S Model 2 with a 60mm Macro Elmarit lens and bellows, with a copystand. Magnification on the film is approximately 1.5 times life size; an aperture of f16 was used which at this magnification equates to an effective aperture of f40 using formula f' = f(m + 1) ie, f' = 16 x (1.5 + 1 ) . Diffraction would not start to be a problem until an effective aperture of f64.

 

 

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dunk

[vdb]

Stunning presentation,detail and sharpness.

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