Be Leaf

[Rob MacKillop]

Bonnie...from my fecund garden (as Father Ted would say)




Epson v550 Scanner

 

[Pete Askew]

Now that is rather spectacular. I like the 3-dimensionality of the main ribs.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

It's beautiful. They all just look uniformly dull brown until I darken the background, and suddenly these subtle and beautiful colours pop out. I push the whites a little, control the exposure levels in different areas, and sharpen a little. That's it, apart from cropping. The worst thing is controlling the dust. Most of it disappears when I boost the blacks, but I still have to zap dozens of rogue spots.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

But is it photography?

 

[Pete Askew]

Well you used to buy scanning backs for cameras before 'real' sensors were developed, and then there are photograms. So why not?

 

[John Holland]

Scanography???

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Yes, John, that's what they call it. Sometimes with a double n: scannography, though I prefer the singular. Started in the 1970s. It's a Thing: https://www.scannography.org/artists/artists.html

 

[John Holland]

Wow, I was thinking "scanograpghy" was a humorous word creation, and it turns out to be a real thing. Some of this images made are pretty amazing.

While you are experimenting, take a piece of colored (coloured) paper (or patterned) and arch it over the scanner bed to see if you can get a different background (other than black). I would expect to see some type of color (colour) gradient.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

...but I want a black background. Do your own

 

[Chris Bennett]

Your best yet, Rob - for me at least.
Fantastic!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Cheers, Chris. Surprised me too!