# Photography without a camera



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

No camera to hand?
Or do you want to take a close up of an object?

A photo scanner can be used to very good effect. The following photographs were taken by scanning them in with an ordinary photo scanner.

It is a good idea to set the scanner resolution to 300dpi. This will give a very good quality of image. It can be reduced in size if needs be.









Photo 1: scanned at 300dpi and reduced in size for display here.










Photo 2: scanned at 300dpi and reduced in size for display here.









Photo 2a: This shows the detail at full size of Photo 2










Photo 3: scanned at 300dpi and reduced in size for display here.









Photo 3a: This shows the detail at full size of Photo 3










Photo 4: This object is 3" (75mm) deep.


The next four photos show the differences in setting different scan dpi (dots per inch). None of them have been reduced in size other than a straight crop.









Photo 5a: object scanned at 150dpi









Photo 5b: object scanned at 300dpi









Photo 5c: object scanned at 600dpi









Photo 5d: object scanned at 1200dpi

So, don't use your scanner just for copying documents - it is worthy of doing much more.


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

There are a number of digital artists that use scanners rather than cameras to make digital artworks - a favourite of mine is Maggie Taylor. She makes surreal, dream-like images by using a scanner to scan images and objects and combine them in Photoshop. she often uses old postcards as backgrounds and then scans insects etc. and layers them up.
I also went to a wonderful professional development workshop where we learnt to make a "sandbox" for use with a scanner - if you want to scan unusual objects, materials that may damage or mark your scanners platen > make a tray-like construction with a clear perspex bottom that fits to your scanner's outer (slightly raised above the platen) edges. This way you can use materials like sand, mud, twigs, leaves etc to create images or textural backgrounds without compromising the clean surface of your scanner.


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

I had a look at Maggie Taylor's work - wow, what an artist she is - they are almost like the old lantern slides but with much higher quality and detail. Every one as something, somewhere in the picture that is totally unexpected. Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for that link...

The idea of a 'sandbox' for the scanner is a good idea. The back platen is very easily damaged. It is only designed to give a little pressure to a flat object.

In fact I ruined a brand new scanner 'photographing' hundreds of gold charms (the charm bracelet type) of cruise ships because I did not pay attention to the platen. Still one learns from mistakes....Or do I.... I didn't use a sandbox for the above scans!

One thing to observe when using a scanner as a camera...DUST - it seems to show up more when scanning an object that scanning a document or photo.

I use the vacuum cleaner with the soft 'drapery' brush on the flexible hose to clean the glass, platen and the object itself.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Some years ago I used my scanner to convert my slides .. I found that the best way of doing it was to use blocks of white board 5cm High by 16mm wide. I would place the slide inside with differing types of material on top to keep them both flat and allow diffuse light to pass through. I tried greaseproof paper, white perspex, clear glass and a number of other materials that are close to hand. I used various different types of torch bulbs to light the background. Apart from the fact that different light levels give differnt effects of the resulting scan scan, the differing materials also added to the overall affect whilst for the most Natural affect I found that a battery operated fluorescent light worked best (for me). I also went one step further by replacing the battery with an adjustable power supply.

Edit .. I found it necessary to use the auto focus mode on the scanner as well since the scanner is normally expecting the image to be at glass level and even a 1mm height difference can have a serious effect on the results if the scanner doesn't try to focus on the image rather than the default height setting


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

Some scanners are built to scan transparencies - they will often have a slide tray as an accessory - and can scan 35mm slides as well as medium and large format transparencies.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

zuluclayman said:


> Some scanners are built to scan transparencies - they will often have a slide tray as an accessory - and can scan 35mm slides as well as medium and large format transparencies.


I am aware of that .. but when cash is tight and you want to see what is involved, then it's only logical that you start thinking about what is required .. a lot of those gadgets do little more than my own home made attempt .. but it did include the "re-invent the wheel" syndrome .. I was rather unhappy at not managing to find the ideal way to do the same thing with my negatives .. but that doesn't mean that I won't stop trying :laugh:


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Done_Fishin said:


> .. I was rather unhappy at not managing to find the ideal way to do the same thing with my negatives .. but that doesn't mean that I won't stop trying :laugh:


Check to see if your imagaging software will allow you to 'invert' the image. Some scanners will allow you to scan in an 'inverted' mode.

In Photoshop it is:
Image>>Adjustments>>Invert (or Ctrl-I)


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

I tried that but was never really happy at the results .. I had the impression that the inversion required to be done with an alternative method to the one being advocated since the final colouring left much to be desired .. 

I figured it might have something to do with the inversion of colours like RED, BLUE GREEN rather than RED BLUE YELLOW, however my imaging software has changed a lot since back then and I haven't been back down that path.


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