Photography Without a Camera

Perspectives on creative photography

Brian Gaylor FRPS Mphil AWPF BA(Hons)

from

Focal View www.focalview.co.uk

Tutorials for creative photography

Photography without a camera

What would people think if you prophesied that high-quality images could be captured without using a camera or film? Furthermore, you claimed that the equipment needed would cost no more than a very basic compact camera but the results would rival the fineness of a large-format camera, your listeners would have been forgiven for being just a little sceptical. If you announced that despite owning one, photographers would only rarely use this fantastic invention, the listeners would have been convinced you had lost your marbles.

The truth is that half-forgotten dusty flatbed scanner connected to your computer can be used to capture stunning images. This lump of glass had been used as a doorstop for years but its true beauty only became apparent when scanned.

Your interest may be slightly diminished due to ethical reasons; after all, it’s not a camera as you know it. However, if you study the history of photography you will realise that some of the very first photographic images called ‘sun pictures’ used a similar technique of placing objects on photographically sensitive plate. The dictionary definition for photography is the process of recording images by exposing light-sensitive film or array to light or other forms of radiation, nothing there about cameras or lenses.

You may still react negatively and be adamant this is not photography. You may decide to read no further but by doing so you will renounce a whole new world of creative photography. Emotional but interesting discussions sometimes follow. Excuse yourself because it is concerned with exposure, contrast, colour, and depth of field, motion and the art of seeing which all play a role. In reality the flatbed scanner is a slow camera,

2 but instead of taking the camera to the subject the subject must be moved to the scanner. Photography is simply the process of capture and display of a subject as an image.

There must come a time to stop the arguments, after all who knows and eventually who cares. This is creative, enjoyable and the images can be stunning when the right technique is applied.

The fruit bowl was an obvious target and for this image of pears most of the adjustments were done in the scanner software, only resizing and dust removal was done in Photoshop.

The method is simple but nevertheless needs to gain the most from the equipment you have. The inventor of the CCD flatbed scanner developed a machine to scan and recognize the text written on paper. With that in mind you will soon realize that with certain restrictions your lonely unused scanner can be used for more exiting subjects than intended by the inventor.

As the process often involves placing an object directly on the platen or clear plastic sheet it has been suggested you should protect the delicate surface with a sheet of OHP transparency. This means rough or wet objects will not mark the scanner’s lens. You may find this sounds fine in theory but in practice the scans appear dusty and despite continued efforts the transparencies could be a hindrance rather than help. Dust on the platen means that you will have to remove it later so the best policy is to keep the surface clean and free from debris.

Probably, the easiest and ultimately the best scanning technique comes via your digital manipulation software > File > Import > Scanner.

The images in this article came from an Epson Perfection V600 and the amount of scan options depends on the quality of your flatbed scanner. You will unfortunately have to read the handbook to obtain the type of scan you want, but the auto scan will not give you the freedom or quality you need. The Advanced / Pro or similar settings can be tailored to suit your requirements, this should included a potential print quality resolution of 250 – 300 ppi but no higher.

Tomatoes on the vine are a good subject due to their colours and availability. These were scanned at 266 ppi with no OHP transparency protection. The subject was adjusted mainly within the scanners > Histogram after the preview and before the actual scan. The lid of the scanner was left open in a dim room with no direct light to provide a virtually black background.

While flat subjects are easiest to scan there is an inherent beauty in the three-dimensional feel as subjects softly fade off into total darkness. When comparing investment in relationship to results you are talking about extremely low-cost photography that requires less time but boundless creativity. If you become enthusiastic, you will probably spend more time on subject searches than on the scanner technology itself. You may become immersed in philosophical discussions on the definition of photography with your peers – until they see the results and decide to join you!

It’s at about this stage that cabin or scan-fever sets in. You will suddenly realise just how easy this process is and how good the resulting images look. All the problems you can encounter with setting up your macro-lens, tripod and lighting have disappeared and you don’t even have to leave the house.

When challenged about the quality and composition of a portrait of a doll, you may deny the use of a scanner and proudly proclaim how you overcome the difficulties of setting up and capturing close-up images. Furthermore, no one can seriously contradict you because if you are careful you will not leave any telltale signs.

When choosing subjects there are some limitations, first is the obvious limitation of the size of the flatbed scanner, which is normally A4 paper. Subjects can be flat or have three-dimensional forms but sharpness depends on how close to the surface the subject is. Depending on your scanners depth of field (DoF) and the power of its light source it is possible to capture acceptable quality up to half an inch above the scanner glass.

As subjects become further from the platen they will not only be increasingly out of focus, but the light emitted by the scanner also becomes weaker. Even if you try experiments with scanning speeds and resolutions, it will not affect DoF. Some film flatbed scanners slightly vary the focusing point, a feature for focusing on slides and negatives but not a way for changing DoF. You need to adapt and be more creative with your choice of subject.

The angle and proximity of the subject to the platen has a huge effect on the resulting image. In the Image 1 below a Victorian soft drink bottle was laid on the surface and a crop taken of the more interesting top section. Nothing was sharp because it was too far from the platen. For Image 2 the bottle was tilted until the top touched the surface. You can see how the image is quite different in both its detail and colours.

Image1 Image 2

With certain three-dimensional subjects, you have to carefully consider how to place it on or above the glass surface. Flowers are a particular problem because they leave the telltale signs of petals being flattened against the surface, a sure sign these are scanned images. That means all your protestations are for naught.

If you become keen on scanning subjects you may think of borrowing or in desperation buying a metal clamp used for soldering electronics or model making. Be aware that the clamp is heavy and has a very rough surface, so protect the platen surface of the scanner.

If on the other hand you really do consider this as low cost photography, you will find another way. Think, strips of wood string, adhesive tape and nails plus a large dose of imagination, you will find a way of suspending the flowers just above the surface but not touching.

Try this simple technique applied as applied to the two images of flowers on stalks below. Hold the stalk carefully against the platen surrounds with the petals just above the surface > Preview was taken > Marquee crop applied. Keep the flowers in approximately in the same position and > Scan. Depending on the flower there will be a marked drop-off in DoF but only the equivalent of a macro lens.

It is essential to keep the surface dust and debris free preferably use a lint-free cleaning cloth, before and after scanning. Take care of the flatbed scanner surface and be careful with sharp and heavy objects. Remember the platen surface is designed to carry paper and books careless use will cause you tiresome work later to remove unwanted bright spots.

You will probably find that scanner fever has set-in in earnest and you will be seeing things in two ways - suitable for scanning or not.

The Epson Scanner control panel settings shown below were used for all the images in this article. However, this will vary depending on what scanner you use. You will note that other than the 266 ppi resolution the Image Type is set to 24-bit Colour. You will probably have a range of alternatives including 48-bit Colour but despite creating a bigger file, there seems no real difference in the quality and not all software will support 48-bit images.

The image of the gold charm bracelet below suggests the practical possibility of scanning your valuables for insurance purposes.

The Jewish band was too big for all the members to be laid out together so one was place on top and now appears to be standing behind the other three members.

You have seen pears and tomatoes scanned successfully as whole fruits but consider slicing exotic fruit and laying it face down on the scanner surface, visits to the supermarket will be seen through complete different eyes.

The good thing about scanning fruit and vegetables is that you will be showing a subject that is only rarely considered as a photographic subject. Some of the innards are truly beautiful to behold. The sliced Papaya above looked good enough to eat and that is just what happened to it. Take into consideration not only the colours and detail but try scanning thin almost transparent slices.

To get the variations in the character of fresh fruit and vegetables often requires you to slice a very moist subject. You must ensure that the platen is protected from the sugary water and the acids by possible cling film stretched on the surface of the scanner. The first image below of the sliced tomatoes highlights an anomaly, because of the amount of fluid the images does not appear as sharp as it actually is. Drying with paper could take away the living organic impression.

The approach of using subjects that are difficult to photograph with a camera and lens can be extended into other organic forms such as shells and pinecones. Because these are hard subjects, they do not show the flattening that you get with flowers being laid on the platen.

For some subjects you may want a light coloured background that means laying a light coloured sheet over the subject. However, you will probably find the lid-open black background of the pinecone image second below gives a more dramatic three-dimensional atmosphere.

When a different background colour is needed, it is easiest to change it later in your photo editing software. As a rule of thumb if the subject is light a black background isolates and accentuates the subject, when the subject is dark choose a lightly background. But, photographic rules are not rules only suggestions so if your intention is too emphasise the dark or lightness of a subject reverse that rule of thumb.

There are three options if a white background. The first is to place a white sheet over the subject the second is to lower the scanner lid, both may result in the subject creating shadows. The third is as suggested do it later in Photoshop or whatever software you have.

Another approach is to build a collection of background subjects that will make an interesting background. These can be scanned and saved ready for your imagination to click into operation. Things that would not normally form part of your photographic collection such as wallpaper, hand written letters, musical scores, newspapers and paper books dictionaries offer interesting possible variations.

You can experiment with things like textured paper or even one of your discarded prints as shown in the image above. The experiment with the print laid above the strip of cones could best be described as work in progress, but it does suggest other possibilities.

Just about within the hard organic subject range are dead flowers, as long as they are dry. There is a strange almost poignant beauty about the faded glory of these once pink camellias.

Composition is easy to overlook but in the case of the seed-head of scanned cotton grass above is was of vital importance. The spidery parachutes had to be carefully pulled apart to give the impression that a sudden gust of wind was dispersing them to the four corners, but without flattening

You may question the value of the high quality images coming from your slow camera. You may consider them simply as a record of what you placed on the platen. Nevertheless, like all photography it is often the ability to see an opportunity to create something that others have overlooked is a skill in itself.

But, this should not be the end of your creative contribution to the image because images captured by your slow camera can be subjected to the same post-camera manipulation as for your more normally captured images.

That means the background achieved by scanning could be substituted by something else if you wish. A scan of coloured pencils could be combined with famous painting, a section of a musical instrument with sheet music. Think of using the scan of sliced fruit with a page from a recipe book or a sharply detailed flower with a garden image.

If you think of the flatbed scanner as a method of producing images, you would find difficult to capture with a camera you will find organic subjects most suitable. The first image below of seed-head and greenflies or the grasses in the lower images both show excellent detail. But, the unique lighting sets them aside from ordinary close-up photography.

The Holy Grail of scanned images is capturing the beauty of a flower or flowers. But first you have to overcome the problems of petals flattening against the platen surface. After many Heath Robinson type contraptions you may find a far simpler solution staring you in the face. The shoebox with the matt black painted interior has a dual use. Cut one of the smaller end panels to leave just a flap attached to what was the bottom but is now the top. Then, with a sharp pointed knife make two small cross incisions in the middle of the top. This is where you will push the flower stalk through. Allow the flower to hang down until it is as close to the surface with out actually touching. Lifting the end flap gives you a perfect view of the flower’s position. Next bend the stalk that protrudes through the top and secure with a small strip of adhesive tape.

Now you are ready to scan, remember the closer the flower is to the surface the sharper and lighter it becomes. Also recall that the scanner’s inbuilt Histogram can dramatically lighten the subject but be careful not to over expose the highlights. You are not finished because as already stated the scanned image is just like any other image as far as your post camera manipulation software is concerned.

Using the above high-end technical equipment – a shoebox - the gloriously vibrant colours and deepness in detail and tone of a red rose was recorded. Most interestingly, it is unlike a typical photograph.

The same technique was used on the image of a white rose below. Inadvertently, the lighter tones were slightly over exposed but correct later by > Duplicate Layer > Multiply > Opacity > Reduce as required. Take a mental note that flowers with stamens will look even more dramatic

Flat flower heads with prominent stamens appear quite different to the more rounded roses.

In this brave new digital world, it is important as a photographer to embrace not only new technologies but also new perceptions. We create tools and then mould our creativity by the imaginative use of them.

The flatbed scanner should not be thought of just as an easy method of creating an image. Because there is a lack of lens distortion, the highly detailed resolution is uniform. The lighting from the sliding sensor beneath the object, coupled with whatever overhead affects you implement, result in an almost three-dimensional imaging of intense sharpness and detail that go to a deeper place than your ordinary seeing and vision.

This radically new digital aesthetic involves a new use for old hardware that allows for a new creative combining of nature and technology.

A red onion that has sprouted hidden in recesses of the vegetable rack produces an almost alien creature appearing out of the blackness. This is the only record that it once existed, it doesn’t matter how it was recorded just that it was.

A long dead flower head dropped outside a church had dried into fantastic shapes taken home as a found treasure to be scanned and recorded.

Photographs may be more memorable than moving images, because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Each still photograph is a privileged moment turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again. Susan Sontag.

Once you become aware of the ability of the slow camera to capture images that would be difficult in situ with your normal camera equipment you start gathering. This involves all sorts of things that you would not normally consider because of the difficulty of wind movement and background.

A bunch of red roses past their best was pressed under a book left to dry then scanned, you may ask if this could be captured as quickly and as well with a camera and lens.

The image capture of the slow camera can be compared to suddenly having the use of a long- zoom lens that you never had before. A whole, new world of photography opens up from subjects that were not previously considered. Selected subjects can be search and collected then taken home to have their image created

This slow photography has its own name - Scanography, that is the process of using a flatbed scanner with a charge-coupled device array to capture digitized images of objects for the purpose of creating art.

The simplest use of the flat bed scanner is still for document or photographic print capture, but it should be thought of as a specialized tool for macro photography. As long as the subject can be placed on the scanner bed, the scanner is excellent for capturing very high-resolution images.

The V600 can scan at 12,800 ppi but for practical purposes that should be reduced to a maximum of 300ppi.

There is nothing sophisticated about the scanning these skeleton leaves found in a country graveyard and slow photographed at home next day. Like the roses above, they were flattened between the pages of a heavy book for a day to ensure as much of the subject as possible laid on the platen.

Other than its creative uses, there is a very practical application, to make images of items being sold on Internet auction sites, which are too small to be easily photographed with consumer level digital cameras.

Another artistic use of the scanner is to capture collages of objects. The difficulty comes because the artist is working from the back of the desired arrangement. All this means is that you will have to scan a number of times before you get the composition that pleases you. Too orderly an arrangement shows that you have laid it out whereas the arrangement should looks as if you just happened upon it.

Capturing a moving subject with the scanner can be either a problem, or an opportunity for artistic effect.

By moving the subject during the scan, distortions are caused along the axis of the scan head's movement. It therefore captures different stages of the subject's movement in a manner similar to slit-scan photography; these are forms of strip photography.

You can utilise this by aligning the subject to the direction of the scan head's movement to deliberately create the desired distortion.

With a little experimenting, you can create images that would be virtually impossible to make by any other easily available method.

Creating digital images without a camera is not unique, neither are the techniques described here. Other creative photographers have been people doing similar things including Marschad Tudor who specializes in the use of a flatbed scanner as camera. [email protected]

Katin Kamason www.katinkamatson.com appears to have mastered the problems of scanning flowers and shows extraordinary images on her website.

Being influenced by another artist’s work means you learn to understand what their intentions and objectives are and take that to your own work. This may be the subject matter, the camera style or the digital manipulation techniques and it is acceptable to use any one of these to change the direction of your photography. However, trying to reproduce another photographer image as closely as possible is copying. You will not be cheating the other artist as much as you are cheating yourself.

Both Marschad and Katin, have in all probability constructed a device that hangs the flower just above the platen surface, perhaps a little more sophisticated than an old shoebox.

Perspectives on creative photography are produced by

The series provides tutorial guides to develop particular skills and techniques. These titles are included as part of the Focal View Photographic Course

and form the themes for the Focal View Photographic Competitions

Further tutorial support can be found in: Focal View Thoughts

Perspectives on Creative Photography Created by Brian Gaylor FRPS Mphil AWPF BA(Hons)

Copyright This publication is the intellectual copyright of the author and Focal View. No part of this publication can be reproduced in any format for any use without the written consent of the author and Focal View.