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Composite Imaging - Hopperia hexadentata n.sp.

Smithsonian Institution - 1993 Medium: Adobe Photoshop, version 2.0 Size of the original is approximately 8.5x11 inches at 300ppi. The scale line on the image represents 20 microns. The image is of a the spiculum and gubernaculum of Hopperia hexadentata, a new species of nematode from the Yellow Sea. It was prepared for Dr. Duane Hope of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and published in Invertebrate Zoology114(2): 119-138 - 1995. One of the primary problems that has faced individuals attempting to take photographic images of microscopic specimens is a depth of field issue. The higher you magnify an object under a microscope and the thicker it is, the less depth of field you have. Which means when you are focused on a particular detail, everything else may be out of focus. This has made it very difficult to photograph specimens using microscopy. With the advent of applications such Photoshop, one could take multiple images of a specimen at different focal planes, isolate the portions that were in focus and then composite the edited images, such as I have laboriously done with the fourteen small images shown into this enhanced image over a period of about 35 hours. In 1993 the technology we have today was unheard of or just a dream for most of us. Now we have digital imaging hardware and software that is affordable. That is if you can accept 30-50 K or more as affordable. Though whether you do or not, the technology is available today in the form of Auto Montage and Visionary Digital Systems. These systems offer the ability to photograph multiple images at high resolution and multiple focal planes which are then analyzed and the portions of the image that are in focus are isolated. This is all done automatically and can be accomplished with Photoshop CS4 or a few other applications. With the result being a composite image of the multiple images into a single high resolution image where everything is in focus. Depending upon the number of images required to accomplish this, a specimen could be done in ten to fifteen minutes, maybe less depending upon the system being used, the preparation of the specimen, the person doing the imaging, and how skilled they were. Which are all factors no matter how the specimen is imaged. So the difference in the amount of cost per image today with an even better result is well worth considering. If one has a large amount of this type of imaging to be done, the cost of equipment would be negligible compared to the time and money saved in getting the work done quickly and using the time saved for other purposes.

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