New! Technique Challenge 65 - Scanography

December 6th, 2016
I have chosen something a little different for this technique challenge. Have you ever thought of using your scanner for more than documents and film negatives?

Should both your camera(s) and camera phone be unavailable, you can use a flatbed scanner to create images with extremely fine detail and a shallow depth of field. The moving light source from the scanner can capture images that have great focus, with soft shadows and great colour saturation. And, the high resolution you can achieve gives you great macro images without even needing a dedicated macro lens!

I had not tried this technique previously, and found I was really stretched to visualise and build a composition in 3D while working from the foreground upwards, and while it was upside down. While I was not using a camera, I still had to consider all the same photographic thought processes and how light & shadow would behave.



There are many different styles you can try with this technique, still life, collages, floral, abstract or conceptual. You can find some compositions that would be otherwise limited by gravity if using your camera, and if you move objects half scanned, you can capture great ‘movements’.



*NOTE*
Do not place heavy objects on the scanner glass or items that may scratch or damage the glass.
Do not look directly at the scanning light
Do not place paint/glue/sparkles/ink/weeping flowers directly on the scanner glass
I have read that the multi-function scan-copy-print models don't work with 3-D objects.
Watch out for dust on the glass, otherwise it will give you terrible dandruff effect! LOL!

Light or medium colour flowers or objects work well.
Remember the normal rules of photographic composition still apply

Clean scanner glass with lint free cloth or silk scarf. Keep lid up on scanner. Arrange objects, face down on scanner glass.
Wearing cotton gloves can prevent fingertip smudges.

To achieve the black background, you must work in a darkened
room, or build a “black box” out of cardboard to fit over the scanner glass. I worked in a mildly darkened room and covered the scanner area with a large lightproof micro-fibre towel that I also used to clean the glass area between compositions.

600 dpi scanning resolution gave me plenty of image to work with, and I used tiff files, although my particular software could also save as .dng which was a great option too.

check out some previous images posted on 365 here


detailed scanography tutorial

scanograph guidance

some scanograph examples

Please feel free to post your images in this thread to keep it alive & fresh, and share your questions, answers & or success !

Challenge starts right now - Tag your photos with technique-65

voting will commence Monday the 19th December!
December 6th, 2016
Oh goody, this could be fun.. I fly out to work tomorrow so I'll have to see what I can do today.

I love what you have created here Lyn, some great examples to get our creativeness into action.
December 6th, 2016
@deborah63 there's always the office scanner........ ;-D
December 6th, 2016
That's very creative!
December 6th, 2016
Rats - I don't have a scanner.... and all the work scanners are MFDs :(
December 6th, 2016
@northy mmm kinda on the edge of my techno-knowledge here - but it may be DOF issue? http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjan13/dw-scanner-type.html I actually have a Brother multi-function, so might compare & see if / how it is different...
December 6th, 2016
I have the multi-functional scanner. I'll try to see how it does. Curious now. I never would have thought of this.
December 6th, 2016
@homeschoolmom I just gave it a go with the same fabric roses - http://365project.org/ltodd/extras/2016-12-04 did not work with the same effect at all with the lamp or DOF - not sure, but maybe I need to scrap this as a challenge idea though! I think it might work with only really flat things.
December 6th, 2016
I also only have a multi-function printer; I will try to see what it does.
December 6th, 2016
@ltodd actually tried it just scanning on my regular scanner/copier/printer...interesting but looks nothing like the examples lol! thanks for the idea
December 6th, 2016
@jackies365 your colours are lovely & soft! I was able to scan mine using RAW which might explain the difference - thanks so much for showing it is possible!
December 6th, 2016
Sounds such fun
December 6th, 2016
how interesting - I will try to have a go at this!
December 6th, 2016
@jackies365 Great effort Jackie.... so much better than mine.
December 6th, 2016
Almost a complete disaster... After about 30 attempts, this is the best I can come up with today. I found that the focus of my scanner is extremely low with only the sections that touch the screen being in focus. It made for an extremely challenging photo session tonight. Oh well, I'll see what I can come up with when I use the big boy at work. :)

December 6th, 2016
Did this years ago of some flowers using a photcopier Didn't notice the ants until enlarged to A3 and hung on classroom wallwall. So beware of bugs too!!!
December 6th, 2016
I will have to play with this. My scanner is one that also copies so it's not going to be as "pretty" as your exs. but I have some ideas to play with!
December 6th, 2016
I'll give it a try! Cool idea. My scanner is multi-function too, but worth an experiment. 😊
December 6th, 2016
I have an Epson printer/scanner and just did a quick try at this and it's a lot of fun. I'll play more tomorrow and post the results.
December 7th, 2016
OK, here is a first attempt... very fascinating. A tad fussy on getting the background laid out halfway correctly, but fun.

December 7th, 2016

First try at this....
December 8th, 2016
I spent over an hour today playing with this technique and I love it. Still need to practice but slowly figuring out what my scanner can do.
December 8th, 2016
My first attempt. Frustrating but fun in the rain
December 8th, 2016
And another one..... I used the 'Big Boy' at work for this attempt. After I figured out how to change the settings, I was able to select 300dpi, high quality JPG in photograph mode. I must say that I was pretty impressed with the clarity and the increased DOF in comparison with my home scanner.

December 8th, 2016
Another attempt
December 9th, 2016
Ok... this is the last one. I added a bit of Picsart Treatment to this one.

December 13th, 2016
this is such a fun challenge!! can't wait to try it, these pictures above are so beautiful, seems to work well with flowers
December 21st, 2016
Not sure if this gets in before the deadline, fun anyhow!
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