How is photography a science

We sat down with scientific photographer Phil Robinson, to find out what he does and why he does it. Scientific Photography at John Innes dates back to the s and Herbert Osterstock, whose story deserves a blog of its own and will be told later this year. The impression of scientific photography is that we exist in a dark studio, snapping profile photos of staff members or taking photographs of plant research samples, splayed out against a plain background.

Like the above…. Our day-to-day work is photographing of UV fluorescence, large plants, trays of Arabidopsis, small plant samples, time lapse of growing plants, copying and archiving work, VIP visits and PR photography. All of which require subtle differences in photographic technique and specific knowledge to achieve the best image.

For example Andy has had many of his photographs provide the front covers for numerous prestigious journals. Shooting and editing video, graphic design work and photographing subjects for front covers are all part of our remit as well. This means that people more readily use our service, but we must remain discerning about what we take on.

In the last year, I have worked with the Saunders Lab with a hi-speed camera shooting at over 10, frames per second and herding cats in our studio for a publication on catmint. The range of potential work for a photographic department in an environment like the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Lab is huge.

Hours-long exposures taken through telescopes bring out astronomical details otherwise unseeable. Similar principals apply to some photos taken through microscopes. High-speed photography allows us to see a bullet in flight.

In , the existence of neutrons was proven using photographs, as was the existence of viruses in One can argue that society should consider images that elicit an emotional response as art.

Edgerton actually created many pieces with this same subject over a decade, trying to capture just the right moment. For example, a bullet being shot through a card or a banana. Many of these photos are scientifically groundbreaking both in what they capture and the process used to capture it.

Until that point, no human eye could view the crown that forms when a drop of liquid hits a surface. At that time, no camera existed that could capture it. He engineered the first high-speed camera using strobe lights and made things that happen in a millisecond appear to stand still. He worked for years to improve the camera and the beauty of the photographs themselves in their composition and color. A colleague of his from MIT recalled that Edgerton chose the red plate and white milk for the contrast and the opacity of the liquid so it would look solid in the photo.

The intersection of science and photography also fascinates Marvin Heiferman. Through photography, students can learn about the science of light and lenses and relate that to how our eyes work. They can learn the science of shutter speed and how that affects images.