Fossil

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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SteveB
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:12 pm
Location: Pretoria South Africa

Fossil

Post by SteveB »

Hi all, here is a photograph of a fossil I saw in the karoo over the holidays. It,s an in-camera focus bracket, hand held and then stacked in Zerene Stacker. The lens is the Olympus 60 mm f 2.8.

Image

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Post by Beatsy »

I like that. A very natural in-situ look to it. Nice clean stack too.

I notice you specifically said you "saw" it, does that mean you didn't (or wouldn't) collect it? If so, is that because of restrictions or a personal choice? Just curious...

SteveB
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:12 pm
Location: Pretoria South Africa

Post by SteveB »

Thanks Beatsy. I'm amazed at how well Zerene handles hand shake - so long as the subject doesn't move.
I left those fossils as I found them - I'm not against properly documented responsible amateur collections, but I think that a casual finders keepers approach ending with the artifact forgotten in a drawer is very sad. There is a magic to finding something in its environment that cannot be found in a museum or someones collection. There are lots of fossils on that hill (the local people call it Ararat and the fossils are clearly in a layer that was once mud), but just a few "collectors" could easily take almost everything that erosion had revealed in the last few hundred years. Maybe one day I will have grandchildren with whom I could "discover" those same fossils.

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Post by Beatsy »

An admirable philosophy which I applaud. But my inner cynic thinks you and your grandchildren will be disappointed because of less responsible people.

I only have access to one fossil site locally and the fossils are super-common shells that can be found on most gravel drives around here. So the issue doesn't really arise for me in this context. But when it comes to plants, fungi and insects, I tread as lightly as I can. I do collect samples, but only when I specifically intend to photograph them on my macro rig - and then only if there are plenty in the area I'm collecting from. We all draw a line somewhere...

Incidentally, I'm a SteveB too :)

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