Practical Photography - UK (2019-09)

Happyaccidentshaveoftenbeenthe

mothersof artisticinvention,andwhen

LarrySinger(larrysingerphotography.

com)spottedthepotentialin a humble

fil mscanner,he neverlookedback...

“I n 2011,outof curiosity,I placed

a featheron theglassdocumenttable

ofa scannerI hadpurchasedto digitise

ro llsof negativesshotwhileworkingfor

Circusmagazine.WhenI lookedat the

imageof thefeatheron my computer,

I discoveredthesharpnesswasequal

to,or greaterthan,themostexpensive

pr o cameras.

“Whenusedas a photographytool,a

sc annermorphsintoa verylargedigital

camerawithonebig limitation– it is

unableto focuson a subjectmuch

morethan¼-inchabovetheglass.

“A fterfeathers,I beganscanning

mushrooms,crushedbottlecapsand

beercans.Whenthatgotold,I started

colouringthebeercanswithquick-dry

in k. I thenbeganscarringthesurface

ofthe beercanswithan icepick!

“I neverstoptryingto finddiscarded

objectsto scan,especiallyif theyshow

th e textureandage.My experiments

haveincluded– butarenotlimitedto

• scanningemptysnailshells,rocks,
  coiledcentipedes,oldpennies,flowers,
  re centlyexpireddragonfliesand
  anythingelseI canfindthatwill remain
  absolutelymotionlesswhileI scanit.”

# 3 Go flat out

scanners

PracticalPhotograPhy.com 21

Above A telephoto lens is a useful
tool for landscape photography as it
compresses the perspective in a scene.

Canon 5DS | 170mm | 1/00sec | f/8 | ISO 50