![]() Here we expand on and by providing an entirely scalable dome system, where the user/builder can custom design the precise size dome they need for the application at hand. Though commercially available illumination domes exist, they can be expensive, while creating a dome lighting system of your own is in fact easy and inexpensive (see ). Both authors have experimented with a variety of light box forms to create diffuse lighting for insect imaging, and have found the best light arena is one created within a hemispherical dome. This technique uses soft, white light diffused from the inside of hemispherical domes placed above light sources (typically LED ring lights). However, these methods typically involve a great deal of setup time and experience.Īnother widespread technique, that has been shown to be both simple and effective, is dome lighting. Some techniques currently employed to create soft yet intense light include projecting halogen fiber optic lights through diffusers such as Mylar, passing light over rough Styrofoam edges, or constructing lighting chambers from Styrofoam. The conclusion of was to develop intense, yet diffuse, lighting techniques that provide enough photonic energy to effectively illuminate the subject, while at the same time, disperse the photons such that the subject is within a photonic cloud of purely indirect, and therefore scattered, light. pointed out that ‘naked’ light, under high-magnification conditions, produces glare and flaring at such an alarming rate as to actually obscure structural details of interest to the researcher. ![]() Part and parcel to these developments has been a push to improve the lighting of insect specimens for such photography, especially in circumstances where very high magnification (<40x) is needed to ‘fill the frame’ of a typical digital camera. In recent years, however, digital photography and other imaging techniques are rapidly transforming the way in which we take and portray images in these fields. Images have always been of fundamental importance in taxonomy and for the documentation of natural history specimens. Once this is established, the rest is just fine-tuning. Understanding the basic principles of photography in the current age of digital imaging is critical in deciding what lights are needed, and where, before we begin to place them. The proportions of each type of reflection vary with the subject, and it is the proportion of each reflection in the mix that makes one surface look different from another. Most surfaces cause some of each of these three types. Light can reflect from a subject as diffuse reflection, direct reflection, or glare. It determines what types of shadows are produced and may affect the type of reflection. The effective size and direction of the light source to the subject is one of the most important relationships in photography. Patterns of light convey information just as surely as spoken words. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. ![]() The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.ĭata Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.įunding: RK was funded by a scholarship granted by CNPq, process number 151153/2013-2 MB was funded by the Systematic Entomology Laboratory, ARS-USDA. This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. Received: OctoAccepted: MaPublished: May 3, 2016 PLoS ONE 11(5):Įditor: Alessandro Esposito, University of Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM Citation: Kawada R, Buffington ML (2016) A Scalable and Modular Dome Illumination System for Scientific Microphotography on a Budget. ![]()
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