The Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center has a photography club [1] and last week Judith K. McMillan [2] presented a (her first) power point presentation outlining her evolution from teacher to photography experimenter par excellence. Ms. McMillan has a voracious curiosity - producing mosaic photo images of a tire dump in Maine to stark black and white photos of bird nests in the CMNHIstory archives.
Her most unusual and unique work has been done with the x-ray equipment at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I was intrigued by the diaphanous, ballerina-like results of x-ray energy through flowers, leaves and seeds.
Photography of every form (infrared, laser scanner, natural light) except x-ray relies on REFLECTED energy from the object. With x-ray photography the photo is determined by just the reverse - the negative is activated by the energy which PASSES THROUGH the object being photographed.
During the Q&A after Ms. McMillan’s hour long presentation, one of the fellows in the audience spoke up, said he was a dentist, and asked how Ms McMillan protected herself while taking the x-ray photos.
Ms. McMillan replied “I shut the door” (of the x-ray machine).
The dentist inquired further “Do you wear a lead apron? Leave the room? Do you wear a radiation exposure badge?”.
“No, I shut the door.”
So when I left the lecture I wasn’t going to go find an x-ray machine, but I did go home and study how to produce infrared photos with digital cameras.
If you are interested in recording what is around you - keep your eye out for Ms. McMillan's next presentation. You'll come away with some new ideas...
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Links:
[1] http://www.shakerlakes.org/photo_club.asp
[2] http://www.judithkmcmillan.com/
[3] http://smtp.realneo.us/system/files/Judith-McMillan.jpg