Flatbed scanner photography

One of the things you’ll start doing once you have your flatbed scanner is starting to photograph objects with it. It’s a fascinating technique which I’ve just began to explore. It seems to me it can give great and stunning results.

In this article you’ll find tips on how to get the best out of your flatbed scanner to actually photograph various subjects. Possibilities are endless and results are all up to your creativity and imagination.

The article also rises the issue of whether using the scanner like a camera can be considered a form of photography or not. Personally, I agree with the article’s author when he says that if photography can be described as a process to capture and display an image, then using a scanner to take photographs is a form of photography. One of my first experiments, Leaf in Tar, originated from a scanned leaf I then postprocessed in PS. I submitted it to the Third Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest as a flatbed scanner image and not only it was accepted but it was even chosen to be among the contest’s finalists.

My own experiments turned out quite well, but I need to refine this technique in order to produce finer images.

Here are a few examples.
Leaf in Tar - ©Silvia Ganora

Still-life with shell - ©Silvia Ganora

Leaf and Shell - © Silvia Ganora

technorati tags: scanner+photography, sunny+16+rule