Visionary Digital Photography by Carlos Martinez
Carlos Martinez, image technician for the Moore Lab, uses the Visionary Digital system to take high resolution photos of UAIC specimens. The system uses a track-mounted DSLR camera fitted with a macro lens. The specimen is placed underneath the camera and the technician takes many photos while moving the camera down in increments. Each image taken is a slice of the focal plane as it moves down the specimen, imagining that the focal plane is like a sheet of paper moving downwards. The photos are then stacked and blended together with software to create a single image that is in perfect focus. These images are not only beautiful, but also show important morphological structures in enough detail to be useful for research. The Moore Lab images all specimens that have been DNA sequenced and are published on the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). Below is a gallery showcasing some of these images.
