The scanner photography process

We are all familiar with making copies of documents using a scanner. But, we can also create new visual worlds of beauty by placing three-dimensional objects like flowers, leaves, grass, bark, eggs, fruit, mushrooms, etc., upside-down on the glass surface with the lid removed. The resulting images are scanner photographs or scanographs. A digital camera records a scene when you click the shutter, allowing light to enter the lens, and a charge coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS image sensor turns the light rays into electrical signals. Like the digital camera, the CCD in the scan head records the scene as the light source travels across the scanner's length below the glass. The resulting image is immediately visible since the scanner is connected to a computer. Professional scanner software allows for textural detail, focus, resolution, contrast, and saturation adjustments. Having pre-visualized the final image, the photographer arranges and re-arranges the items used as many times as necessary to achieve the desired photograph. This process is not as simple as it sounds since the objects are placed upside-down on the glass, making adjustments to a complex image quite tricky. It is sometimes necessary to spend up to an hour or more arranging and re-arranging the image elements to achieve the desired composition. The resulting high-resolution images allow for large format prints. Scanner photography is highly complex as it merges digital image design (with objects placed upside-down), art, and technology. The textures and vibrant colors of objects not commonly found together in nature create new and surprising visual worlds that are beautiful and sometimes playful and whimsical.