Scriptor

The Enterotube (20X 20X 180mm) has a curved top, which picks up the reflections of the light source on each side when incident light is used with the specimen on black velvet. The individual compartments and the brightly colored media are easily recognized for their characteristic reactions. Citrate media is appropriately apple green when viewed in this incident light but would appear gray-green with incident light.

FLY is an example of negative space. The image should fill the frame if it is to be effective.

Once again, we are treated in JBPA Vol. 49 #1, to an excellent paper from the late Leon Le Beau. The paper, entitled  “Photography of compartmentalized strips, trays, plates and slides for microculture and serological reactions,” - a lengthy title and lengthy paper! The illustrations are superb, but the schematics leave something to be desired. I found it a little difficult to orient myself to the various set-ups. Nonetheless, the information is concise, and I can only feel a sense of wonder when I think of the patience, effort and enthusiasm that had been put into this article - typical Leon LeBeau! This was the fifth article submitted by Leon Le Beau; the first appeared in Volume 44, number 1 of JBPA, the other three can be found in Volume 48, numbers 1, 2, and 3.

“Electronic flash sources and films for plankton photography” by Harold E. Edgerton, caught my eye mainly because I attended an Annual Meeting where he was guest speaker during the banquet  (I wonder how many BCA members were at that meeting). The original electronic flash, which he invented, is a far cry from today’s sophisticated units. The illustrations, considering the films available at the time, are extremely good, and there was no need to freeze the plankton in order to obtain sharp photographs.

The final paper which intrigued me was “Aid to hiring non-technical photo department personnel” by our colleague Marilee A. Caliendo. I had used this method of evaluation myself with some success, using different examples. I had no problem with any of the illustrations except for figure 3 –  ‘Fly’ – and I still can’t decipher it!

Scriptor

About the author:

Ron Irvine, writing under the pseudonym Scriptor, is a long-time member of BCA and IMI. He is a Registered Biological Photographer and Fellow of the BCA. His e-mail address is irviron@gmail.com.