|
Fossilized Shark Teeth on the Internet |
*************************************
Imaging fossil teeth can be a considerable challenge. Compare our photos to almost any other photos on the Internet and some of these problems will be obvious. The first thing that must be considered is lighting. Without giving away any trade secrets to our competition, we will just mention that incorrect lighting can cause any number of problems. Chief among these decisions is whether to use incandescent, fluorescent, flash, ambient or sunlight or some combination of these sources. Scanners and microscopes, because of their inherent lighting, never provide an image in true colors and are used for detail only - not coloration.
Another factor is background. Many photographers insist on using colored backgrounds and then say "I don't know why the colors on this tooth are so lousy......." or "This tooth is much prettier than the photograph." or "This tooth is not really colored pink and purple". Look at the 2 photos below of the same tooth taken with the same lighting and the same camera on two different backgrounds - a manila folder and a white piece of paper. Obviously the brown folder has "influenced" the color software algorithm in the camera to produce a blue shift in the tooth coloration.
|
|
Another consideration is light placement in order to minimize shadowing. Consider the photos above. Note the placement of the light source caused shadows that distract from the tooth.
Still another consideration is reflection. The light source can reflect off a tooth's shine enamel effectively hiding the color and mottling underneath. In the right-hand photo above, the mottling is hidden by the reflection at the center of the blade.
Another problem that faces us in imaging teeth is camera angle. If the camera is directly above the center of the display side - perpendicular to the plane of the surface the tooth is resting on, the blade and root top are foreshortened. See photo below and note that the blade of the big tooth is actually longer than it appears in the photo. Angling the camera lens to be perpendicular to the centerline of the blade to get a "true" perspective of the blade will foreshorten the root and possibly hide the root saddle. Some sellers use this technique to make the blade look huge and to hide the fact that the top of the root is blown out. Now you know what to look for!!!
The last consideration in photographing fossil teeth is whether to show photos of the flat side of a tooth. It's twice as much work to provide two photos. At least twice a month we hear complaints from customers who have bought shark teeth only to find unexpected problems with the other side of the tooth. My question to them is "Would you buy a used car from someone who only let you look at one side?"
Photographing objects of varying sizes requires a wide range of equipment. In the photo below we have a 6 inch C. megalodon tooth, a 1 1/2 inch C. angustidens tooth and a 1/2 inch Sand-Tiger tooth. Even though this photo was taken with a high resolution digital camera there are problems.
|
|
Is the big tooth a serrated grade 9 or a grade 7 whose serrations have worn off? One way to answer this questions is with a high resolution scan of the serrated edge. See photo below noting that the color is not "true".
|
|
Now for the C. angustidens - is this a grade 10 tooth?
|
|
Are the cusplets clean? Is the tip in good condition? Our Tip Grade of 7.4 will give you some indication that there is a problem with the tip but "a picture is worth a thousand words".
|
|
|
|
|
|
The photo below is a much clearer image of the little Sand-Tiger tooth that is in the above photo. On a tooth this size you literally have to take a photo of it to see where the dirt needs cleaning off.
|
|
We are very proud of our digital camera photographs. When more definition is needed we use our Hewlett Packard Model G85 - high resolution scanner - 600 x 3600 optical (up to 9600 dpi enhanced). If this is not enough power we have an Intel Digital Microscope tied into our most powerful computer with 10X, 60X and 200X capability. The photo below is of some Lee Creek microfossils. The fish vertebra is about 2 millimeters or 79 thousandths of an inch (0.079 inch).
|
|
We will be more than happy to provide addition views and images at any angle on any tooth you are interested in. We provide this service because when you unpack your tooth, we want you to say "This is EXACTLY what I thought it would look like!"
If you have any questions that we could help with, please email us at: Imaging Questions
CLICK ON LINKS BELOW TO GO TO:
Meg Mawl HomePage
Megalodon Grades
Other Megalodon Categories
Other Shark Teeth & Fossils
Other Links
Copyright MegMawL © 2002. All rights reserved.