Introduction

In digitisation the best way to supplement a digital record of a specimen is to have an accompanying image which shows the specimen. The imaging of specimens is typically performed using either a camera or a flat-bed scanner, although 3D scanning of specimens has also applied, e.g. Plum and Labonte 2021 despite the added time and financial costs.

We have put together a few introductory pages covering several aspects of specimen photography that aims to clarify the objectives, technical specifications, and jargon of imaging museum specimens. This should be a guide to making sense of photography in your own digitisation efforts and allow you to understand the advice given in the specimen workflows.

Photography modules:

• 1. Introduction to specimen photography
• 2. Cameras - what to use?
• 3. Camera settings and specifications
• 4. The exposure triangle
• 5. Image files
• 6. Light and colour
• 7. Photography setups
• 8. Automating image processing
• 9. Materials and references

Feel free to go through these pages in turn or simply to visit those of interest to you.

The links to many of the sources used to create these pages are found in the final section materials and references where you can also find information on the licensing and citation of this resource.