4.0 Composition
Description
This article is from the Gross
Specimen Photography, by Ed Uthman, MD
4.0 Composition
If you consider yourself more of a technical type than an artiste, you are probably intimidated by this aspect of photography. Although Ernst Haases and Edward Steichens are probably born and not made, much technique of composition can be easily learned by the average eye. In gross photography, first step is good specimen preparation. This is what separates the excellent from the mediocre; the inspired pathologist from the drudge; art from mere visual documentation. After you get comfortable with the camera, you should spend almost all your time preparing the specimen, with the actual photography being a brief anticlimax. Here are some tips I find useful:
A. Cut away tissue that is of no interest, or that obscures the interesting features. B. Use props to position the specimen when necessary. A slice of liver needs no props, but a gallbladder looks better when you shove a few wads of paper under the periphery to make it look like the saccular structure that it is. Modeling clay is also a good material from which to devise custom props. C. Watch out for the obtrusive ruler. A lot of pathologists remonstrate incredulously when I tell them I almost never shoot a specimen with a ruler in the field. For one thing, no one has made a ruler yet that is as unobtrusive as I would like. Most specimens need no ruler, especially full organs or full organ slices. We all know how big a lung is; if not, we're only there for the free lunch anyway. If you really want to know how big the lesion was, just read the gross; it even gives all three dimensions! If you really want to impress the conference attendees with how big a goiter is, take a picture of it with an everyday object, such as set of keys. Or, better yet, bring the gross specimen to the conference and ceremoniously drop it on the table with a loud thud. I quit using rulers when I realized I never looked at them except to marvel at how distracting they were. I really don't think any one else looks at them either. But if you're so anal that I can never convince you to lose the ruler, do me a favor and shoot just one of your frames on each specimen without it. I'll guarantee you that nine times out of ten, that's the pic that you're going to want to show at the conference. D. Keep the background clean. This is a real pain, but to do otherwise really compromises the photograph. It is much easier to keep things clean when dealing with a fixed specimen than a fresh, bloody one. On a related note, try to keep the camera clean. Layers of dried gore accumulating on the body of a tough Nikon F3 probably won't hurt the camera, but it tends to gross out certain people, particularly OSHA inspectors. E. When photographing lungs or hollow viscera, use inflation- fixed specimens when possible. You have to resist all sorts of pressure from various circles to cut up the specimen when it is in the fresh state, but, then again, all great artists suffer for their work. I have yet to see a gross photograph of uninflated, unfixed lung that was any good. Inflation fixation of gut segments delays your diagnosis a day but rewards you with gross photographs that would bring tears to the eyes of any radiologist. F. Try to get rid of as much blood as possible. Otherwise, the specimen ends up being just varying shades of red and pink. G. Watch out for distracting highlights. Fresh specimens usually have very shiny surfaces that produce glare. There are several things you can do to cut the glare on a fresh specimen: 1. Formalin dip for just a few minutes; this preserves color but dulls the surface; in overnight-fixed specimens which have lost their color, soak in 70% EtOH to partially recover color. 2. Turn off room lights. 3. Consider changing the lighting situation of your set- up. Nice copy stands are usually set up with four big floodlights. You may consider turning off the two on the front of the stand and leave the two on the rear on. Remember to adjust your exposure to accomodate the loss of these lights. 4. Polarizer/analyzer filters do a great job, but the big polarizers that go between the floodlights and the subject are very expensive and fade out fairly rapidly. H. Photographic backdrops. The choice of a proper backdrop is essential for a professional looking photograph. The best background is the one no one knows is there. Several options are available: 1. Transilluminated light board with non-glare glass - expensive; klutzes drop things on the glass and break it; departmental business manager is incredulous at expense of replacement and usually stalls its purchase. 2. Wet black velvet - less expensive ($12/yard); reusable for a long time if you're careful; keep fresh, bloody tissue off! Give each resident his/her own piece. Of course, if you shoot anything that may have infectious agents on it, you can't re-use the velvet, unless you can find a way to sterilize it (another argument in favor of shooting only fixed tissue). 3. Water immersion tray - Incredible shots of delicate, "three-dimensional" objects make you into an amateur Lennart Nilsson; solves problems of gravity and glare simultaneously for such objects as villous adenomas, chorionic villi, emphysematous lungs, etc. In my experience, it takes quite a bit of patience to get a good shot, as undesirable bits of grunge tend to float into the field of view just as you are releasing the shutter. 4. Towel from surgery - sure sign of an amateur; an embarrassment to say the least. However, if that's all you've got, ask for a clean towel to replace the bloody one they handed you the specimen on.
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