PHOTOGRAPHY
Canon Solutions America
The Radlab would not be possible without the tremendous partnership Creighton University shares with Canon Solutions America. Since day one, students have benefited from unparalleled project experience working in science, technology, the arts and math (STEAM) areas. This is largely thanks to the financial, project, and mentorship support provided by Canon.
Being uniquely suited as a research accelerator, the Radlab shares a common spirit and passion for creating new student learning opportunities, promoting STEAM careers in underrepresented communities, and solving “wicked” world-wide problems with Canon Solutions America.
Canon has offered us collaboration opportunities as well as the chance to learn more about photography and videography. As such, the Radlab explores Canon equipment to meet a number of challenges.
Photogrammetry
One of the collaboration opportunities was to use a Canon camera API (CCAPI) for its ease of use and benefits it may have over the onboard camera controls. The camera being used was the Canon Powershot SX70 with 20.3MP, 65x optical zoom, and 4K video. The project was to determine how the combination might be used for photogrammetry.
Photogrammetry is the science of making measurements from photographs. The input to photogrammetry is photographs, and the output is typically a map, a drawing, a measurement, or a 3D model of some real-world object or scene. Many of the maps we use today are created with photogrammetry and photographs taken from aircraft.
For this project, multiple photos were taken around an object using the Canon API to control the camera. The photographs were stitched together and cleaned up to create 3D images that could be used in virtual worlds. This project worked out very well and photogrammetry has been used for a number of projects, including creating objects for virtual worlds. A big advantage is that using photogrammetry is much quicker than the development of those same objects from scratch using 3D drawing platforms such as Maya.
How it is done (above)
The result (below)
You may use your mouse to move the 3D object around in the viewer.
Photography
Other work in photography has included exploring the camera and lens combinations that work best for a variety of photos. This includes macro photography, sports photography, landscape photography, and portrait photography. Additionally, we are looking into astrophotography opportunities.
Setup for Macrophotography
Microscope Photography
In addition to macro photography, you can also do microphotography. One way of doing this is by attaching a camera through an adapter to a microscope. We used the Canon M6 Mark II for this. As a smaller mirrorless camera, it worked extremely well.
Here are some of the photos taken of microscope slides using the camera/microscope setup as shown above. Click on an image to see a larger view of the photo.
You may also use a phone adapter with a microscope. One of the ocular lenses is replaced with the one for the adapter as shown in the images below.
The photos below were taken with an iPhone 11 Pro using the phone adapter for the microscope. You may click on an image to view a larger image.
Phone Photography
Another area we are exploring is phone photography. Most of us have a smartphone with us at all times. Many of these phones have cameras - some quite good. The purpose of this project was to provide guidelines for photography, in general, and then more information on phone photography, specifically. This includes how to take photos, phone settings, available lenses and filters, and phone or tablet apps that may be used for editing. Many of the things that we learn about phone photography may be applied when using the higher-end Canon cameras.
A course was created with information on phone photography. It includes videos and information on how to use some of the editing apps that are available. The course is available at: https://blueline.instructure.com/courses/1168274