My wife has a dream and I need help fulfilling it.

[JBW]

Myra has a simple idea: Use macro photography to create an interest in Peace and Development. She believes (she does have a doctoral in P&D) that if she can go to the classroom with a presentation that would introduce the students (elementary to university) to the incredible world that surrounds them she can awaken an interest in finding ways to make this world cleaner, greener, more compassionate and more peaceful.

She thought that if we could collect 25 or so shots from the macro shooters in CiC that we could have them printed up, and then they could be taken to the classrooms and hung on the walls.

I countered with how about a slide show?

We then began to realize just how many questions we couldn't answer.

In no particular order here are some of them. Please feel free to answer questions we haven't asked.

(1) is my Sony Alpha a58 with a Tamron 90mm 272 going to produce shots that can be printed out 12x16 inch and show the incredible detail that I see on my monitor?

(2) if we go the slide shown route can we get the detail on the screen that will make the students go 'oh wow'?

(3) would CiC as a group be interested in mentoring this project? Please note that there is no request for financial help. We will be able to fund it from here.

(4) are there photographers in CiC that would allow us to use their shots with proper accreditation?

(5) are there CiC print people who could advice us about techniques and equipment?


And of course there are many more questions and ideas that we simply don't have the knowledge to ask or answer.

Looking forward to the replies,
Brian and Myra

Ps. Moderators if this is inappropriate please take it down. B.

[Donald]

Ps. Moderators if this is inappropriate please take it down. B.

It is very appropriate

I think I could offer an opinion on some of the questions, but I know there are people much more knowledgeable than me who will give the 'correct' answers.

I think this sounds wonderful and is one of the great ways in which photography can/should be used.

[Shadowman]

Brian,

I think you would be a good source for most of the material she'll need, your insect shots would do wonders in spreading the thoughts on Peace and Development. I often find myself wondering how we humans would adjust to having a larger co-inhabitant that might step on us as we go about our daily tasks; yet we humans rarely think about where we step and how many innocent insects get squashed every day. I know it could become a psychological obsession to try to avoid every insect, but if we at least gave it some thought then perhaps we could develop some empathy for other species; humans included.

[Stagecoach]

Sounds like an interesting idea Brian and you are welcome to any of my images from within this selection https://fijitime.smugmug.com/Fiji-Ma...Critters-Bugs/

But having a quick glance through them made me laugh.

This ones meets with the 'greener' criteria but the females are not very 'compassionate' after mating



Your rig will certainly allow you to get 12x16" if minimal cropping.

Grahame

[ccphoto]

Is it strictly macro or can extreme closeups with other lenses be acceptable?

There is no other way to get a dragonfly in flight, otherwise.

[DanK]

(1) is my Sony Alpha a58 with a Tamron 90mm 272 going to produce shots that can be printed out 12x16 inch and show the incredible detail that I see on my monitor?

Absolutely

(2) if we go the slide shown route can we get the detail on the screen that will make the students go 'oh wow'?

Yes, but in my experience, less so. Projected images tend to have lower contrast, I believe, and I think most projectors are lower-resolution. But the Boston Camera Club, of which I am a member, finds them good enough for photo competitions.

(4) are there photographers in CiC that would allow us to use their shots with proper accreditation?

You are welcome to use mine. It seems like a wonderful use for them.

[Donald]

(1) is my Sony Alpha a58 with a Tamron 90mm 272 going to produce shots that can be printed out 12x16 inch and show the incredible detail that I see on my monitor?

Answered positively by others

(2) if we go the slide shown route can we get the detail on the screen that will make the students go 'oh wow'?

Also answered by others

(3) would CiC as a group be interested in mentoring this project? Please note that there is no request for financial help. We will be able to fund it from here.

I am sure people would be interested. I assume it would be better if that was done by macro shooters. I suggest direct contact, via PM, inviting folk to be involved.

(4) are there photographers in CiC that would allow us to use their shots with proper accreditation?

Answers already coming in

(5) are there CiC print people who could advice us about techniques and equipment?

You obviously want high quality prints that pick up all the detail that's in the images and print very true (in terms of colour). that being the case and given, as far as I know, you don't print your self at the moment, I wonder if this is where money needs to be spent. Engaging a professional printer (not the sort of thing you do yourself in various stores, if you have such a service in your area) would, in my view, be the best option.

[James G]

Brian, at a general level you should have no problems with 12x16 inch from your camera. I presume for slide show, you mean you are projecting images. This can be troublesome if the projector cannot be calibrated. Usually the problem is associated with brightness. Images can look washed out, but, as with print, this can be compensated for when generating an image for projection. (It's often easier to tone down an image rather than try and adjust projector brightness.)

As regards availability of images, anything I have posted you are more than welcome to use. ( I am quite happy to provide original full size copies, just let me know.)

Sounds like an interesting and challenging project!

[Geoff F]

As previously mentioned by other replies, the answers are yes to all questions.

By slide show, do you mean digital projector? Needs to be fairly good quality but no real problem. In fact you can quite easily produce a self playing show with voice over that looks quite professional; and can also be independently played on TV digital players or computers etc.

Correct resizing and sharpening/brightness control will produce the best results, but that is easy to adjust.

Insects, and wild flowers are a good indicator of the general environment quality. But as Grahame mentioned, many insects do eat other insects, including their own species in some cases, so that really needs to be addressed in order to prevent any accusations of being unrealistically sentimental etc.

As one Victorian naturalist who lived in my locality put it, 'Every link in the chain of life is equally important'.

It starts with good soil for flowers/grasses which feed insects that go on the feed birds and other animals.

[rpcrowe]

Great idea... As long as your photo work coincides with a project your wife is involved with, you won't get ragged about purchasing equipment.

My dog photography is a good example. Ever since I started photographing our rescue dogs, my wife has never minded me purchasing photo equipment.

Bringing home lots of tasty tuna and other fish did the same for me purchasing fishing equipment...

[JBW]

Is it strictly macro or can extreme closeups with other lenses be acceptable?

There is no other way to get a dragonfly in flight, otherwise.

Any lens or any shot that has the fine details and 'oh wow factor'. But this hot was taken with a macro lens

[JBW]

Just a quick update. First a thank-you for all of your replies.

We are thinking a power point presentation because most teachers here use power point.

We have talked to one of our friends and she is excited about the possibilities and wants to help with the pilot project using her elementary school classes.

We are hoping to be in the classroom in a month.

For all who have given us permission to use your work thank-you. You have shots that will work marvelously and ego aside are much better than most of mine.

That's it for now.
B.

[Shanghai Steve]

Hhmm.
I believe very few presentations are appropriate for such a large age range. I also feel a few macros, however good, will be inadequate to form a coherent theme or argument. "Peace and Development" is a bit.....vague;
Instead, I believe she should pick a different topic for each age-range and build a photo-essay for each: e.g. "The Circle of Life" for younger children, "Water, Hygiene & Poverty" for University students, with excerpts from the French documentary "Human" and something like "How Clean is Our Food?" for High School kids.
Images are very powerful, but this generation is bombarded with them daily. A few "Woah"s are all well and good, but will not make much difference in the long run.
I am not talking out of my hat. I have been teaching various age groups for several years. Perhaps my biggest failure was trying to teach High School Japanese Children about the Native American Holocaust. I tracked down photographs of Sitting Bull and the rest, printed them out and talked at length on the tragedy of these lost cultures. They were not in the least interested! In fact, they seemed embarrassed for me that I would care about "savages." A Western colleague teaching about pollution, was told "This is China. You are not Chinese! If you don't like our air, go home!"

[Shadowman]

Hhmm.
I believe very few presentations are appropriate for such a large age range. I also feel a few macros, however good, will be inadequate to form a coherent theme or argument. "Peace and Development" is a bit.....vague;
Instead, I believe she should pick a different topic for each age-range and build a photo-essay for each: e.g. "The Circle of Life" for younger children, "Water, Hygiene & Poverty" for University students, with excerpts from the French documentary "Human" and something like "How Clean is Our Food?" for High School kids.
Images are very powerful, but this generation is bombarded with them daily. A few "Woah"s are all well and good, but will not make much difference in the long run.
I am not talking out of my hat. I have been teaching various age groups for several years. Perhaps my biggest failure was trying to teach High School Japanese Children about the Native American Holocaust. I tracked down photographs of Sitting Bull and the rest, printed them out and talked at length on the tragedy of these lost cultures. They were not in the least interested! In fact, they seemed embarrassed for me that I would care about "savages." A Western colleague teaching about pollution, was told "This is China. You are not Chinese! If you don't like our air, go home!"

Did you talk to the Japanese students about the invasion of China/Nanking or was that a forbidden topic?

[Geoff F]

I tend to agree with Steve.

A few extreme wow images are all very well but there is a risk that if they don't occur locally the impact will not be so strong as really close high quality images of relatively common species which can be found nearby.

[JBW]

Hhmm.
I believe very few presentations are appropriate for such a large age range. I also feel a few macros, however good, will be inadequate to form a coherent theme or argument. "Peace and Development" is a bit.....vague;
Instead, I believe she should pick a different topic for each age-range and build a photo-essay for each: e.g. "The Circle of Life" for younger children, "Water, Hygiene & Poverty" for University students, with excerpts from the French documentary "Human" and something like "How Clean is Our Food?" for High School kids.
Images are very powerful, but this generation is bombarded with them daily. A few "Woah"s are all well and good, but will not make much difference in the long run.
I am not talking out of my hat. I have been teaching various age groups for several years. Perhaps my biggest failure was trying to teach High School Japanese Children about the Native American Holocaust. I tracked down photographs of Sitting Bull and the rest, printed them out and talked at length on the tragedy of these lost cultures. They were not in the least interested! In fact, they seemed embarrassed for me that I would care about "savages." A Western colleague teaching about pollution, was told "This is China. You are not Chinese! If you don't like our air, go home!"

Thanks for the imput. As an aside: there was no Native American Holocaust. There was a bloody and long war. There was genocide both physical and cultural. There was no burning of millions of people. There was a Jewish Holocaust.

[JBW]

I tend to agree with Steve.

A few extreme wow images are all very well but there is a risk that if they don't occur locally the impact will not be so strong as really close high quality images of relatively common species which can be found nearby.

This is a work in progress. The thought was that it will be quite a while before my shooting skills are up to the term high quality. Many shooters in CiC have superior skills and the same bugs. Case in point Grahame's Fiji insects.

Naturally a presentation geared for elementary schools would not be appropriate for university.

Part of our reality is that historically the dominant culture of this archipelago was slash and burn. many people still slash and burn but now they do it time and again on the same patch of dirt. Then the Spanish and Americans came with a colonizers mentality of looting. Environmentally the Philippines is a horror show.

We are trying to awaken the young ones to the beauty that is all around them that needs their protection.

After trying various methods for going on 20 years with no success to speak of we are going to try 'oh wow' photography.

the only guaranty is that if we and others don't try....nothing will change.

[JBW]

Great idea... As long as your photo work coincides with a project your wife is involved with, you won't get ragged about purchasing equipment.

My dog photography is a good example. Ever since I started photographing our rescue dogs, my wife has never minded me purchasing photo equipment.

Bringing home lots of tasty tuna and other fish did the same for me purchasing fishing equipment...

Right up to the point where she read your comment I was doing good

[thetraveler]

This sounds a little inside out.
Rather than a workflow of large topic, illustrations, content, I've always created presentations in the order Topic, content, illustrations.
Lots of block buster pictures that aren't tied tightly to some coherent message just makes for input fatigue, imo.
Attention needs to be built with coherence

[JBW]

This sounds a little inside out.
Rather than a workflow of large topic, illustrations, content, I've always created presentations in the order Topic, content, illustrations.
Lots of block buster pictures that aren't tied tightly to some coherent message just makes for input fatigue, imo.
Attention needs to be built with coherence

Hopefully they will be tied together both by the built in commentary and the teachers. Dumaguete, a university city does not have a public library unless you count the one room library. Reading is not a popular pastime. The most read literature is the comic book. All I can say is that the local teachers like the concept.