In the year 2000, I digitized some Kodak 35mm slides that were taken about 30 years earlier. The condition of the slides appeared to be excellent. The manufacturer of the quality scanner employed claimed that the digitized files could be used to produce 5 inch by 7 inch color prints having a 1200 dot per inch character. Then, that was said to be better than could be done with the best digital cameras then available (though that advantage will be likely to gradually disappear). It also produces files of large size (typically 200 to 300 KB) that contain more information than typical monitors are capable of using. Image Editor has produced files of modest size that fit conveniently on a monitor and load rapidly. In the galleries listed below, they can be viewed by clicking on the corresponding photo number.
During the Spring Quarters of 1967-68, 1968-1969, and 1969-1970, I took a series of courses collectively titled "Field Studies in Natural History." They were planned by Dr. Jack Gottschang of U.C.'s Biological Sciences Department in collaboration with Rangers Hager and Wells of the Hamilton County Park District. The classes met in selected Hamilton County Parks (Sharon Woods, Miami Whitewater Forest, and Winton Woods) each Saturday morning from 8:00 to 12:00 A.M. and a different subject was featured each week Subjects included grasses, insects, wild flowers, birds, photography, spiders, fishes, fungi, trees, geology, fossils, etc. A knowledgeable person would lecture about a particular subject for about an hour or somewhat longer; and this would then be followed by a hike about the corresponding park to illustrate the subject (and to be alert to whatever was interesting to observe). Due to these classes, I enjoyed identifying and photographing numerous objects that I would have previously completely overlooked. For most objects I used a Nikon 35mm single-lens reflex camera with a Micro-Nikor lens. For small objects, I extended that lens with one or two M-rings and then used an electronic flash to provide enough light and to overcome the object's motion. Kodachrome 25 was the film used until Kodachrome 64 appeared.
Wild Flowers and Their Associates
I pleasantly recall assembling a series of these slides in the early 1970's and presenting them in a program for the Cincinnati Wild Flower Society titled "Wild Flowers and Their Associates." Without alteration or attempts to edit them with Image Composer, they correspond to the following thumbnails. In each of the collections, a click on any individual photo number will produce an 800 by 600 pixel version of the photograph. A click on any thumbnail should produce my digitized version of the original slide. Most of the latter will be slow to load and would appear much sharper when reduced to the size of a typical monitor.