Hyperfocal photography and stitching

Digital photography has enabled us to update traditional techniques with these becoming faster and easier to accomplish. Two of techniques are hyperfocal photography, formerly light scanning photomicrography, and stitching not only for panoramas but with flat objects to increase image resolution. Hyperfocal photography means we can take close-ups and photomacrographs which overcome the normal depth of field limitations. Stitching means rather than using a wide angle lens with the potential risk of spherical aberration we can take a series using a standard or telephoto lens and stitch these together to produce a higher resolution image whether the whole length of a hair in photomicrography or a whole body at a crime scene.  This practical session will look at a range of techniques from simple low tech approaches to automated including examining the applications and limitations of conventional close-up photography and photomacrography.

June 29th and 30th.

Workshop pdf file 1.4Mb

Teaching Forensic Anthropology with a small skeletal collection

This paper looks at the issues that arise when teaching forensic anthropology with a limited skeletal collection 10-15 full or partial skeletons. It is fine being able to teach using a large collection as many older universities can and those who have been able to build up collections, but what about those Universities or colleges that are only starting to build up a collection or are teaching using whatever has been accumulated over the years? Is it feasible that a small collection can have sufficient variability to support a positive learning experience? Our experience shows that it is possible and this presentation looks at how to make the best use of a small collection including learning, teaching and assessment methodologies which will be of benefit to those faced with this scenario and help others make even better use of a large collection. One surprising feature is the number of non-metric variations enabling students to see that skeletons are different even within such a small population. Making use of these and other features means that teaching is real as morphological variations can be seen in the skeletal remains they are analysing not just in textbooks.

Presentation as a pdf file 2.4Mb