Walk-around method: in situ and exhibition
specimens
Specimens that are immobile can only be
photographed in situ by walking around them as
far as local conditions allow. This places
restrictions on the lighting conditions, and may
mean that parts of a specimen cannot be
digitized because the camera cannot be brought
into positions required to photograph them.
Figure 8 shows an example of a mounted
dinosaur skeleton in an exhibit hall populated by
obstacles in the form of other exhibit specimens.
Especially problematic are specimens outdoors,
where one is dependent on weather conditions,
and often has no access to electrical power
available. Try to avoid strong sunlight as it
causes high contrasts with dark shadows (also
true in exhibition spaces with natural light, such
as the AMNH dinosaur halls); use reflectors/flash
to brighten them up. A light but uniform cloud
cover is preferable. Avoid shooting during times
of day where the sun shines at a shallow angle
onto the surface of interest (i.e., for subhorizontal
surfaces prefer shooting during mid
day, for strongly inclined surfaces choose times
accordingly).
When a specimen is subject to changing light
conditions, work rapidly to minimize the
differences and ignore people walking through
view (they can be masked out; take more
photographs to ensure that all parts of the
specimen are sufficiently captured).