Blending Science with Photography

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I love science. Even during my youngest years, science captured my imagination. I suppose growing up watching those Walt Disney Man in Space program specials first broadcast in the late 1950's influenced my interest levels to such a high degree, I've never lost the fascination with all things scientific. Throw in Sputnik and the early years of the Manned Space program, and I was hooked for life.

Never really had the smarts to become a real, fully educated, scientist myself, but down deep lies a pseudo scientist who explores all kinds of amazing things...but, even today I enjoy watching programs with a scientific angle to it.

So how does one blend science with photography. Well, it is a matter of experimentation combined with observation of the results. Science and photography are a great blend of opportunity. There are so many ways to combine the two, it is difficult to truly define in detail all of them.

Photographing the moon is about the easiest way to break into combining science and photography. It is a big and bright subject and exhibits a different look every night.

Combine your observations and photography with Solar and Lunar eclipses and you will discover the thrills of our local celestial neighborhood.

Another exciting way is to photograph the night sky. The technical aspects of how to go about doing this falls outside the scope of this post, but there are numerous videos and articles about the subject available. The science part of the combination requires you to learn some basics about the night sky. Simple observations of the constellations is a great place to start. You can download any number of apps to help you navigate the night sky on your smart phone, or you can do it the old fashion way by using a star chart.

The next logical step is to find the Milky Way and photograph this amazing spectacle that lies just out of view from our visual abilities, but becomes a wondrous revelation a modern digital camera can capture with ease. Combine the digital camera with a tracking devise and you can accumulate the light of the night sky in such a way as to make it appear like a magical apparition.

Graduating to using a telescope/camera combination opens up a tremendous arena of deep sky objects to photograph. This area is a bit more advanced, but well within the capabilities of most photographers.

Science and photography can also be applied to the natural world. Macro photography, nature photography, weather photography, and underwater photography takes your photography into the fascinating realm of natures wonders. The idea here is to not just photograph things, but to dwell more deeply into the makeup of the world. Explore the complexity of the smallest of things, capture the majesty of a lightning storm, and explore the delicate beauty of a flower or the amazing agility of a hawk.

Learn about those smallest of things and what causes lightning to flash. Seek out the scientific nature of the different species of wildflowers and ecosystems they grow in, and the life history of migrating birds.

 Discover different ways to capture them to reveal the subtle flavor of how they are designed. You will improve as a photographer, an artist, and as a naturalist.

To me, taking the photograph is just half of the equation. The other half is understanding what I am photographing. I want to know why the Orion Nebula glows red. I want to identify the various structures of light, and gas, and nebulae seen within the Milky Way. I seek to discover the natural history of a nesting bird, or why a storm brews into a super cell. I look for new ways to use the equipment I have more effectively and to create techniques or DIY equipment to get the job done.

Combining science and photography is not just for scientist. All of us can learn more about the natural world through photography. All it takes is an inquisitive mind and a willingness to try.