Filed under: On Location | Tags: caves, Magdalenian, paleolithic, Pyrenees, RTI, UC Berkeley
By Carla Schroer
Mark Mudge and I had the incredible opportunity to shoot RTI and Photogrammetry of Paleolithic material in the south of France. The trip was organized by Professor Meg Conkey of UC Berkeley, a scholar of this region and this material where she has worked for decades. In this pilot project we imaged some engraved plaquettes which are quite difficult to see because of the fine lines and the age of the material (~ 12,000 – 14,000 years old – during the last ice age) We were also able to spend a day in the cave of Marsoulas with local archaeologists Carole Fritz and Gilles Tosello. They have been working in this cave for 12 years sorting out the overlapping fine lines and incredible painted animals and geometric signs found throughout this long and narrow cave. Their work is made more difficult by grafitti over the art in places as well as natural wear and water damage to some surfaces.
Graduate student Tim Gill was also with us on this trip, and will be presenting some of the results of the work at the Archaeological Research Facility at UCB.
It is humbling to stand in a place where such ancient and beautiful art was made. We are thankful for the opportunity and hope that our work can provide additional tools for the people working with this material.
Check out the Flickr Gallery: “Magdalenian Art in the Ariège”
Photogrammetry Environment in a Paleolithic cave in France (L-R): MacBook Pro, 580EX II with gary fong light sphere diffuser(s), Gitzo geared column tripod with a 5D Mark II mounted upside down, another 580EX II (triggered by pocket wizards) and UC Berkeley professor Meg Conkey.
Mark Mudge carefully setting up for an RTI capture.
By Marlin Lum
640ws Einstein monolight – by Paul C Buff
Einstein 640 by Paul C. Buff
Word on the street. We’ve got the good pleasure of knowing, (that some time soon), Paul C. Buff, (manufacturer of our fondly desirable Alien Bee Lighting strobes) will be shipping the Einstein monoblocs.
Many of you might be using the Aliens Bees to as your light source for HighLight RTI captures. If you’re in the market for a monobloc, you might want to look into this unit. Though not yet available, this unit would take you to the next level, improving upon the alien bee line.
The new 640ws monolight seems pretty top shelf. Got features? Good stuff mate.
Just a few highlights:
–Worldwide power compatibility (95-265VAC, 50Hz or 60Hz, autoswitching)
-Full power recycle time of 1.7 seconds at 120VAC (60Hz) or at 240VAC (50Hz)
–CONSTANT COLOR and ACTION modes; one is optimized for colour temperature consistency and the other for stopping motion (uhm, sweeeet, but never throw away your gray card)
–Removable Pyrex flash dome over the flash tube and modeling light (got to love that)
-roughly the same size as the AB 1600, but heavier, bc it’s got some steel in it.
–Illuminated LCD display and push button controls for setting and reviewing of flash functions (don’t get left in the dark)
-The formal official name of this product = “Paul C. Buff Einstein 640”
Release Date
The Einstein 640 release date is (tentative) but due in December 2009 direct from Paul C. Buff at an aprox price of about US$439.00.
Geek Out and read more at the Rob Galbraith site.
Cultural Heritage Imaging 