How can I combine photos from the negative and positive side of a fossil?

[oilshale]

I have the positive and negative side of a fossil. Unfortunately, something is missing on the two slabs in different spots. How can I combine photos from the negative and the positive side so that the photos complement each other and the new photo shows the illusion of a complete fossil? I have Photoshop CS4 (but have little idea of the possibilities).

[Kane]

I can offer a not-so-eloquent solution. If it were me, I'd take photos of the positive and negative (as you have already done) but ensure the lighting is done just so. If the lighting is coming straight down, both photos should be fine. However, if you are casting the light at an angle from the left for the positive, that same angle from the right for the negative should be taken. A setup where the camera is locked in place so that the distance is the same in both images is important.

 

Assuming both images have the subject at identical size, you can take either the negative or positive and flip it horizontally so that both would be facing the same direction. From there, the tedious part comes in to snip out the bits you want to transfer to the other image. I'm not familiar with PS-CS4, but I would be surprised if it didn't have some kind of "smart" lasso tool for being able to snip out those parts you would then graft to the other image. 

 

In a pinch, it might work well even if it might be a bit tedious. That said, I'm sure other members with much more know-how could suggest something far more expedient!

[digit]

It really is a pretty even split between these two halves. I've flipped, rotated, scaled and aligned the two halves reasonably close and combined them into a composite image. I've also attached a Photoshop document that has the two layers with the top layer at 50% opacity so you can see the average of the two sides. With the opacity slider in the levels panel you can slide the opacity of the top layer back and forth from 0% to 100% and see the contribution of each sides of the fossil.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

Composite.psd

[Fossildude19]

And with a bit of post production contrasting:

 

 

[digit]

The other thing you could do to try to fill in the darker regions from both halves (using the Darker Color combination method) results in this:

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

[oilshale]

Thanks a lot guys, that was fast. I should take a closer look at the techniques in photoshop - I lack the basics. Now you can see the wing venation better and I can make an enlargement. Then I have it easier to determine this Mecoptera.

Do you know maybe a tutorial for this?

Edited March 25, 2022 by oilshale

[digit]

If you find the need to do this multiple times then it might be worth learning the technique. If this is a one-off then it may be extra effort for no reward.

 

I'd be happy to outline the few steps I took to make this composite if you'd like (via PM).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken