Following the success of our previous eighteen Good Picture Symposia, the Imaging Science Group of the Royal Photographic Society organised another in its series of tutorial seminars, open to all, on selected technical aspects of imaging on 2nd December 2023. The aim of these lectures and discussions is to provide imaging practitioners, keen amateurs and students with insights into imaging and provide some tools and guidelines for assessing cameras and software, thus improving output.
The programme is detailed below, together with download links to some of the papers presented. These have been made available by kind permission of the authors. More may be added if and when the files become available to us.
Programme
Dr Graeme Awcock: An Astronomical Learning Curve! – A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Processing of “Backyard” Planetary Images
(Honorary Fellow, School of Applied Sciences, University of Brighton)
Back in June 2021, I finally fulfilled a long-term ambition and bought myself a decent telescope. It was a 2006 vintage 8-inch Celestron GOTO SCT, bought
second-hand with advice from members of an Astronomy Society. Even over a lock-down Zoom call it was obvious that if you ask a bunch of Astronomers
which telescope to buy, you will get as many answers as there are people. Moreover, when I revealed my desire to share images from my observations you
could hear the sharp intake of breath that warned of significant difficulties and/or expense! However, this presentation will give a guided tour of my joyous
journey to discovery that even complete beginners can achieve astonishing images of the spectacular planets in our solar system from their back-garden. Even
better, this can be achieved with the aid of extraordinarily competent software that is freely available to use.
Ozgun Ozer: Imaging the Airflow Inside of a Working Jet Engine, The TRUFlow Project
(Manchester University)
This presentation will discuss the photographic challenges of installing cameras inside a working jet engine to image the airflow inside and its solutions. The
presented work was completed within the TRUflow project as a part of the European Commission Clean Sky 2 research and innovation scheme. The imaging
method was utilised to visualise and evaluate reverse flow interactions with fan aerodynamics in short, slim engine nacelle designs. These designs are directly
applicable to the next generation of ultra-high bypass ratio (UHBR) aero engines which aim to reduce CO2 emissions.
Prof Sophie Triantaphillidou and Adela Shah: Bridging the Gap Between Image Quality and Aesthetics
(University of Westminster)
The talk will first discuss scene-and-process-dependent imaging performance and visual performance measures and how these can be used to model visual
image quality. Such measures substitute traditional test charts with digital image captures for the purpose of digital imaging system as well as visual system
characterisation. It will then introduce more recent work that uses computational means to understand the evolution of photographic aesthetics over the last
4-5 decades and will discuss how such means can also be used in image quality modelling.
Prof Adrian M K Thomas: Recent Advances in Radiology
(School of Allied and Public Health Professions, Faculty of Medicine, Health, Social Care, Canterbury Christ Church University)
Radiology is essentially a photographic discipline, and its development has mirrored those in light photography. Transformations occurred following automatic
processing and recently digital radiography brought in previously undreamt of applications. The radiological world, along with photography, is now entering
another revolution with the application of Artificial Intelligence, however the essential question remains the same as in the 1890s: what is the relationship
between image, reality and interpretation?
John Smith: The Treachery of Images: Tales From Forensic Science
(University of Westminster)
Part life-story and part reflection on many years working in forensic science and photography education, I will take a tour through a selection of images that
illustrate a long fascination of, and also frustration with, the question of objectivity within photography, imaging, and forensic investigation. On the one hand it
is expected that images will portray a true and accurate representation, but on the other hand photography and image processing are employed to visualise
things which would otherwise be invisible. Furthermore, when human perception is subjective and fallible, is a true and accurate representation ever
achievable? And is there any agreement on what constitutes a good picture?
Dr Avijit Datta: Digital Imaging Techniques to Elucidate the Pathology of COVID-19 and Long COVID
(York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals)
Covid-19 infection led to multiple organ failure. Long COVID is prevalent in working age adults; 2-4% of that population are affected. I will discuss database
analysis and new imaging techniques, including Hyperpolarised MRI, to elucidate pathological mechanisms and facilitate potential treatments.