Category Archives: X-Ray

Proteus X-Ray

If you ask photographers what is most important to them about their photography you may well get an answer like “revealing things that are otherwise hidden” or “showing the world in a new and different way.”

If these are one’s goals, what could be more fitting than the x-ray, which literally records using a spectrum that is not visible to our naked eyes, and reveals hidden structures within. 

Proteus X-Ray © Harold Davis

In the spirit of revealing hidden structure, I used medical x-ray devices to capture this image of a Proteus in collaboration with my friend, the photographer and radiologist Julian Kopke.

Fusion X-Rays

These two flower images are fusion X-Rays: one part medical X-Ray combined with one part light box photo. I created them last month in collaboration with my friend Dr Julian Kopke, radiologist and photographer extraordinaire. Some more info about the fusion process can be found in this story.

Check out the X-Ray category on my blog, and my portfolio of X-Ray images.

Calla Lilly Fusion X-Ray © Harold Davis

Rose Bouquet – Fusion X-Ray © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers

Dahlia X-Ray

This image is a pretty straightforward x-ray of a rather small Dahlia blossom. Julian and I made the exposure last week at his radiology practice near Heidelberg. In post-production, I converted to LAB color. Next, I used a series of curve adjustments to equalize the various densities in the image. Long live the Dahlia!

Dahlia X-Ray © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers, Monochrome, Photograms, Photography

X-Ray Bouquet

The upper photo is an X-Ray of a bouquet of dahlias, nemesia, and kangaroo paw flowers. It was made in May, 2019 using medical x-ray equipment, and processed yesterday while waiting out the foul air in the Bay area in Photoshop from the DICOM file. More x-rays can be found here, and I’ve also posted a photo of a recent print of one of my favorite x-rays, of a sunflower, below.

X-Ray Bouquet of Dahlias, Nemesias, and Kangaroo Paw © Harold Davis

X-Ray Bouquet of Dahlias, Nemesias, and Kangaroo Paw Flowers © Harold Davis

Print of ‘Sunflower X-Ray’ © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers, Monochrome, Photography

Print Sold: Sunflower X-Ray

Here’s a snapshot of a recently sold print of my black & white Sunflower X-Ray, hand printed on Moab Juniper Baryta paper. The border of the print looks a bit gray in this capture, but it is actually white!

Print of ‘Sunflower X-Ray’ © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers, Print of the Month

Echinacea Seed Pod X-Ray

Echinacea Seed Pod on Black © Harold Davis

Very special thanks to the scientists in the Photon Science group at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs who used the Beamline when it was in maintenance mode to help with this capture.

Check out more x-ray photos of mine here.

Echinacea Seed Pod - Sepia © Harold Davis

Echinacea Seed Pod – Sepia © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers, Monochrome

Nautilus X-Ray Series

I made this series of X-Ray and Fusion X-Ray Nautilus shell compositions in collaboration with Dr. Julian Köpke in April in Heidelberg using conventional digital x-ray equipment and DSLR cameras, and yesterday was able to find some time to process the images. If this kind of imagery interests you, e.g., digital X-Rays, fusion X-Rays, or imagery of Nautilus shells, also check out: X-Ray portfolio; Tulip X-Rays and Fusion X-Rays; X-Ray Flower Medley Fusion; Nautilus Within Without; Nautilus X-Rays; Nautilus in Black and White.

Nautilus Shells LAB © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells LAB © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells on White © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells on White © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells on Black © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells on Black © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells on Black - Fusion © Harold Davis

Nautilus Shells on Black – Fusion © Harold Davis

Tulip X-Rays and Fusion X-Rays

Tulips X-Ray Fusion © Harold Davis

These tulips were x-rayed to provide the internal structure of the flowers (see image below). They were then photographed in alignment on a light box for translucency, and to provide the color. The two versions were combined using Color blending mode in Photoshop for the fusion x-ray image, shown above. For more info, check out my FAQ about x-ray and fusion x-ray photography

Tulips X-Ray © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers

X-Ray Flower Medley Fusion

This image combines—hence the term “fusion”—the x-ray version of the floral medley composition with a translucent version of the same arrangement photographed in alignment on a light box.

X-Ray Floral Medley Fusion © Harold Davis

X-Ray Floral Medley

Working with Dr Julian Kopke, I laid out this x-ray composition on a sheet of plexiglass above the sensor. The results you see are actually two x-rays combined, because there is falloff at one of the x-ray, so the second exposure was flipped to create a combined even image. We also used the plexiglass backing in registration to create a light box image of the composition, and I will try later to see what combining the x-ray (interior structure) with the external appearance of the flowers looks like. Check out my FAQ for more information about this kind of imaging.

X-Ray Floral Medley © Harold Davis

Also posted in Flowers, Monochrome

Radiating Beauty: Creating a new photographic form with fusion x-rays

The shapes and forms are recognizable, yet the level of detail is deeper than the human eye can normally perceive: Leaves appear minutely laced and surfaces are impossibly intricate, somewhere between translucent and opaque. Welcome to the captivating work of photographer Harold Davis and radiologist Dr. Julian Köpke, who combine their skill, passion, and vision to create stunning X-ray photography and pioneering fusion images. Read more on the Pixsy blog (article by Natalie Holmes).

Sunflower X-Ray Fusion © Harold Davis

Also posted in Writing

My Left Foot

My Left Foot © Harold Davis

Hologic 2019 Calendar of X-Ray and Fusion X-Ray Images

This blog story shows the cover (above) and a single month (January, below) from the 2019 promotional calendar that Hologic is publishing using the x-rays and fusion x-rays that Dr. Julian Köpke and I have created. Hologic is the maker of the x-ray equipment that Julian and I used to make the images.

Click here for an FAQ related to these images, and here for an online gallery of x-ray and fusion x-ray images.

Bird of Paradise X-Ray

This is an x-ray photograph of a Strelitzia reginae, commonly known as the Bird of Paradise flower.

Bird of Paradise X-Ray © Harold Davis

More: X-Ray and Fusion X-Ray Gallery; FAQ: X-Ray Photos of Flowers; X-Ray Photography and the Inner Form of Beauty; Revealing the Unseen with X-Ray Photography of Flowers; X-Ray and “Fusion” X-Ray Images of Flowers.

Also posted in Flowers

X-Ray Photography and the Inner Form of Beauty

The process of making these x-ray images of flowers and shells is more like making a photogram—what Man Ray called a rayograph—than it is like using a conventional camera. The flowers are arranged on top of the capture medium, in this case a digital sensor and then exposed. But the exposure is to x-rays rather then to light in the visible spectrum, as in a photogram, where objects are placed on top of a photosensitive medium (historically, more oftern emulsion-coated paper rather than a digital sensor).

X-Ray, Sunflower © Harold Davis

The x-rays reveal the inner form and shapes rather than the surface manifestation of the object. It is possible to look at the petals of a flower as though they are gauze or veils, and to see the capillaries within a leaf.

Spray Roses X-Ray © Harold Davis

Rather than the surface of a shell, when the x-ray “camera” is pointed at a shell, the inner spirals, shapes, and forms of the structure is revealed. 

Shell Collection X-Ray © Harold Davis

More: Revealing the Unseen with X-Ray Photography of Flowers. Sometimes the seen and the unseen, the surface and the shapes within, come together by combining high-key visible light photography with x-ray captures: X-Ray and “Fusion” X-Ray Images of Flowers.

Also posted in Flowers, Monochrome