We were chatting about image capture after dinner as both myself and my brother were into photography. He said “did you know that you can put 3 D objects in a scanner”. He had read something. He wasn't at all interested in computers etc. Ah! but I was… Some time passed and I remembered what he said. I had a Canon scanner and some time to spare so I had a go. Well that was in 2002 and as they say the rest is history. I had studied at art school and was always on the lookout for interesting stuff. Also I was not happy with the resolutions from DSLRs. My Canon D2400u scanner produces heaps more resolution and allows me to see very small details. That and Photoshop opened up a new world to me. I use Photoshop 7 which is more than adequate as I only use a small selection of controls, just enough and no more. Using layers is very important in my work as it can combine two or more scanned images to create a single entity. Detail and clarity (focus/sharpness) is also vital. I will often take off my glasses and peer closely at my work to be sure that there is no evidence of dust, scratches or other stuff that should not be there. We all see stuff differently and that is OK. That’s what makes life really interesting. My way is my way and I would not do it any differently. When my scanner platen became too scratched due to me placing all sorts of stuff on it, it became really difficult to produce clean work without hours of work cleaning up an image. I looked to replace it or at least the platen. Ha Ha. The scanner was 14 and there was no chance of spare parts. The Canon was an excellent scanner, very affordable and good at colour 3D. Further research located the same model on Ebay and I got it for £6 sterling. A good gamble cos it might have been in worse condition. It was actually in much better condition. The only downside is that this model will only work in operating systems no newer than Windows XP. A friend gave me his old laptop which runs XP and it is used solely for scanning with no connexion to the internet and the risks that are inherent there. I have also bought an Epson scanner (A4- V370 photo) It is up to date but its downside is the light source which affects the colour capture causing halos. It is really good in monochrome. I scan with the lid open in a darkened room which gives me a good black background. I clean up the background using clone or paintbrush and occasionally the fill bucket if there is a clear difference between the subject and the background. Many people who have seen the work exhibited tell me it looks really three dimensional which makes me happy as that effect is exactly what I am trying to convey. All my work is printed by myself on Pictorico Hi Gloss white film and mounted behind glass with a space the thickness of mounting card. This produces the deep black mirror effect causing the subject to be pushed forward and voila the 3D effect.

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Les Rucinski
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