# Quills: a close-up



## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Took some close-up pics of Loki's quills today. Thought it would be fun to share them here





































Fur


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

Those make for beautiful and artistic pictures! And it's fascinating to see quills so close up.


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## Hedgehogluvr386 (Jun 16, 2012)

really awesome pictures!
thanks for posting!


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## jholstein11 (Dec 13, 2012)

lovely!!!


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## momIImany (Oct 14, 2012)

Those are wonderful works of art. I love the first and last ones. You should blow them up and frame them. Or submit them in a show.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Thanks all! I have another one. Ever seen a hedgehog nose from this close?


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## cardiologineer (Sep 29, 2012)

Those are lovely! Very cool, thanks for sharing.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Draenog said:


> Thanks all! I have another one. Ever seen a hedgehog nose from this close?
> 
> http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1206/p1170171copy.jpg[ /img][/quote]
> 
> ...


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## Katis228 (Aug 19, 2012)

Amazing pics! I was just looking at them on FB too


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## Jaiya (Jan 3, 2013)

What kind of camera did you use to take these awesome pictures?


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## gogrnny1955 (Jul 6, 2011)

Those are amazing photos,
really shows the fine details.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Thanks everyone!



Jaiya said:


> What kind of camera did you use to take these awesome pictures?


I used my DSLR, an Olympus E-510. I removed the lens and turned it the other way around on the body to get this macro effect.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Love them Bente! Especially the ones where you can start seeing the texture of the quill exterior, it's fascinating. I have some taken with a scanning electron microscope but ones that are in color and show more to give you perspective are way cooler.


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## alexvdl (Dec 19, 2012)

Where'd you get a scanning electron microscope?!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

alexvdl said:


> Where'd you get a scanning electron microscope?!


I found someone giving it away on craigslist. 

Haha, no, when I was writing my book I wanted to do a page on quills so I contacted a local college who had one and they kindly let me borrow it for some quick shots. It's especially interesting to compare hedgehog quills to other animal quills or fur! I got shots of hedgie quills compared to porcupine quills and the stiff hairs off spiny mice, it's amazing to see the textures and shapes up close. The pictures in this thread do a great job though because you can actually see enough of the quill to get a good perspective on size. The SEM I was using could only zoom out so far, so it was hard to get certain shots and really comprehend how "zoomed in" you were.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

I like MomIImany's idea as works of art! They would be wonderful framed. Loki is a wonderful model no matter what part you photograph!!!!!


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## alexvdl (Dec 19, 2012)

Man, that's really cool. I guess I need to read your book.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Kimberly, I think the ones in your book are great as well! It's so interesting to see a quill from so close.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I'm going to have to try turning my lens around now  
Did you use your 18-55 mm?


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

14-42 mm 

It's fun to play with, but watch out 'cause you can easily get dust and stuff in your camera body so make sure you don't keep the opening up and hold the lens in place as much as possible. You get a very small part that's actually sharp, so it can be a little hard to focus. You need to put your camera on manual as well, and use a shutter speed that's not too high (the pictures get too dark otherwise). I always use flash, so I don't need to use high ISO settings as well - unless I'm photographing in bright sunlight/a lamp. You need to get really close to your subject before you get something sharp. Autofocus doesn't work, so you need to move your whole camera to focus. 
I've used it before on for example feathers http://www.flickr.com/photos/behind-tho ... 341244410/


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## lpercz (Dec 23, 2010)

These are gorgeous and this lens thing is a great idea! You're so talented


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## verucacherry (Jun 18, 2013)

these are amazing! Love the hedge nose!


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## sonichedghehogbreyer (Jul 23, 2013)

What camera did you use? Those pic look great! It clearly did a excellent job.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If you read through the thread, someone else already asked that.  She answered on page 2.


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