July 5, 2011

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Compound Eye: the many facets of science photography

Welcome to Compound Eye, a Scientific American photography blog! The blog is new, but the blogger is not. My name is Alex Wild. I am an entomologist and nature photographer based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I have been writing about insects, science, and photography at Myrmecos Blog since 2007.

By Alex Wild

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Welcome to Compound Eye, a Scientific American photography blog!

The blog is new, but the blogger is not. My name is Alex Wild. I am an entomologist and nature photographer based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I have been writing about insects, science, and photography at Myrmecos Blog since 2007.

While Myrmecos will continue at its present location with more or less the same content, Compound Eye is a new venture featuring:

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  • Spectacular photographs from across the sciences, accompanied by interviews with the people behind the images.

  • How-To articles on photographic technique. I'll cover tricks from cell phone cameras to professional SLRs to microscopy.

  • Commentary on issues related to scientific imagery: emerging technology, intellectual property, social media, and cultural contexts.

  • Essays of my own, mostly natural history images.

  • A selection of reader-submitted work.

This being a photography blog, a photo essay should serve as an appropriate introduction to my work:

Finally, for those who don't know me, a smattering of other creations:

Compound Eye is a shiny new blog. Too shiny, even. It still emits that lingering New Blog Smell.

Help break it in by trying out the comments section below. Introduce yourself, leave a suggestion for topics you'd like to see discussed here, or just give a link to your own images. I mean that last bit, too. Once we're running on a regular schedule (about 2 weeks from now) I'd like to feature reader photos.

Then, once you're done with the comments, have a look around the new Scientific American network. Bora Zivkovic has shepherded as impressive a stable of blog talent as can be found anywhere. I know I'll be spending much of today exploring!

Alex Wild is Curator of Entomology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books and media outlets.

More by Alex Wild

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