TWO weeks of photographic and scientific study will culminate in a unique display of images at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) this evening.

The public is invited to attend what promises to be an unusual collaboration of scientific knowledge and photographic skill, the results of a course on scientific photography taught by Dr. James Wood, a BBSR faculty scientist, and Joyce Chew of Canada's Dalhousie University.

According to Dr. Wood, the course is a first for the BBSR, aimed towards upper-level graduates, graduate students and amateur photographers with a strong background in biology.

"Photography is frequently used to communicate scientific data and concepts at meetings, on posters and in presentations," a BBSR spokesperson said in explaining the course's usefulness to scientists.

"It is also frequently used as a measuring and data recording tool for studies such as growth, per cent coverage and camouflage. Photographs are increasingly used in taxonomy.

"Students (were) taught how to create images for different purposes and audiences. For example, creating images for a magazine cover, a peer-reviewed journal, or an image to record scientific data for experimental analysis requires different methods."

Scientific photography encompasses a different domain than general photography Dr. Wood explained, citing "choice of subject and the emphasis" as the easiest means of differentiating between the two.

"A cute kitten, for example, would be acceptable if the kitten was part of an experiment on play behaviour, but it isn't relevant for the course if it's 'just' a cute kitten," Dr. Wood said. "In scientific photography, there is an emphasis on accuracy, showing the subject as it actually is. That doesn't mean that scientific images can't be stunning ? our class has beautiful pictures of orchids, Bermuda's caves, sunsets, etc. ? rather, it means that there are some restrictions on the approach and technique.

"In artistic photography it is fine to substantially alter the image to create something that is visually pleasing but isn't 'real'.

"For example, an artist could use Photoshop software to paste horse heads on fish if they wanted to. Scientists, like journalists, have much less latitude in what they can or should do with photography and with programmes like Photoshop. We can only do certain things with an image, and changing the 'truth' of it is not one of them."

Eight students from five different countries participated in the course.

The presentation will be shown at 6.30 tonight at the BBSR in Hanson Hall. An informal discussion will following a digital presentation and commentary from the course instructors. Admission is free. For more information or to reserve seating, please telephone 297-1880 or visit www.bbsr.edu.