Goal: Create protocol for working with ring light and camera

For our Hawaii 2022 spawning trip, we did not have a portable dissecting microscope so instead we brought the ring light and camera that is usually in the CBLS aquarium room.

Equipment/materials

• Ring light with tripod stand
• ELP 8.0 megapixel USB camera (5-50mm; ELP-USB8MP02G-SFV)
• USB adapter
• Mac computer
• Power strip with USB plug-ins

Protocol

• Set up ring light on the tripod stand and connect the camera so that it is in the middle of the ring light facing down

add pictures

• the ring light has a USB connection to plug in. Use a power strip with a USB plug-in to plug in the ring light and turn it on. Turn the light to the max intensity
• Connect the camera to the mac computer via the USB adapter
• Open PhotoBooth and click on Camera in the top thing. Click on the HD USB camera to connect the computer to the camera.
• Put the coral or larvae under the camera so that it can be seen on the computer screen. Include a color score ruler if necessary
• The camera has rotating settings around its lens.
  • Rotate the camera lens closest to the bottom (says IR 5-50mm Mega; T <—-> W) to zoom in and out
  • Rotate camera lens in the middle (says close <—-> open) to close and open the camera
  • Rotate the top camera lens (says F<—->N) to focus the camera
• Use Photobooth on the computer to take pictures and/or videos of the coral. Upload the pictures/videos to the appropriate google drive or github repo.