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Magnetic Aquatic Ecosystem Scenes

Started by Guest_farmertodd_* , Dec 26 2010 10:31 PM

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#1 Guest_farmertodd_*

Guests

Posted 26 December 2010 - 10:31 PM

Hi folks,

My nephews are getting to be a fun age, my sister has commissioned me to get them outside because both she and my brother-in-law don't like what the outdoors has to offer. Which is sad to a fishhead like me, because their home watershed is Big Darby Creek, crown jewel of Ohio. But then again, gives me a good excuse to sneak off with the boys at dreaded family obligations and head over to the creek in the name of education!

This year I got my oldest nephew his first copy of the Pond Life Little Golden Book, an ice cube tray for sorting macroinverts and a 2.5 gallon tank for observing fishes streamside. But yeah, I just said I got a 5 year old a book, an empty tank and an ice cube tray in the middle of the northern winter, so I figured I needed to go an extra step. And here's what I came up with:

I realized I have a crap ton of photos that would make really neat magnets with the desk jet magnet "paper". So I took a couple underwater scenes I took in MO this spring (thank you Big Creek) and then put together a plate of critters and titles for my nephew to play with on the fridge or whatever. I think it worked out well, I'd like to get other's feedback and field test on these, if people are into it. Here's some more photos:

Up close...

And here's a pdf:

http://www.farmertod...gnetic_Fish.pdf

It would be interesting to hear how this version prints out on heavy stock paper, I'm curious about the image quality on various printers with this level of compression. I can make a pdf with the source image files, but I'd like to see how little we can get away with it.

One thing I've already run into is that the magnets have a tendency to fold back on themselves, and he was a little young to understand that they weren't stickers and that they needed to be GENTLY folded forward and then placed. I don't know if making the critters larger would solve this or not.

The fridge worked well. My sister is worried about her younger son destroying it and came up with the idea to get a small white board to place them on. If people have different ways to display it handy, boy, I'd be real glad to hear about if it works out with various media.

I see this as something we can put together with NANFA's label stamped on it at some point. If some of you other photographers are interested in participating, please let me know(and special thanks to Lance Merry for the bluebreast and tippecanoe images!)

Todd

Edited by farmertodd, 26 December 2010 - 10:32 PM.

#2 Guest_smilingfrog_*

Guests

Posted 26 December 2010 - 10:56 PM

Very cool idea. I have a neice about that age that would love one of those.

#3 Guest_MrCatfish_*

Guests

Posted 27 December 2010 - 11:08 AM

Todd this is awesome! You just gave me a reason to go and buy ink for the printer. My daugher is eight and wants one. I will also be making them for my nieces and nephew.Their are 3 of them that are around 5 years old.

#4 Guest_farmertodd_*

Guests

Posted 27 December 2010 - 11:26 AM

Thanks guys

Try printing it on paper first. If it looks bad/grainey/pixelated, let me know... I'll piece together a hi res version and we'll see how it goes. I can have that online tonight if need be.

Someone else suggested getting sticker sheets off thread, I thought that was a great idea!

Todd

#5 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 27 December 2010 - 12:59 PM

Todd, this is great! One minor suggestion... I know you love your black background... but that really uses up the ink, and makes the paper almost 'wet' with ink... suggest that you go in and 'erase' the background (at least in the areas not right around the cut-outs) to save on ink and keep everything 'cleaner'.

Another idea, that would also save ink, but really you could use as a teaching thing... wonder if you could make the 'background' of the shiners and such blue, and that of the darters and inverts brown... you know, something to match your printed background... and it would subtly 'indicate' and teach that some fish (and critters) live on the substrate and these fish live up in the water...???

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#6 Guest_gerald_*

Guests

Posted 27 December 2010 - 01:23 PM

Wish I had an uncle like that.
One who could turn my bathtub into a stream morphology simulation tank.
(idea for next xmas)

#7 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 27 December 2010 - 02:20 PM

That's really cute! You're welcome to use any of my photos, and I'd definitely vote yes for NANFA endorsing this. Great idea

#8 Guest_blakemarkwell_*

Guests

Posted 27 December 2010 - 04:14 PM

You're the man! That's an awesome idea. BTW, one Uncle is all you need to rescue the nature phenotype -- think about all the families that don't even have one member interested in the outside world.

Blake

#9 Guest_andyavram_*

Guests

Posted 28 December 2010 - 09:43 AM

Another idea, that would also save ink, but really you could use as a teaching thing... wonder if you could make the 'background' of the shiners and such blue, and that of the darters and inverts brown... you know, something to match your printed background... and it would subtly 'indicate' and teach that some fish (and critters) live on the substrate and these fish live up in the water...???

And on fish like darters you can have the bottom half of the background brown and the top half blue.

Very cool idea Todd. I used to love playsets like that when I was a youngster, except it was sticky plastic and dinosaurs.

#10 Guest_nativeplanter_*

Guests

Posted 28 December 2010 - 01:37 PM

My daugher is eight and wants one.

Heck, I'm 38 and want one!!

(Too bad we don't have a printer...)

Todd, I was just thinking about your photos (and those of other skilled members like yourself), and was thinking we might someday make a NANFA calendar as a fundraiser. Can't be too hard - my brother has one made with his kid every year from their photos. I can ask him what company puts them together.

#11 littlen

NANFA Member

Washington, D.C.

Posted 28 December 2010 - 01:45 PM

I second the notion of a calendar. I've seen other fish/herp groups do the same thing using member photos. I'd gladly pay ~$10 for a calendar--especially if it helps create enough revenue so that fees don't have to be raised any time soon. Custom calendars seem to always be a hot seller. It's fun to create a little 'fun' competition as memebers vote for their favorite pics.

**Pretty cool Todd, kudos.

Nick L.

#12 Guest_farmertodd_*

Guests

Posted 28 December 2010 - 03:31 PM

Thanks all for your compliments. I'm glad others think this is as cool as I do

Michael and Andy, yes. The first thing apparent was they were still just "fish" to my nephew.

On the one hand, I don't want to stifle imagination and I wanted him to play and not be tied to my adult mind saying "that's not where it belongs." On the other...

One way I had planned to deal with the educational end was with in situ wild shots that appropriately showed the habitat, and is the main series of images I want to produce (I'd even like to crop rocks and stuff as their own images).

This is for two reasons... 1) although diagnostic photos help see the variation among species, they flatly remove the animal from the wild and 2) the more specific the reason is... I can't stand that people think species just live in random places.

I feel strongly that the way to conserve species is to conserve habitats, and without reconciling with our own species that it requires unique places to support unique species (regardless if either benefits our short term goals or not), they're missing most of the point. This isn't just among the public either... When I watched the bonus footage on Planet Earth and heard a prominent Zoo director PhD saying that "arks" were the way to preserve species, I about smashed my television; that's it, we're done, our species can just fail like it seems to want to. However, Blake's comment is very insightful, and a less cynical Farmer will persist!

Back to the other hand... People friggin' love the hand shots, I guess because it relates the animal to them. I'm trying to think of a creative way to incorporate those.

The nice part is... Once cropped, I can easily do all the above. I like the idea of the colored backgrounds. I have been giving thought to Michael's comment about the black, and I think putting a "glow" of black, brown, blue, whatever around the image is the next thing I'll try. That might also help give a line of detail to cut around. When I put the gallery sheet together, I was more thinking about how much the magnet sheet cost, rather than ink.

I would love to hear ideas about how to turn this into a game, maybe like a morph between Life/Monopoly (resources) and Chutes and Ladders (habitat gradients). I think that's the next step in this thread.

I like the calendar idea and I'm glad to contribute images if others are willing to organize.

Thanks again for all feedback!

Todd
p.s. Gerald - I'm in cahoots with the geologists now - we have multiple stream tables set up in our lab area, your request may not be all that far off

Edited by farmertodd, 28 December 2010 - 03:34 PM.

#13 Guest_Newt_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2010 - 08:16 PM

Very cool! One little suggestion: flip some of the photos around. If the kids have a choice in which way to make the fish face, then you can have a meaningful conversation about orienting to the current, etc. You could use some more insect photos too. Man, the possibilities are endless! There could be a whole range of sets, with different habitats and regions.

Magnetic primer is your friend. You can magnetize any surface. I believe virtually all dry-erase boards are magnetic too.

There are plenty of commercial printers that will print die-cut magnets, no doubt on sturdier magnet stock than that sold for home printers. Using the price calculator here it seems that 1000 magnets, custom cut, up to 2.5" X 2", using sturdy 15 mil stock, would run just over $0.50 each. Now, those probably have to be all the same, so this would only work for a run of 1000 of a particular set. The same calculator gives the unit price of an 11" X 15" magnet (for the background) as ca. $1.90. So, one background at $2 and ca. 15 magnets at $0.50 each gives us $9.50 as our production cost- IF we have 1000 sets printed. If we print only 100 sets, the unit cost doubles. Obviously this involves NANFA sinking a considerable sum of money in something we may or may not be able to sell.

Are you familiar with Project WET (Water Education for Teachers)? They would love something like this. The small pieces might be a problem for the pre-school age group, but I think K-5 at least would eat it up. They might be interested in licensing it and getting it printed themselves, at which point NANFA risks nothing (maybe even netting a licensing fee) and gains exposure in classrooms across the continent.

If the NANFA board is interested in pursuing this, either as a fundraising item for us or a partnership with Project WET, I would be happy to further research costs and discuss it with Project WET personnel.

#14 Guest_natureman187_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2010 - 10:27 PM

Awesome idea Todd. Probably the coolest thing ever - jealous I didn't have one at his age!

#15 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2010 - 11:37 PM

Very neat idea.

If the Navy can use little plane models for managing aircraft on carrier decks, then every NANFAn with a fish room should have CrailFishMags^™ and a magnetized tank planner board as a mgmt tool. :smile2:

I also like the idea of putting a magnetized strip with fish px along the top or bottom frame of a house community tank, to show what's in it. My grandkids would love it when they come visit.

d.d.

#16 Guest_farmertodd_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2011 - 02:39 PM

Again, all great suggestions. Yeah, Newt, I had planned to make that very different in the end. I doubt holding a 7 year old to ichthyological conventions will do much good in the long run

And I'm definitely going for the "print on stickers or magnets or paper" thing. As Newt says, there's a ton of potential for this.

And yes, we can make larger sized "pieces" for younger kids. There's probably some convention on safety for what size things are and we can follow that. And I'm all for collaborating with Project WET, regardless of NANFA's participation. The way I see this, it gets used... I create the pdfs and the users spend the money on the media. That's my interest in this - distribution. I'm not going to let "getting paid" get in the way.

Snorkelmeister, you feeling good enough to investigate this idea yet?

Todd

Edited by farmertodd, 01 January 2011 - 02:44 PM.

#17 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2011 - 03:05 PM

Pygmy sunfish represent: http://gallery.nanfa...resize.jpg.html
I'm sure other people have better photos, of course. That's probably the best one I have. You're welcome to use it, or any others I take, for the magnet/sticker idea.

Edit:
Here's the same photo not cropped: http://gallery.nanfa...er/001.JPG.html

Edited by EricaWieser, 01 January 2011 - 03:06 PM.

#18 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 01 January 2011 - 03:17 PM

Pygmy sunfish represent: http://gallery.nanfa...resize.jpg.html
I'm sure other people have better photos, of course. That's probably the best one I have. You're welcome to use it, or any others I take, for the magnet/sticker idea.

Edit:
Here's the same photo not cropped: http://gallery.nanfa...er/001.JPG.html

For this to work we will have to get a plant clogged swamp looking background... and add some Enneacanthus, Redfin Pickerel, swamp darter, pirate perch, topminnows... aquaitic ecosystems the Okefenokee edition! I love it!

photo credit to Charlie Grimes

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#19 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2011 - 03:48 PM

For this to work we will have to get a plant clogged swamp looking background... and add some Enneacanthus, Redfin Pickerel, swamp darter, pirate perch, topminnows... aquaitic ecosystems the Okefenokee edition! I love it!

photo credit to Charlie Grimes

Oh wow. That's an amazing photo. Is that an Okefenokee?