Nature Study Workshop

"The sympathy that nature study proponents sought was not mere tender sentiment but an emotional and intellectual understanding of the interconnectedness of life."

Kevin C Armitage

What does the Wonder Dome do?

The WonderDome terrarium solves three major challenges when trying to artfully document and study live collections of nature's biodiversity with macro photography.

First, the configuration of the dome solves the challenging special lighting needed to capture beautiful photographs at a macro scale. The camera, tripod and flash system for lighting are not shown in the photo (see video)

Second, the WonderDome creates a way to contain the live insects and other subject matter while they are being observed and photographed. The inside of the terrarium rotates to bring different subject matter into the stationary view of the camera and lighting. Florist tubes in the turntable provide water for plants and can be easily rearranged or switched to different plants.

Finally, the holes in the sides of the dome allow participants to interact with the composition and subjects inside the terrarium while we are photographing.

Full Wonder Dome photo gallery

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Nature Study Workshop Objectives

Encourage a sense of childlike wonder as we explore and collect the biodiversity of an area. Students are given insect collection kits and taught how to look more closely at their local flora and fauna as they gather live subjects to be photographed in the Wonder Dome terrarium.

Focus the powers of observation through the lens of Science by learning how to identify and document the collection we have found.

Connect with both professional and amateur naturalist to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with our Nature Study group.

Assemble a living terrarium representative of the biodiversity in our collection area into the Wonder Dome for further documentation and up-close study using macro photography.

Build a sympathetic understanding of the subjects we collect by observing live behavior and experiencing, through the eye of a camera lens, an intimacy of detail you can't see with the naked eye.

Document our subjects in beautiful light to communicates the sympathetic understanding we have developed through our workshop.

Use this documentation to share what we learn with others through social media and fine art nature prints.