ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCESS OF HOLOGRAPHY.
 
 
Q: What is it?
A: Holograms are 3 dimensional laser pictures.
 
Q: What is a laser?
A: A device that produces a very intense monochromatic coherent beam of light.
 
Q: How do you get the picture in there?
A: Ther is a light sensitive emulsion that is coated onto a glass surface that after exposing to the light of the laser, captures a "light record" of a three dimensional object. Light bounces off the emulsion exactly how it bounced off the original 3 dimensional object, visually recreating it. A hologram is a very complex lens with millions of focal points that it can utilize.
 
Q: Where do you get all the objects to make the holograms of ?
A: A few of the objects are found in nature,[leaves,shells] but most are created as sculptures using lost wax techniques and then casting them into metal. All the sculptures used in the making of the holograms are exactly the same size as the resulting hologram. These measurements can be detected down to 1 / ten billionths of an inch.[One wave length of light]
 
Q: What is the best way to light a hologram?
A: Holograms are light records that reflect available light. Light reflects off the emulsion and visually recreates the original 3 dimensional object used to create it. Holograms react differently to different light sources and look best using a point source. {Spotlight with a halogen bulb} Frosted light bulbs and fluorescent lights make a hologram look fuzzy.
 
Q: Is it true that you can cut a hologram into small pieces and still see the whole picture?
A: Hologram means "whole message" in greek. You can cut up a laser transmission hologram into small pieces then when viewed with a laser, see the whole image in each piece. It's like looking out a window from across a room, you see the outdoors framed in the window. When you walk right up to the window and put your nose to the glass and look around, you can see down the street in all directions. Then you see what is really outside the window.
 

Q: Why do holograms change color as you move around them?
A: The color of holograms are the result of how they are reflecting the light that is illuminating them. They work like a prism, spreading the light into a spectrum and then they select parts of that spectrum and reflect that back out to the viewer. As you move around a piece, the angle between you and that piece changes. The result is that you end up looking at a different part of the spectrum that the hologram is reflecting.
 

Q: How thick is the actual hologram?
A: The emulsion that the hologram is recorded on is 3 to 5 microns thick. This is thinner than Saran Wrap.
 
Q: How is a hologram made?

A: We set the 3 dimensional object that we wish to make a hologram of on a vibration free table. The laser beam [from an argon laser] is split into 2 beams and reflected off a series of mirrors to attain the correct angle. Then using lenses, the beams of light are spread to the width. The 1st beam, called the object beam reflects off the object onto the emulsion coated piece of glass mounted above the object. The 2nd beam, called the reference beam, spreads through a lens directly illuminating the emulsion coated glass. The two beams combine at the glass and interfere coherently, recording a light record of the object. The emulsion is then processed similar to photography, laminated with another piece of glass to protect it, and it is ready for the finishing glass work.
 
Q: Will they last forever?
A; The holograms in these pieces are protected from the environment and will last indefinitely if they remain undamaged. Photographs on the other hand are in a constant state of degradation with an expected life of 200 to 300 years.