Due to Corona, I limited my regular outdoor activities to public parks arount our apartment in the 8th district Vienna (1 km diameter). There are several parks and in one of them I found specimens of sweet violet (Viola odorata).

I was specially interested in the root. The root was cut with a Jung HN-40 microtom using disposable blades. Stained with Wacker W3A, mounted with Eukitt.

Technical details:
Olympus BX-60
UAPO 10 oil
17 stacks used for the panorama.

Last summer I took pictures of this beautiful beetle - also known as "dead-nettle leaf beetle" (Chrysolina fastuosa), but it took until February to complete it. The pictures requires white background to avoid colour reflections on the beetle's surface. 

Technical details:
Nikon 850 with APO Componon macro system
3 stacks with 1064 pictures in total
Illuminated with a semi-transparent mirror in a light box with a Schott Forstec DCR II cold light lit.

A single scale of the wing of the butterfly Zerynthia polyxena.
Olympus BX-60, BF (bright field), UPLANSAPO 60 oil (objektive and condenser lens are immerged) Nikon Z6
Mounting media: Eukitt
Original size of the scale: 0,09 mm

My way to go into more and more details took me from a butterfly (in toto) to a single scale of its wing. The variety of different scales on one wing is amazing. This picture is my first step into a new and faszinating new topic. There is a lot to learn - from separation of a single scale to its mounting. 

Finally we managed to complete the first 13 pictures of a new series of cross sections of coniferous needles (auto fluorescence*)). The transections are between 35 and 50 μ. The images (panorama of 2 to 7 stacks) may consist of up to 700 single shots. In order to discover all the details, the images have to be extended to more than 1 m, which is unfortunately not possible in the Internet. However, some of them will be shown in an exhibition. 

For me the most amazing point is that images in such a quality would not have been possible last year. The reason for this step forward is the development of a new sensor technology (Nikon Z6) and a lens system placed in the UV-optical path of the microscope. This lens system concentrates the light to a smaller diameter. These two improvements helped to tackle two aspects of one problem. (1) originally up to 30 seconds were needed to take one picture and this long manipulation resulted in a depletion of the auto fluorescence when exposed to UV light. If only single shots are taken this behaviour is not recognized easily but if a panorama (series) is taken the activity has to be constant. With my equipment I can manage shutter times within 1 to 2 seconds, resulting in a massive reduction of the process and the first stack is identically to the last one (even if a stack consists of 100 single shots). 

Some technical details: Olympus objective UPLSAPO 4x, 10x, 20x und 40x; photo ocular 2,5 extension in the optical path and an additional tube extension.

100 W mercury lamp in APO lamphouse, with a fluorescence filter cube blue-wide.

 *) auto fluorescence: the material is stimulated with light (in my case above blue) and emits visible light back in the direction of the sensor. 

A first version of our 2020 workshops and lectures is online. Some details will be added later. Have a look to the overall programme.

Since this year I am offering 1 : 1 support covering the following topics: 

• Ajustment of the personal camera equipment to the owner's need
• Set-up of the digital workflow (from taking the picture until fine art printing), depending on the photographer's need or equipment
• Photography via the microscope (especially valuable for personen who just started or who want to extend their current equipment)
• Preparaton of material for photography via the microscope

 Additional topics upon request.

We recently published an article about megapixel and their consequences ("Megapixel - Auswahlkriterium und Konsequenzen") in the latest issue of the VTNOE magazin. Enjoy reading.