News

Chrysolina fastuosa Thorax 1 kleinLast 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.

Osterluzeifalter newssingle 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. 

Lawson Scheinzypresse NewsFinally 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. 

Riesenmammut klein

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.

News1

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

 

 

Zirbe klein

The first 12 pictures of the cross-sections of the conifer needles are ready and presented in edition 2019. The following needs to be considered when watching the pictures:

  • presentation from an aesthetical point of view, not according to botanical-anatomical rules.
  • different staining methods have been used.
  • all pictures are panorama stacks (the number of pictures vary from around 500 and up to 3300). 

 

 

Zedernnadel

Only a few hours ago the Photoadventure 2018 closed its doors. Thank you to all who participated in our seminars and workshops. Our most recent project "Conifer needles in cross section" initated a lot of interesting discussions - far beyond the topic. We are encouraged to continue this topic.

Slides of the "Megapixel seminar" are for download here (only in German).