Posted by Tim Mulholland on January 11, 2009 at 11:43 AM
We had a better snow yesterday - light, cold, and nice flakes (and, we're having a similar snow at the moment)...
Again from the microscope and about 40x magnification...
Enjoy,
Tim!
Posted by Brian Vance on January 11, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Tim, now this one looks like a snowflake! Do you know what was causing one side to be so bright and the other dark? A more even exposure would make it pop. I'm looking forward to more using this set up.
Yes, the uneven lighting was semi-intentional. ;) The microscope's light source burned out a couple of days ago, and I was using my LED headlamp as the source. During the course of these "experiments," I want to get a sense of how the appearance of the snowflakes change (and, I'm more interested in how the light diffracts through them and changes color) depending on the type & direction of the lighting. The microscope source will likely be fairly diffuse, but I do have some ability to modify that with the collimator. And, I want to try to sidelight with the LED headlight, and also see what happens with a flash rig...
So, many more photos to go...
Tim!
Posted by Philip Schwarz on January 13, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Keep it up your moving in the right direction. I was up in the UP over the weekend and I've never seen such beautiful snowflakes. I should have brought some back for you to work with.
Sweet concept - certainly not something you see every day. This one works pretty well (ok, I was tempted to begin with the "phantastic phlake"), and I agree that things are moving towards really getting an amazing shot. One thing that might be worth trying is to use helicon focus to stack some images to get the flake completely in focus. The "uneven" lighting seems like a good idea, but it might be stronger if the background wasn't blown, allowing the flake itself to be the point of the highest contrast in the image. Good stuff Tim.
Posted by Chuck Beatty on January 13, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Nice window into a beautiful world, Tim. Look forward to seeing more as you perfect your technique. One question: How do you keep the flake from melting under the light ... Are you shooting in a meat locker?
Posted by Tim Mulholland on January 13, 2009 at 12:23 PM
Chuck,
Yes & no. ;)
I keep microscope in its wooden case, and then leave it out in my garage (which is the same as I do with our soda, beer & leftovers in the winter - except for the wooden case). The purpose of the wooden case is just to slow the cooling/heating of 'scope in the event of any sudden temp changes and keep the lenses from cracking. And, I keep my slides out there, too. When I want to shoot, I bundle up and set the 'scope up on a sawhorse. It's a relatively simple setup....
Discussion
6 repliesAgain from the microscope and about 40x magnification...
Enjoy,
Tim!
Yes, the uneven lighting was semi-intentional. ;) The microscope's light source burned out a couple of days ago, and I was using my LED headlamp as the source. During the course of these "experiments," I want to get a sense of how the appearance of the snowflakes change (and, I'm more interested in how the light diffracts through them and changes color) depending on the type & direction of the lighting. The microscope source will likely be fairly diffuse, but I do have some ability to modify that with the collimator. And, I want to try to sidelight with the LED headlight, and also see what happens with a flash rig...
So, many more photos to go...
Tim!
Yes & no. ;)
I keep microscope in its wooden case, and then leave it out in my garage (which is the same as I do with our soda, beer & leftovers in the winter - except for the wooden case). The purpose of the wooden case is just to slow the cooling/heating of 'scope in the event of any sudden temp changes and keep the lenses from cracking. And, I keep my slides out there, too. When I want to shoot, I bundle up and set the 'scope up on a sawhorse. It's a relatively simple setup....
Tim!