And now for something completely different. Maybe this doesn't count as photography since I took this image with electrons instead of photons. Nonetheless I found it pleasing and so I now post it here to share. It's a dog tick (aka woods tick), one of many I've found this year in the forest behind my house this spring. Or, rather, one of many that have found me and the dogs. I removed the scale bar (I found it distracting) but to give you an idea, its legs are around 0.2mm thick.Any cropping suggestions?
2 comments:
Cool photo - grim, but cool.
I think it counts, yes. Electrons and photons both display wave/particle dual behaviour, don't they?
I'm not sure it's relevant, but I'm going to attempt photo critique on an electron microscopy image - like the mono treatment (ahem) but subject is a little central and there's some shocking burnt out hightlights on it's - er - back or whatever that bit is called..
Clearly you work with electron microscopes, or you've got one in your house... tell the story behind this image.
Cheers
Ivan
PS Damian - you still alive? How's the blog/website/general web-presence thing going?
Yes indeed I do have an electron microscope at work. We use it for various things such analyzing failure surfaces (such as when something breaks unexpectedly) and examining the surfaces of new materials and composites that we develop.
Occasionally we will put something interesting in there to look at such as this insect. Specimens that are not electrically conductive (including critters) will eventually become charged by the electron beam unless they are treated somehow. The tick in this image was therefore coated with a very thin layer of gold.
The highlights are pretty much a reflection, I guess. It can be a bit difficult to master the dynamic range of the instrument. It's greyscale only, of course (since colour is meaningless to electrons), and 8 bits of range, possibly fewer. The brightness and contrast settings on the instrument are quite primitive, so it can be hard sometimes to eliminate harsh highlights without compromising contrast in the rest of the image. Perhaps someone more skilled than me would have produced something better.
The close-in zoom of its various parts are quite fascinating, yet I chose this image to post because I found its pose entertainingly menacing. That was purely luck, though. Note the nasty little hooks on the ends of its legs. Disgusting!
-C-
Post a Comment