Very interesting. Could you describe each one? What else would you like to know? All the pictures were taken with a Nikon 10X Plan phase contrast objective. All of them are cropped so I don't know the actual magnification. It's lit from above using 1/2 a ping-pong ball as a diffuser. #1 is the very...

I like silverfish as a photographic subject, luckily, I find one around the house every couple of months. I'm happy with these, which is good because I've been on a long dry spell. The "forehead" - the top of its head. This is a 41 image stack. There's a bit of post processing on this one, namely th...

One of my favorite subjects, well done.

Darkfield, 11 image focus stack



The water net was shaped like a narrow bag, so there's 2 layers. I tried rendering the entire depth, but it seemed too busy. This is the top half of the 2 layers.

A waterfea does not necessary die after producing an ephippium. After setting free the ephippium by moulting they can survive and revert to partenogenetic reproduction if the environmental conditions are good. So, "diaphase" is the phase, and "ephippium" is the actual sac? When I looked up "diaphas...

I didn't know what was gong on until it was too late, so I didn't see this first hand, but I saw the stage just before, and I took pictures of the stage right after.... I caught a water flea in the process of creating a diapause. What I didn't realize is that the water fleas basically self-destructs...

Hi, These are scale insects (related to aphids) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_insect . The white material is wax produced by them. Because they are flat, they make great slide preparations: http://www.padil.gov.au/pests-and-diseases/Pest/Main/141645/36377 Thanks. I suspect you're correct. I ha...

I have a row of bushes around the side of the house - crabapple if I'm not mistaken. They have these white fuzzy spots all over them - looks like this: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/9251261817_2b9a3e1cf1_c.jpg Well, the branch is all crawly with these tiny white bugs - aphids I guess. Thinking ...

Yes, photo #2 is gorgeous.

Went to the grandparents-in-law's house by the lake, and I always bring back a sample.

I'm guessing mosquito pupa, but I'm open to better suggestions.

There is a noticeable delay in live view, and so this is something to be aware of if you are photographing live (or otherwise moving) subjects.

I've been burned by that a few times.

This looks good to me. The image retains detail in both bright and dark areas. There remain some areas that are almost pure black. Those will be mirror surfaces facing directly toward the objective. The black areas are essentially the camera sensor looking at its own reflection. We call this "the b...

So, I got the opportunity to try out a few things. This is the setup of the latest attempt: http://i.imgur.com/trXZ2NTl.jpg And this is a sample from that (complete with lint from my pocket): http://i.imgur.com/0Sglxvkl.jpg (I actually have 3 exposures of Jefferson's eye, this is the middle exposure...

Thanks for the setup picture. It explains a lot. Three suggestions: 1. Cut another pingpong ball with a smaller hole in the top. The hole should be just large enough for the objective to look through. This will allow light to shine down onto the subject, instead of all coming from the sides. 2. Mov...

Saw this on Zeiss' facebook page: Some weekend reading for our fans: Clean optics are essential for successful microscopy and perfect images. One of our classic brochures, 'The Clean Microscope', helps the hobbyist as well as the researcher to get the most out of your instrument: Always receive repr...