Andradite Garnet

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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GreenSugar
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Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:03 am
Location: California

Andradite Garnet

Post by GreenSugar »

Newbie, so I hope this post is in the right place. A 1mm FOV image of Andradite garnet skewered by Diopside. Nikon D810, Nikkor 200mm, Mitutoyo 10X M Plan APO Objective and Swarf Systems LED Lighting

Image

Admin edit [RJL]: to insert image
PaulF209

Troels
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Location: Denmark, Engesvang
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Post by Troels »

Hi,
GreenSugar

EDIT: I thought your immage was missing. Apparently just a slow connection.
EDIT 2: Now I se that rik has fixed your picture. Very interesting indeed.
Last edited by Troels on Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
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Post by rjlittlefield »

GreenSugar, welcome aboard!

Unfortunately your image did not appear in your post. I tracked down a recent upload that you had done, assumed that was the intended image, and edited your post to insert it.

Please see http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7 for detailed instructions about how to display images.

Also note when posting, that there's a Preview button to check your post before Submit'ting it.

I hope this helps!

--Rik

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

By the way, this post is out of place in Nature Photography. It should be in Technical and Studio Photography. I will move it after you've had a chance to reply to these notes.

--Rik

GreenSugar
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Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:03 am
Location: California

Post by GreenSugar »

Hi Rik and thank you. I had a look to see if I could relocate the post to the proper section without success, so I would greatly appreciate it. You help is always appreciated and with your previous assistance, I think I have the hot spots under control!
PaulF209

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Move completed. Admins can move threads, but normal users cannot. If you had spotted the problem before there were any replies, you could have deleted the errant posting and re-posted in the proper place. But after any reply, you couldn't even do that because deletion of a posting is not allowed after replies.

--Rik

GreenSugar
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Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:03 am
Location: California

Post by GreenSugar »

Good to know, will be extra careful moving forward! Thanks
PaulF209

hero
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Joined: Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:38 pm
Location: California

Post by hero »

Really nice micro specimen! The rhombic dodecahedral habit is quite clear and the edges are pristine. Very nice example of epitaxial growth. Out of curiosity, did you focus stack, and if so, what software did you use?

GreenSugar
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:03 am
Location: California

Post by GreenSugar »

Thanks Hero. This image is a cropped section of a larger image that was quite deep, about 400 images. I use Zerene in the P mode
PaulF209

hero
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Post by hero »

The reason why I asked about your stacking process is because I had the impression that you're getting some artifacts from the out-of-focus highlights reflecting off the diopside. This manifests as a sort of "glow" surrounding bright objects against a darker background. This is a common side effect of the Pmax mode in Zerene.

As an avid photographer of micromounts, I have over time refined my processing workflow to reduce these artifacts. I start with diffusing my lighting whenever feasible, and whenever it doesn't detract from showing the crystals. Then, I use a combination of both stacking methods (Pmax and Dmap). I've discovered that I sometimes need to create multiple Dmap images at different estimation radii. Nearly always, I use the Pmax image as the basis for retouching. Then, I make one pass through the image, retouching any blown out or posterized highlight areas with the Dmap image. I make a second pass to replace any grainy/noisy out of focus areas with one of the source images, which is usually either the first or last image in the stack since areas of the stacked image that remain out of focus generally must have come from one of these. I then make a third pass to correct any issues with over/under crossings, where Pmax shows objects that seem to pass through each other, by carefully retouching with a Dmap image, or sometimes even the source images, manually--this is the most labor-intensive part because sometimes neither Pmax nor Dmap got it right.

Dmap artifacts tend to manifest as blurry areas surrounding sharp edges in the subject, and I find these very unpleasant, so I almost never use a Dmap image as the basis for retouching, and I try to avoid these areas when using such images for retouching the Pmax image.

After I'm done with retouching in Zerene, I export the image and manually finish retouching in Photoshop. This probably takes the most time out of all the steps, because minerals tend to have a lot of dust and fibers, and these are hard if not impossible to remove from the specimen.

Here's an example of one of my micro minerals--boltwoodite under visible and 365 nm UV illumination:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... 803#235803

Admin edit [RJL]: to make the link more precise.

GreenSugar
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:03 am
Location: California

Post by GreenSugar »

Thanks for the comments Hero.

I have indeed been struggling with artifacts. I am happy to say that the flares from hot spots are mitigated with some help from Admin RJL and a new lighting system ( all reflected), but I still struggle with muddling in areas where there are multiple transparent crystals, and the glow that you point out.

Frankly, I have not spent much time retouching, and would like to learn more about it. I am curious how you are able to retouch Dmap into Pmap using Zerene. Do you stack sub sets of Dmap and Pmap images together, and then selectively retouch with one or the other?.

Please feel free to shoot a PM, we are both in CA (Central Valley here) and perhaps our paths have crossed at various symposiums
PaulF209

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