Pollen

[rjlittlefield]

Shot using Nikon M PLan 20X/0.40 ELWD objective in an Olympus CH microscope frame. Canon T1i in LiveView mode at ISO 100, 1/13 second exposure, illuminated with halogen fiber through a Kleenex tissue diffuser. Zerene Stacker DMap with retouching from original source frames using PMax for guidance. Finished in Photoshop with smart sharpen, levels adjustment, and some masking to avoid noise in the background.

304 frames at 1 micron, using a StackShot controller and stepper motor to drive the fine focus knob of the microscope. It's a simple arrangement. I'll show it over in Micro Technique later today.

Hope you enjoy!

--Rik

[Mitch640]

Beautiful work Rik. Pollen has always interested me, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Seems hard to find.

[rjlittlefield]

Thanks, Mitch. This is from a zinnia, like the ones shown HERE. We have a border of them around the garden. They get pretty flashy this time of the year.

The setup that shot this picture is now posted HERE.

--Rik

[Walter Piorkowski]

Beautiful image Rik. I like the soft, dreamy quality of the deep stack.
Walt