carpenter ant head 6.7x

[ctron]

Had some time to stack one of the smaller carpenter ants I found a few weeks back. Even so, it was fairly difficult to frame in the FOV properly, most of the body too large except at certain angles. This was the first time I used the new "toy" microscope (which is actually decent quality) to clean much of the dust and dirt from the specimen beforehand as well as first attempt to pin under the scope. I have now moved my set up to a heavy duty "table" to save my back, after pulling my back a few weeks back. Much easier to work with.

[Macrero]

Nice one, very good detail and lighting. Compositionally, I would have tried to position the appendages a bit better.

- Macrero

[ctron]

Nice one, very good detail and lighting. Compositionally, I would have tried to position the appendages a bit better.

- Macrero

Thanks. If by "appendages" you mean the antennae, I tried, but the head was so large in this FOV that I found it impossible to move them into any decent, natural position.

[Clintonwake]

Hi ctron.. May I ask what lens and settings you used. The total stack and UM please? WOuld be interested in seeing you setup and lighting if possible

cheers
Denis

[ctron]

Hi ctron.. May I ask what lens and settings you used. The total stack and UM please? WOuld be interested in seeing you setup and lighting if possible

cheers
Denis

Hi Denis, For this shot, I used a Nikon 10x/.25 objective mounted onto a Zeiss Sonnar 135mm lens using this set up (with some slight modifications to allow various backgrounds as well as using flash flags to alter illumination). Total stack was approximately 325 frames in 5 micron steps. I use a Nikon microscope tilted on its back, original stage removed, and a platform in its place. The specimen, flash, and cup all move on the platform-- the camera remains stationary. HTH.

[Clintonwake]

thank you