Charaxes wing scales

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:35 pm

This butterfly belongs in the genus Charaxes. (I don't know the species).

Nikon MM-11 microscope, Olympus 5/0.15 MPLFLN, Olympus TLU tube lens, 5X on sensor, Canon T3i

Nikon MM-11 microscope, Mitutoyo 10/0.28 Plan Apo, Olympus TLU tube lens, 9X on sensor, Canon T3i

Nikon MM-11 microscope, Olympus 50/0.50 LMPlanFL N , Olympus TLU tube lens, 50X on sensor, Canon T3i

Nikon MM-11 microscope, Mitutoyo 10/0.28 Plan Apo, Olympus TLU tube lens, 9X on sensor, Canon T3i

Nikon MM-11 microscope, Olympus 50/0.50 LMPlanFL N , Olympus TLU tube lens, 50X on sensor, Canon T3i

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:40 pm

Exquisite, as always!

I am curious about illumination. Are these with a traditional cylinder or ball diffuser, or did you do something through-the-lens also, or something entirely different?

--Rik

Jacek · Post by **Jacek** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:02 am

no comment

arturoag75 · Post by **arturoag75** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:18 am

Super

Craig Gerard · Post by **Craig Gerard** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:41 am

Charlie,

I like the colour palette of Image #1, the detail and hint of iridescence in Image #2, the 'radiating' pattern of Image #4.

The detail in Image #6 is not as well defined as the other 50X images.

Craig

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 4:19 am

Beautiful set!

I love #2.

Rogelio

curt0909 · Post by **curt0909** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:45 am

Nice job. #2 is magic

johan · Post by **johan** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:22 am

Would I be right in thinking that the lighting has quite a pronounced oblique element going with the grain of the scales? The transparency of the scales make these particularly attractive! You do need a good monitor to see these well - on my bad standard monitor there's little visible detail in the blacks but on the other decent monitor there are a lot of shades there. The bottom one can be seen within the top one (towards top left) although it does seem to be a zone or so darker, was that through lighting or pp, and was the purpose of that to tone the edges down a bit?

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:16 am

Thanks all!

Rik,

I am curious about illumination. Are these with a traditional cylinder or ball diffuser, or did you do something through-the-lens also, or something entirely different?

Pretty much same as always. These days, with the Ikea lights, I pay close attention to how near or far, high or low, the lamp(s) is positioned. Really close and low increase the contrast across the wing. Pull it back and it illuminates more of the hemisphere and gives softer light. The direction of the light in relation to the geometry of the scales naturally makes a big difference. Here's a snapshot of the actual set-up used for these.

g4lab · Post by **g4lab** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:24 pm

Charles, you are already the best, and you keep raising the bar, higher and higher. Stunning images.

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:44 pm

Very cool. Thanks.