DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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Oceansmicro
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 12:35 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by Oceansmicro »

Hi gang:

This is my first post on this group, or any microscopy group for that matter. I'm new at this and have much to learn. Just reading the posts here is really informative so thanks for all the great information posted by the members.

I've been studying phytoplankton as part of a program to train people how to help NOAA (US govt agency to monitor ocean and atmosphere) monitor the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. We draw a sample every week then return home and live-stream our microscope images via Zoom and compare notes. It works quite well. Building on this idea, I formed a nonprofit program to bring this to high school students, https://oceansmicro.org.

I'm using a 30+ year old Nikon Microphot I bought used. It came with a Canon adapter and required the use of a 2x teleconverter on the camera. Using what I had, a Canon 5D Mark IV, in addition to the nonprofit work, I've been shooting for a few months now with the goal of producing a photo exhibit for the public on the beauty of diatoms. (People only protect what they love.....)

Using mostly darkfield and DIC I've produced a number of images that the public seems to like. In addition to local diatoms, and those from a friend near San Francisco Bay, I have been buying some antique Victorian-era diatom mounts from the UK. Attached are two shots from those antique slides. One is Cocconeis (concentric diatoms) but not sure of the species. Mounter of this slide is unknown but the slide is dated 1881. The other image (four oval diatoms) is of Arachnoidiscus Ehrenbergii, mounted by Richard Suter. It is not dated but it was mounted somewhere between 1887 and 1893, my research shows. Both images were at 400x.

Thanks again for the great information and discussion. It is tremendously helpful to a newbie like me.

Steve
All my diatom photos are located here: https://www.mandelphoto.com/Microscopic/Diatoms/1
Attachments
333A5915 Arachnoidiscus Ehrenbergii.jpg
333A5783-Cocconeis_small.jpg

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
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Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
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Re: DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by rjlittlefield »

Steve, welcome aboard.

Nice work on the public relations aspect!

Two thumbs up for https://www.mandelphoto.com/Microscopic/Diatoms/5 . :smt023

--Rik

Tom Jones
Posts: 325
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:05 am
Location: Crestline, CA

Re: DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by Tom Jones »

Very nice DIC work!

PeteM
Posts: 175
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:06 am
Location: West Coast, USA

Re: DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by PeteM »

Great images -- and what looks to be an excellent outreach program.

Robert Berdan
Posts: 319
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:58 pm
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by Robert Berdan »

Beautiful images with DIC of the Diatoms - one of my favorite subjects.
RB

Oceansmicro
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu May 13, 2021 12:35 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

Re: DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by Oceansmicro »

Robert, you probably don't remember but you kindly had two telephone conversations with me and answered my newbie questions without making me feel like an idiot. ;-). For that, I am very grateful and want to thank you for your help. Also, your articles and advice are an invaluable resource, not to mention an inspiration. Thank you!

micro_pix
Posts: 469
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Southampton, Hampshire, UK

Re: DIC of an antique diatoms slide

Post by micro_pix »

Very nice! I think the diatom images on your website are excellent.

Dave

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