Papilio ulysses

[augusthouse]

Papilio ulysses

I will be taking a number of P. ulysses photographs over the next few days, so I will just pop them into this thread.

Craig


D100, reversed EL-Nikkor 50/2.8 @5.6 + PK12 extension ring. Helicon Focus



D100, reversed EL-Nikkor 50/2.8 @5.6 + PK12 extension ring. Helicon Focus

[Planapo]

Very beautiful, Craig. I like that topmost one best, for the graphical detail you´ve chosen with these fury subareas, and the glowing of the blue scales. Overall the lighting in this one looks perfect to me.
Your avatar tells me that you yourself must fancy that part of the wing of this wonderful butterfly at least as much as I do.

--Betty

[augusthouse]

Thanks Betty,

Yes, that section of the wing is beautiful; but I think it looks better at normal viewing distance. It appears to be delicately placed arrowheads of semi-gloss, black paint, until you look closer and notice that it is made up of many tiny hairs. Prior to taking the images I groomed that particular area, to some degree, with a gentle blow of a rocket-blower (that sounds like a bit of a contradiction); did the trick for the most part.

These images and the ones that follow have a certain destination. They will pass through an artist's 'treatment' and be rear projected onto a 20' x 10' screen as part of a stage show.

The stage show was first presented at the 3rd Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Wuhan China in 2007, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The next presentation will be at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2009.

I designed and built the website for the show and I'm responsible for the graphic design. I suggested we use some high magnification photography to highlight details not visible to the naked eye.

It is an amazing show; but an even more interesting period on the historical timeline of Dunk Island is the story that came before it - that being the story of E.J. Banfield. If you ever come across a book called 'Confessions of a Beachcomber' published in 1908 - grab it and read it.

Link to show website:
http://www.bigtoeproductions.com.au/

Craig

[augusthouse]

Here's another image.

It's full frame (Nikon D100).

Yes, I want it to fade off to the right; it gives the image a sense of energy.

This was taken in increments of 50 micron. I'm still searching for a ballpark starting figure in regard to image slices for the Olympus Zuiko Macro 38mm f/3.5. In this shot the exit pupil is approx. 140mm from the sensor.


Craig


D100, PB4 bellows, Zuiko Macro (RMS) Lens 38mm f/3.5 @3.5

[rjlittlefield]

I'm still searching for a ballpark starting figure in regard to image slices

My usual strategy for picking slice thickness is about 90% experimental. I set up whatever magnification I need. Then I shoot a short stack, spaced a lot finer than I know is required, capturing some slightly 3D area in roughly the center of the frame. Load up that stack and click frame to frame to identify how many steps leaves a little overlap of the sharpest features. If I'm still feeling skeptical, I'll pull out a few frames with the indicated spacing, render the stack, and look hard for slightly blurred bands between sharp regions.

50 microns = 0.002" is quite a bit coarser than what I'd use for my test stack at this magnification. From experience such as http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... .php?t=987, I know that 0.002" is about the coarsest spacing that I'd be happy dealing with. So I'd probably shoot a stack of 30 or 40 frames at 1/10 of that, 0.0002" = 5 microns, figuring that would let me pick a number within a few percent of optimal.

--Rik

[augusthouse]

Thanks Rik,

I'll keep my eye open for those specific details you mentioned.

It only occurred to me afterward that we had discussed a similar matter in regard to a different lens and stack increments over in NU's thread Lens/f-stop/mag/# frames

I had also used the lens employed for the image in my last post in a previous exercise over in Technical Discussions regarding CS4. I had settled on 10 microns there; but a different subject and two lens changes later and I failed to use the same proceedure...When I think back now (as far back as yesterday), I also remember that the image in my last post was infact a test stack, primarily taken to evaluate lighting and stack-worthiness; but it worked, so I went with the flow.

Anyway, I have now taken this stack at 5 microns and will follow the process outlined in your reply.

*later note here is the result.
There is some blurred detail in the top left of image; I have determined that this was caused by light reflecting off one of the microscope slides (out of shot) that I was using to secure the wing on stage.


D100, PB4 bellows, Olympus Zuiko Macro (RMS) Lens 38mm f/3.5 @f/3.5, Helicon Focus


D100, PB4 bellows, Olympus Zuiko Macro (RMS) Lens 38mm f/3.5 @f/5.6, Helicon Focus


crop from previous image

Here is a different view.
Entomologists look away now!




Craig