http://www.janrik.net/MiscSubj/2008/WoodCells20080225/08-02-25-172022_MB_R8_S4_crop.jpg http://www.janrik.net/MiscSubj/2008/WoodCells20080225/08-02-25-172022_MB_R8_S4_actpix.jpg I was testing a new lens tonight, and rather than use the traditional moth wing, I thought I'd try something a little dif...

Freezing is arguably best, when it works. When it doesn't, or if I'm in a hurry, I use ethyl acetate. This is a classic insect killing agent because it works quickly, leaves specimens relaxed, does not alter colors, and is not very toxic to humans. I purchased mine as 99% pure from Bioquip . But I h...

SimonL, welcome aboard! :D Everybody struggles with mounting. There is no magic. There are a lot of techniques that people use. All of them have downsides to go with their upsides. In general, it is very difficult to shoot an entire subject and not have the mounting hardware show at all in the origi...

Very nice -- I think this is the sharpest I have ever seen the lorica rendered. But what's going on here? Is this a recently divided individual where neither offspring has taken off on its own? Or do these things commonly live in pairs within a single lorica?

--Rik

Brian,

This is a really interesting critter, and it looks like you're making great progress getting the color under control.

I'm looking forward to more, many more...

--Rik

Charlie, I'm afraid you have everybody awed into silence again. Beautifully detailed, and abstract at the same time -- very pleasant on the eyes!

--Rik

These are really nice, Graham! I just look at these images and wonder if I'll ever be able to make anything like them. But in the meantime, I'm happy to look!

--Rik

Good grief -- more beautiful pictures! I'm just sitting here salivating over these images. Surely it's that... unless maybe the bedtime snack... :roll: 8) But I'm curious -- 'fess up, now -- are these single frames or stacks? And if stacks, did you have to do anything special to get this critter to ...

Flowers -- the man has flowers -- it isn't fair!

I haven't looked up specs on this lens. What exactly does "macro" mean on it?

--Rik

nto, welcome aboard! These are excellent pictures -- attractive flies, well shot. We look forward to many more pictures.

--Rik

It's obviously a deliberate choice. The software allows wildcards, and this forum's database contains patterns that make the software reject those five letters by themselves, and any other word that either begins or ends with them. A few other words get the same treatment. I have no idea where the l...

See it censored one of my words there! I put in w hore hound which is a similar wild plant over here with hairy smelly leaves and it didn't like it! This probably explains the table named "words" that I've been seeing in my backups of the forum software. :shock: I was wondering how that got used! B...

Ken, thanks for reminding me about this talk. I agree, it is Awesome. The talk is also 5 years old now, and despite that that makes it relatively ancient, I still find it completely relevant. Great stuff.

--Rik

You used to be able to send for a 19 page pamphlet "Photomacrography: Mathematical Analysis Of Magnification And Depth Of Detail" Kodak Publication N-15 (1977) that was a companion publication for the Kodak book I was never able to track down a copy of N-15. From second-hand descriptions, it sounds...

Then battery powered DC motors came along and things really began to get interesting. :wink: And sometime after that, semiconductors. It turns out that by replacing a brush-type computator with a photocell and a power transistor, you can make an ordinary tin can motor spin like a router! :wink: :D ...