Spyrogyra

bromodomain · Post by **bromodomain** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 3:14 am

Superb!

The first one looks like an abstract piece of art. I wonder how it would look like at high magnification under polarized light. I wonder if the pyrenoids have birefringent properties.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:14 am

I keep coming back to look at that first shot. It has such amazing clarity.

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:07 pm

The first two shots are actually cross polarized (partial) brightfield. I just like the effect when the polarizers are set to less than full extinction. The cell walls are quite birefringent. As can be seen in the second shot the , the pyrenoids also exhibit this characteristic to a lesser degree.

phytoplankton · Post by **phytoplankton** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:22 pm

I love how in the first pic you can see the cell walls of the bottom strand showing through the top strand like some sort of organic stained glass window.

I have been lurking and using the wonderful information around here (and your site

) to setup my microscope for photography (an Orthoplan). But I was getting a little discouraged because I wanted a DIC setup and they are so expensive for Leitz. But your recent work with crossed polars as well as looking through your old pics with darkfield/brightfield/rheinberg have inspired me once again.