Tartaric Acid II

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:03 pm

I still had some tartaric acid solution in a jar so I made a couple more slides. On my workbench was an old box were I had kept butterfly specimens. Just for fun, I sprinkled in some of the "dust" (loose wing scales) into the solution on one slide to see what might result. Two of the shots here are the result of that.

If you like photographing crystals and have not played around with tartaric acid I strongly recommend it. It is a very "safe" substance, easy and inexpensive to buy, dissolves readily in water, and makes amazing birefringent crystals that you can look at for hours.

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 2:55 am

Extraordinary. That alien lake,, #5, is out of this world!

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 1:32 pm

Chris,

Yeah, those "city" scenes were fun to see. One thing about this recent set of crystals was how often, while looking over the slides they were so very reminiscent of some of my favorite geographical sites like the Southwest USA canyon-lands, or Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. The ones with butterfly scales in them made me think of searching for leaf fossils in shale deposits. All in all a very nice diversion during a spell of gray cold weather here.

myriophyllum · Post by **myriophyllum** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 5:44 pm

Hi Charles,

great photos!

Greetings

Jens

naturephoto1 · Post by **naturephoto1** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 5:11 pm

Charlie,

Another outstanding set of images.

Rich

Wim van Egmond · Post by **Wim van Egmond** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 1:24 am

Mesmerizing! I would not be surprised if a little space ship would fly through that 5th image.

Wim

Craig Gerard · Post by **Craig Gerard** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:19 am

Charlie,

These are fascinating. I was initially drawn to image #2..... but #5 has my full attention.

Reminds of Mesa Verde....an artists' rendition.

Craig