Tag Archives: photogrpahy

How was this image made?

Posted on May 22, 2020 | Leave a comment

Thin section of dunite in crossed polarsFirst off, what is this?  This is a photomicrograph of dunite, an ultramafic rock composed almost entirely of the mineral olivine.  The vivid colors were produced by viewing the subject, a thin section of the rock containing birefringent crystals, through crossed polarizing filters. Continue reading →

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Posted in Microscopy, Photographic Techniques, Photomicrography

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Stacked images: how are they made?

Posted on February 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

Recent developments in photography have lead to a flood of great images with tremendous sharpness or resolution.  Here’s an example photograph of a spherical cluster of blades of vauxite crystals from the Siglo Veinte mine, Llallagua, Potosi, Bolivia.  The ball of crystals is 1 mm wide.

Vaixite from Bolivia

This photo was produced by combining the sharpest parts of 55 separate photos of the mineral; each image isolated a tiny, crisply focused level.  This photo won an Image of Distinction Award in the 2013 Nikon Small World contest.  But how is this done? Continue reading →

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Posted in Photographic Techniques, Photomicrography

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