Breathing Still…

Flipping through my activities as the summer goes on and on... and on. With a sigh, I just can't wait for it to be over. It is just the beginning of July now, but we had our share of dust storms and humidity which leaves me wondering what is left for August and the rest of July already?! My body is typically exhausted more because of the change in temperatures between indoors and outdoors. Ah, and mentioning dust, I didn't let this opportunity pass without something to do. I remember one time I did shoot a panorama in a dusty weather, and this time I did use the dust to my "amusement" again; With the help of the microscope. The same old junky microscope.

Dusty

The frequent waves of dust lately reminded me of some of my studies back in the days when I was in college. In geology classes, specially those related to mineralogy, we used to work with reflective microscopes to check specific properties of the minerals. One of those most important features was to find the refractive index, if I remember correctly, which could help greatly in identifying the mineral at hand. That feature was investigated using polarized light. All of these information was somewhere there in my mind and I thought: Why not?
Things are not similar, of course, between the situation in classes with prepared mineral sample and the dust at home with an old junky microscope. However, it was an interesting encounter nonetheless. I started by collecting a dust sample from the outside during the "storm" (the wind is not always strong enough to be called a storm though, so I prefer the term "dust wave"). The collection was done using a paper cup (though I really wanted something bigger) and leaving it outside for about one day or a bit less. Tiny amounts of dust accumulated there, so I washed the cup a bit with distilled water (the type used for car maintenance) and poured a little on the glass slide. Couldn't wait for the water to evaporate, so I placed a lamp (tungsten) close to the slide to dry it out and leave the residue only. And that's it! The sample was ready! All is left is to secure it with a glass cover glued with nail polish.

Dust Sample - 40x
Mobile shot.

First, I wanted to mimic the method of the reflective microscope as we used it the labs back in the day, and actually this is somewhat done by force; Because having a light going through the sample yields nothing but silhouettes! So, I had to close the aperture below the stage and move the light source (desk lamp with LED) a bit upward to shine the light over the surface of the slide and it worked like magic! To my surprise, the dust sample was not made of... dust! There were strange particles looming around and some round objects which might be pollen (and this is quite natural); But what about those other hard stuff? I did check dust and mineral samples before during my studies and I can definitely say this is nothing like it! Now imagine we are breathing this...

Dust Sample (51.2x)
Canon EOS 7D

After a simple mobile shot, it was the turn for more serious work with the DSLR. My main interest was this portion of the sample where a spherical object appears; I'm guessing it is pollen. Not sure though. For beginners, I kept my the magnification power low since going deep would squander about lot of details. Thus, I worked first with my usual 50mm lens in reverse (providing about 1.28x magnification) in combination of 40x (total) in the microscope, thus yielding about 51.2x in total magnification. Then, it was time to move to a higher level.

Dust Sample (660x)
Canon EOS 7D

On the next level of magnification, I've changed the lens to Voigtländer 20mm, which gives a magnification power of about 3.2x when reversed alone (using Vello Macrofier), but there is a little catch here. Extension tubes.
Adding extension tubes with this lens on reverse yields about 6.6x. Now this, combined with 100x on the microscope, yields about 660x! Probably for a reader these number don't mean much, but for someone working with a microscope AND a digital camera, it does make a difference, simply because framing the object of interest (our spherical body here) would change because the scene is under more magnification power. Thus, even after fixing the scene in the microscope with the naked eye, it would be adjusted again in terms of focus AND framing (by moving the glass slide on the stage of the microscope), which is quite a tedious work to be done. As expected here, the image quality at such a high magnification is not quite "sharp" or interesting as it was in lower magnification but it was just about enough to show those details on the surface of this spherical object which looks like the surface of Mars! I'm not sure if any of the stack images were shaken a bit during the making of the 660x image, but surely the color aberration and other distortions have their own effect on the quality of the image. I tried to reduce as much as I can and sharpen the image (after minimizing it).
As I've stated earlier, I was trying to mimic the work of a reflective microscope with this old piece of junk. Thus, I gave it a go and tried using a polarizer BUT on the lens (which was hard to control while fitted into Vello's Macrofier). Anyway, nothing interesting appeared and no change in the light level at all. I think the polarizing effect must be applied to the light source itself rather than on the lens receiving the light rays. I have also tried to shoot in infrared (just a quickie one) but, again, nothing interesting happened and the image was just in B&W and no additional gains. Now after this "little" work with this sample, I'm somewhat feeling the urge to collect more samples of dust (since we are on a roll here) or maybe work further on this very same sample looking for other features in it; I did see some stuff that might be of interest!

Escaping Still

Just felt the need to add this section as a continuation for the post about the panorama I did few weeks ago. After completing the "regular" projection, I started stitching some other projections, and for the most part, I didn't bother myself in correcting the stitching errors as I'm not planning anything "big" with those projections; Yet.

Escape The Shining

I did a number of stitches but I won't bother listing all of them here, but I'd rather just show those which I think have some potential, like the one above, Escape The Shining. This one was done using Mercator vertical projection, with a twist, and I quite prefer it over the regular vertical projection. I still, though, regret the fact that I put the sofa to block the entrance which appears here in the upper left corner; It could have been all black and thus adding more to the symmetry and balance, I believe.

Planeta Effugium

But probably the most beloved of all the versions I've made out of this panorama is the little planet projection, Planeta Effugium. Originally, it was less interesting really, but yet more plausible than its predecessor, the tunnel projection (the invert of this one). However, once I decided to play a bit and see the results, I got shocked somehow when I inverted the colors and the whole scene became like a negative slide. To add a bit to the twist, I've eliminated this inversion effect from the hand and the black space, the whole scene is somewhat a mix between original and inverted colors. I've also tried to make the whole image as a pure B&W but after many changes and fluctuations, I decided to leave it as it is and hence it became a bit red and yellow when colors were inverted (originally it had a hint of blue).

IR950

Well, IR950 is the name of one of the infrared filters I've got lately; A product from Neewer. The set of 4 filters was pretty cheap that I still can't believe they do really do some infrared work! But well, seems it works well so far. Except that, apparently, the make is not tight enough and the glass is shaking by now. I'm quite interested in this filter specifically because of its presumed property: threshold of 950nm. Which makes even higher than Kodak's infrared gel filter (87B) which has its threshold at about 820nm (or 830nm? Oh well). The 87B class of filters of such threshold are sometimes called X-Ray Infrared filters (just a mockery) for how they sometimes expose features under specific fabrics (with certain thickness of course), and this name was actually used in Neewer's title for this set of filters. These filters can also yield interesting results when shooting the skin, as they can show traces of veins, and this is something I need to work on a bit.

Sample shots done with IR950.

I've been testing all the filters in this test but I had a keen interest in IR950 as I said before. For fun, I started shooting (with the camera!) family members using the on-camera flash and raising ISO to the max point (12,800), as well as a quick selfie. Despite the high ISO, cleaning the images (in small sizes) was reasonable and some sharpness was added as well. Usually high ISOs, specially with cameras of cropped sensors like mine, produce a muddy-looking images, but probably the case is also different when it comes to infrared photography (even though classically, infrared images are known for their grainy soft look). The interesting thing here is: Usually, calibrating the white balance in-camera would not quite fix the problem with Photoshop when editing the RAW file. I'd still need to change the camera profile in Photoshop to Infrared profile in order to compensate for the limitation in the color temperature and tint in Photoshop. However, RAW files of shots done with IR950 do not behave that way despite being clearly infrared. They do appear as they were shot in-camera without any modification. Saying this, I just realized that I didn't check how the image would appear shooting with this filter WITHOUT calibrating the white balance in-camera.

A Nose With Personality
Collage.

I like the tones of blacks and whites even before editing them in Photoshop; They attract attention, as well as fear at some point because of the contrast maybe, and that adds more surrealism to the subject I presume which triggered me to do this "funny"collage of my selfie and my brother's face in A Nose With Personality. In fact, some people did indeed state that it IS scary rather than just a funny surreal image! While bring on a roll, I didn't want to miss the chance to test this filter with a panorama of course.

The Pano-Work

Seeing how the sun shines through a window pane over the stairs at home, I got triggered to try to do something about this. I did in fact shoot many simple shots before and recently for this play of sun beams over the steps, but now it was time to put my IR950 to some good use and see. A panorama.
Now, because IR950 is a circular filter and must be attached to the lens front, I had no choice but to use my next option for panorama shooting; The Voigtländer 20mm lens. I've tested this lens before in shooting panoramas, and at the regular settings of my panorama-head (shooting at every 30 degrees and counting as much as 12 shots per circle) and generally speaking, not many stitching problems occurred. However, the displacement between one angle and another with such lens is quite large and for this, to avoid any mishaps in working in such narrow space like the stairs, I changed the setting on my panorama-head to 24 degrees, making a total of 15 shots per circle. This change is not only done to the horizontal swipe, but also to the vertical swipe as well; Instead of shooting at every 45 degrees up and down, this was changed to 30 degrees (thus shooting at 30 degrees AND 60 degrees, and finally 90 degrees if needed). Wander with your imagination and think of such amount of shots we need to complete one scene: (15x5)+2= 77 shots for one scene, and we are not speaking of HDR yet!

Ghosted

The first problem, in practice, was to settle the camera down on such stairs and make it balanced as much as possible. I can't say I've done this perfectly but I was hoping on fixing the issue later on when assigning the horizon line and fixing the vertical lines before stitching the panorama. However, another problem occurred here unfortunately; Many shots were featureless and could not be connected to others in the scene -and this somehow made me wish that I worked with the old settings of my panorama-head but it's too late now- and finally, I had to satisfy myself with some of the scene and cropping the rest that simply didn't work and stitch properly. You can see that I've added some sandals and shoes in Ghosted, as my main idea was actually confrontation but seeing how the tones turned out as typically as they are for this filter, I've changed my mind and let my mind wander to its darker side in assigning a title to this.

Ghosted II

Not being a full panorama means there are limitations in projections and looks I can achieve with this panorama. For a try, I've used the vedutismo style in Ghosted II which added depth to the center while, supposedly, keeping straight verticals. To add drama a bit here, I didn't convert the panorama to B&W like its first predecessor, but rather inverted the colors like I did before in Planeta Effugium with some twist in blending to keep some areas original without inverting their colors. Yet more, I added some touches to improve the spooky look, like applying radial blur to an extra layer and blending it with soft light.
This is all to it for the time being and after this experience and this number of shots involved in this work, I might consider switching back shooting in 30 degrees with Voigtländer 20mm despite the hazard of having misplaced features or features not connected between two successive shots. This is of course when need arise.
On the other hand, there is still some thoughts and ideas I need to check about this filter and I do not have the capabilities to test it with. Like, does this filter really have a threshold of 950nm? After my bad experience with Tiffen's hot mirror, I hesitate to trust whatever the specs from the manufacturer say about the product. There is also the issue of the infrared source. According to Neewer's guideline, they propose each filter of different threshold to be used for specific conditions (and in dedication to landscape photography) with IR950 to be used under the harsh sun. This, however, doesn't work with me that way for sure and I need to explore my options with infrared sources and how do they react with the subject at hand; Specifically, the skin and whether the infrared source under question is good to show the veins under the skin in a photo, or penetrate specific fabrics (or even night vision as some claim). So much to discover with this filter alone, not mentioning the others as well.

Finale

I could've made the story longer here and talk about my shell collection and going back to documenting them but I think it is enough for the time being. I'll leave the issues of these shells for another time. There are more shells waiting to be documented.
Meanwhile, as I'm typing these words, I'm thinking seriously of leaving the Instagram community and gain some of my peace of mind (and more time to do other things), but the main issue here is the ridiculous updates and changes that Instagram comes up with every now and then. I'm still considering the idea though and didn't decide for sure yet. There is the issue of exposing and displaying my images to the public but probably it is not much of an impact, since I'm not getting many Likes on Instagram as well not comments; Thanks to some relatives and random visitors who appreciate what I do (or simply do it as a duty when it comes to my relatives).
There seems to be so much on my plate; Ideas, projects, experiments… yet seems I'm not doing much with them. I blame it on the summer and the heat that brings down all my strength but let's face it; I'm lazy after all. During this time, I'm waiting for my new passport to be issued, but would I really travel? I don't know. No plans whatsoever.
In poetry, I do have some words visiting and going and I'm really trying to force myself on writing it down. I just need that glitch in time between work and home (and responsibilities at home) to focus on writing. Unlike photography, writing coherent words and translating feelings on a paper (or typing them down) is probably as exhaustive as shooting a photo, or even more at times. Mentioning poetry, I was surprised that one of the poems that I've posted on Writing.com did get the 1st place award and a ribbon (with some award points with that). It came as surprise to me since I'm not checking my email in that website regularly and totally forgot about that contest within the website. Probably I've posted that poem here before, but I'm posting here again to finalize the post and leave you with it for reading it at your own pace, if you like!

Aman Aman

Not black and white but splashing colors,
worldly, such a never ending course.
No left, no right, nor wrong or even just,
aman aman, nor my mind I can trust.

Aman aman, O trembling Bulbul,
tweeting loudly in a funeral?
How does your spirit work I wonder indeed,
for seldom a smile had been in my need.

Seldom does it shine, if would, it could,
for sorrows I never understood.
O Bulbul to whom the tweet and the dance?
or maybe a salute to some past romance?

Salute me by the morn or by noon,
whether under the heat or the moon.
Take this core where it never had befitted,
in hope! May my grinning face be permitted.

When the blooms of May may surrender,
and off life bereft be the tender.
Lull me O Bulbul, and put me to sleep,
Aman aman, my eyes need not to weep.

A Micro Job…

Well they had been some easy-going weeks, relatively, but with me back to work there is also the lack of time and energy (typical) to do some of the chores or projects I set to myself. But after winning a gold medal, I think I need to get some rest, yeah?
Well, my rest is not a real rest here though, with many other chores I need to do. First things first, I had to print my winning panorama as a gift for an old friend, whose uncle is actually the deceased Kuwaiti Icon, AbdulHusain AbdulRidha; for whom the whole thing was done after his death as a tribute.

The image here (without the external margins outside the black border) was about 175x79cm, and that's way greater than A0; The largest size in the A-series of ISO 216 standard (the typical standard of papers here). Thus, my typical go-to printing shop was not an option since they don't print larger than A0. I had to go to the main branch of that printing shop (and I was surprised that it's now owned by another company in fact). Anyway, it took them some time to print it (which triggered a headache for the lack of sleep). I tried my best to keep this file at its best of clarity and resolution, so no wonder the file size was a monster! An almost 1GB 16-bit TIFF at 300 DPI! Such a gigantic file caused their system to crash (according to one of the workers there) and they had to re-open it on some other system and try again. Makes me wonder, really, how come they can deal with this file as I do while their PCs or Macs or whatever were connected to those big large format printers (dedicated to posters and other types of prints)?
I've chosen canvas as my medium here. Their canvas material had a finer and smoother texture than the one I usually print on and in fact, in some sense to the touch, it does feel like if the canvas had been already glossed. I didn't bother to apply any varnish on the print with this relatively-new material to me; I was afraid that it would ruin the looks and it's really not a good time for this! Thus, I went along and just wrote my dedications on the margins (after shooting the video above).

The Other-Wise

On the other hand, I've not done even a little with my camera, but still doing experiments on and off with my microscope. My shaky, microscope. There is a great hope here. First of all, I'm not afraid to use the 40X objective anymore (unless the beauty of the details calls for a lesser magnification). Then, it seems that I've somehow managed to have even a better position when shooting the eyepiece with even greater magnification (all by coincidence), but further investigation is needed here since I'm still unsure of how to calculate the magnification in that position. I'm aiming on achieving something beyond 1000X magnification; And somewhat I think I've done it (if my calculations are correct).

Aspergillus
~ 1280X

I was blessed with a friend who works in the biological field and offered me to prepare a sample of a fungus. He also toured me through some of the microscopes where he works and I was really impressed (though my eyes was problematic to view some samples through the stereoscopic eyepieces). Now for the image above, the magnification should be around 1280X (40X objective, 10X eyepiece, 3.2X reversed 20mm lens on camera). The original sample was blue as, according to my friend, the sample has to be stained to be recognizable in a good way. However, after the merge of 4 to 6 shots, I've corrected the colors (using the 3-point correction on Curve in Photoshop). The image is also, in fact, a third trial after 2 failed attempts. In one of these attempts I was trying to shoot using my Sigma 12-24mm in reverse! With that lens at 12mm in reverse, I could have achieved around 3300X theoretically! However, the images were quite unclear and I definitely need a more stable environment with a brighter light source.
The second attempt, also a fail, was using the 20mm lens in reverse and, by coincidence, discovering that I do not need to get so close to the eye piece to take pictures of it (only if I want the image to dominate and remove the black border of the eyepiece). Somehow, the concept is like a projector and a screen: the further away you put the projector from the screen, the larger would the image be; Only thing left is to re-focus the image. The only thing, though, I wouldn't know exactly what the magnification power would be with a distance between the eyepiece and the camera! But sure thing it would be something greater than what would be calculated usually. What is left now is, to do some infrared work as well to see if there is anything special about it.
With the help of my friend, we've taken some shots using my smartphone at high resolution, and from both eyepieces of the microscopes in order to merge them later (hopefully) into an anaglyph if possible. These shots were taken at 400X and I might post them in the future. When I compared some shots from the mobile and the image I've done above, it is apparent that the shallow depth of field exists even in such good microscopes (the details of the granules were not clear) and it's not very different from my own very old microscope - and I thought such a problem would have been solved already - So, I guess, there is a call for photo stacking EVEN when using an advanced microscope!

Trying to measure the width of the hypha (if this is what they call it), at about 2475X.

Shy Green

There is one poem which I've written few weeks back but I didn't post about on here. Since then, though, my mind got blocked with many events, chores, and responsibilities which I need to attend to. Words come and go, but I don't even have the time to push further. Anyway, I called this poem Shy Green after getting inspired by a photograph I've shot in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, back in 2010 - My second visit to Ireland.

Stormy seas, by the winding fear,
calmly standing in a shy green,
My heart in hope to set a clear,
gazing about a peaceful scene.
Miracles happen so it's seen,
but none to a beauty I know,
tranquil, alone, battling off the snow.

My sighs, that which all I could give,
a tear, a caress, or a thought,
But would my gentle one just forgive,
a wretch like me, happy in distraught?
By this grand asylum, I'm caught,
and the blooming shy abounds me,
when all that I dreamt of, not to be.

Charming in loneliness set,
what a rose had an ill such luck?
Take my palm and never get wet,
and thy green, may never get a pluck.
Thus, when the nightmares are struck,
my heart shall keep you by finesse
then on that headstone, chant me a bless.

Shy Green

In this poem, I've used a rhyming theme which I've never worked with before or heard of (probably challenging myself?) with the help of Verse Perfect. The form was called Rime Royal and goes: a,b,a,b,b,c,c. An odd number of lines is required, so it is kind of challenging to connect ideas that way, somehow. 

There had been many instances of inspiration in the past weeks, either from events or photographs which I've shot and edited myself, yet there was a lack of something that kept away from typing few words down. Not sure what it is, but maybe... motivation? praise? desire? I'm not sure really. Let's hope this blockade shutters off my mind soon. I need to write…

Finale

The past 2 weeks were quick and slow at the same time somehow. It's a weird feeling. Ramadhan is drawing near and I do feel the sleepless and tiresome nights already before its coming. I've signed for a leave already, but still I will attend to work for the first 10 days of Ramadhan. Traffic jams now are unbearable because of the stupid time management we have in this country where and when people all must go out of work at the same, making Ramadhan itself as worse in jams than regular days despite the shorter working hours during this month. I'm typing this with a sigh. Hopefully though, I will be able to work more with my camera and do something useful more than what I usually do in these regular days. Let's hope.
The whole story about the microscope and the works of the microscope made me think of seriously getting a more "advanced" one (since my friend been nagging on my head actually) but the idea was actually abandoned quickly; or was it? One thing for sure, I can't get this right now as I'm mingling with budget issues and other priorities. My friend's view was quite "profit-wise" as he looks chanced to get more money in any way possible. That's not me really. I still consider it a hobby and something that ignites that long lost childish curiosity in me. I did have my dreams about having a telescope and connect it to the camera as well, and this is such an old ambition which I'm not considering right now as well. 
As for the time being, as you can see, I'm still editing my old photos from time to time with some focus on weird crops and ratios to bring the attention of the viewer. Even lately, this activity has come to a perigee because of the other chores I need to do (including typing this blog which takes some time to do). On the other hand, I'm waiting for a new shipment of books and something that I think it is too good to be true but I can't judge till I see it with my own eyes (and test) - I'll talk about these books and "things" later in the future. Now... where did I put that pillow and blanket…

Ór!

I did it! Came to me as a surprise really (and not expected) but it was done! A gold medal in Trierenberg Circuit (Austria's international photography contest) for my panorama from the theater of AbdulHussain AbdulRidha which was done back in 2017.

The thing got me by surprise for real and I'm fluctuating in feelings between happy, and indifferent. Naturally I'd be happy of course, but also indifferent because I didn't expect anything in return - my sole purpose for uploading this panorama to the contest in the first place was to show others our culture and what this great man means to us. Having my name in the beginning of the list also makes me hyper a bit! Anyway, check the end of this post (the Finale section) to see the winning panorama (which I've called "The Smile Giver" previously) embedded from 360Cities for more interactive viewing. Now, let's move on!

 Switch On

It was awesome to have a one-week vacation connected to 2 weekends, so totaling 9 days. But... Still in need of more. It is one of the strangest things, for me at least, that just when I had a vacation to have some rest (and sleeping without setting the alarm before I go to bed), I did indeed get more active (with the camera and in writing). If I had the chance to make it longer, I would. Probably I would be finishing lot of those "projects" which were hanging on my back (and still) without being touched!

One of the things that I've started in this short vacation is going back to my very old microscope and trying something a bit different from all the samples I've done before: an ant. In this trial, I've actually focused on the head, and the eyes specifically. Even though every part of this little insect is interesting for me, but I just focused on this part for the time being, and probably I might go back to this sample to discover other parts. But for the time being, let's just focus on this part; The head.

Ant Head (IR)
~ 138X

Right away, my first trial was shooting with infrared and with reversed lens technique (as I used to do). It took about 172 shots and when processed and combined, the final image didn't appear so clear actually, and I needed to put those tags on it just to let people identify the parts of the head. Notice that the mandibles are clutching to some grain.
Doing infrared here was somehow risky, because I needed to light a powerful tungsten bulb (150W) beside the microscope (literally sticking to the microscope's side) to provide me with a good infrared flux. My two 13W LEDs bulbs failed me and apparently not a good source for IR, obviously! The heat was enormous that I really was scared that the black paper covering (which I use to block stray light away from the camera lens) would catch fire. Things went safely though, yet the results as you can see above, were not good. In the image above, I've used 4X objective to keep the details of the head and the eyes visible in the scene; Otherwise, it would be hard to distinguish those features.

Ant Head
~ 136X

I can say, though, that my second trial (which was not in infrared) was successful. In my second trial here, I've changed the settings which I usually use to shoot, and instead of using the typical lens reversing technique, I've just used extension tubes (full set) in close proximity to the eyepiece. The eyepiece itself was tilted and not completely vertical as usual. This kind of setting kind of put me on ease, because the camera is not dangling vertically above the eyepiece which makes it easier for me to control (still some hardships in positioning is involved though). Here though, unlike my previous infrared attempt, I've used the 10X objective, and the total magnification power (if my calculations are correct) should be around 136X. Ironically, the work for this "normal" shoot took around 72 images (or maybe 90 I can't remember!); Way under 172 images! Yet, the composition is clear (made clear further with post-processing of course) and strangely, the microscope's own dirt or impurities which I couldn't clean off before (and show up in every shoot) didn't show up much in this slide specifically. Worth noting here that when viewed on a larger size, the details can be somewhat ambiguous to notice or understand. Probably it is always better to keep the image dimensions low for such images just for viewers to understand.
Seeing how things worked well with the new technique (using extension tubes and placing the camera on a tripod alone), I decided to try again and use an infrared filter over my 50mm and the tubes assembly. Well, didn't go well, again. However, then I thought why not using an extreme infrared filter instead of the typical B+W 092 filter (threshold=650nm)? This is what I did next as I have an untouched Tiffen 87C infrared filter (threshold about 800nm). Since it is a gel filter, I had to hang it on one of my adapter rings with some paper binders, and at this level because the front is protruding further to the front with the adapter ring and the filter on it (didn't want to scratch the brand-new gel filter), I decided to reduce the extension tubes a bit (removed the 12mm from the full set) and also I've used 4X objective to get proper view for the head.

~45X

The final image here was somehow acceptable despite, ironically, being careless about turning that fine-focusing knob - I've taken a total of about 39 images compared to the more precise work before that which lead to about 172 images! However, I guess the zooming-out played the role for how many shots to be taken actually. Nevertheless, the overall image is relatively sharper and clearer in some details and aspects (of course after the overall processing AND sharpening). It does look like as if it is an X-ray slide for an ant!

 I'm starting to think that some subjects out there are just, simply, not to be shot in infrared. Note that all the infrared shots done so far, are done with the light pupil under the microscope being shut completely to reflect off light from the object under the microscope (whether it is an infrared shooting or a normal one). Thus, I'm thinking if there would be any changes if I let that pupil open and literally let the light pass through it - I know the view is different when shooting in normal conditions, but what about infrared shooting? Any difference? I'll try, but probably with some other sample, as people are getting scared enough already because of this ant head I'm posting for them day and night!
Now a friend of mine suggested that I must get a new microscope, an advanced one, and start to work seriously and get Pro with microscope shooting as it might be a good income venue, but I'm still not sure this is a good idea as I'm still considering it a hobby and an experimenting enjoyment! We'll see...

Ultraivialait

During this short vacation, I had the chance to go and get me some Blacklights from ACE Hardware here, as part of my efforts for shooting ultraviolet with my old B+W 403 filter in combination with my new hot mirror DR-655. So far, however, my trials been limited to the outside, under the sun and I did some trials here and there (and selfies) which were hard to work with and shoot. Mostly required a higher ISO to quicken the shutter speed (beside using a wider aperture). When working with a tripod to overcome the previous problem, there is the problem of the breeze which became quite a challenge in macro settings.

UV Selfie 1

First trials (and every other trial in fact) were shaky and hard to capture without any shake. Raising the ISO was inevitable (sometimes reaching up to 3200). In these trials, I stood to face the sun in hope to get further UV reflected off my face. Noticeably here, the eyes luster typical for the infrared shots does not show up here (naturally). Also, the skin spots that I usually see on some videos are not visible on these selfies, but then I realized that it is probably because I'm a Middle Eastern and the skin structure might differ from Europeans or other ethnic groups which show such spots when shot in UV. But I have to say that I did have my doubt as well about the accuracy of my filters as well!

UV Selfie 2

One aspect of UV photography is the colors and their balance or setting the white balance. I find it quite perplexing and not sure if there is any ""preferable" point to set WB to it. However, it is a surreal type of photography after all and I can't say there is a right or wrong about it. However, I'm asking myself whether the shades of these colors (after fixing the WB) do indeed depend on the time of the day and the angle of the sun in the sky when shooting. Anyway, in most condition I do set the WB in-camera before shooting UV, but this is just to visualize the outcome before shooting, as Photoshop (or ACR that is) would not show the image with that WB because of its limits; I still need to do the WB expansion as I usually do with infrared shots. The results, though, from the in-camera view and what shows on the monitor can vary drastically. I can use my WB Disc to calibrate the WB in-camera, but the disc does take the "mean" or "average" of the available light after all, and not a single point like the case in Photoshop or ACR; and here lies the difference I guess.

UV Selfie 3

So, sometimes to cut it out with all that perplexing color, I would sometimes consider converting to B&W, and actually I do see most of UV shots and videos to be converted to B&W instead of being left in colors. Probably because it is more... dramatic? mysterious? contrast-y? If this is really the reason I have to say it does indeed do the job, but I do prefer to convert to B&W in Photoshop itself instead of ACR to have more control with the masks and other tools. As it can be seen in UV Selfie 3, the selfie looks almost like a "low-key" shot if not for the bright background. This literally gives me some ideas for the future actually, but for the time being let's just stick to the sun and how it works. The left side of the face (my right side) was actually too dark that I had to lighten it manually by some tools and stuff. Still though, the shaky is a killer and those selfies do look, maybe, fine in small sizes, yet in their original sizes they are some catastrophes!
Away from the selfies, I've also worked with flowers in the yard, or should I say whatever left of them? Well, shooting a flower almost, always, calls for a macro procedure and so I did. The struggle was to focus (checking the monitor) under the harsh sun; Not even a LiveView cover was useful to block the sun rays and put my eyes at ease with the LiveView. The other struggle was with the breeze, and for this I had to raise the ISO. After many clicking, I've finally got one (somewhat) suitable shot to process with "minimum" shake. 

UV Bloom I

As seen in UV Bloom I, the final image had been cropped in panoramic style just to remove the excess of unneeded details (specially from the background). The background also had a serious work to blur it as I was using f/8, and this is natural with most of the work in macro photography; In fact it is even advisable to use more than f/8 but since I'm having troubles with the shutter speed I thought I should just keep it at f/8, aiming also to keep the bloom in acceptable sharpness since my vision was shaky in that situation. Worth noting that UV Bloom I was also edited using LAB technique to enhance the colors, and consequently, I had to reduce the saturation for some of them. Anyway, starting from that point I began to test various editing techniques, like in infrared photography, with channel swapping. Of course I could've just turned everything to B&W but I think it would kill the beauty of the bloom somehow here. 

UV Bloom II
Red/Blue channel swap.

UV Bloom III
Red/Blue + Blue/Green channels swap.

Probably, if not in B&W, the last version of this processed image, UV Bloom III, would be the typical look for UV images. There are other techniques I wanted to try, like merging a normal shot and a UV shot, but goes without saying how many hurdles are involved here making the job next to impossible, specially with the breeze going on and off. I'll just satisfy myself with this trend right now. 
Now, I do have my hopes with the new acquired blacklights, and I've made a test already to see if they are reliable enough. I admit that I'm impressed, but still some practical work is needed here. Despite being faintly lit to the naked eye, but with the camera and the corresponding filters (and despite the lens being coated with anti-UV coating), the exposure times were relatively fast at relatively lower ISOs. Promising. Also, I've made a quick sun-screen test, and I've finally achieved the look that I was aiming for; The black skin under UV while looking normal in regular shooting (just like in the video below).  


With this, I'm already planning for a new shooting project, involving my poor brother of course. However, I might as well do it alone. With this now, I can satisfy myself with those selfies as no black spots or freckles show in my face (or my brother's), probably because we are Middle Easterners and our skin is just adapted to sun differently. I guess such freckles would show more on a fair skin like that for Europeans or so. The sun-screen test was just what I need to give my mind and heart a rest that I am indeed shooting UV (with the help of blacklights of course!).

Bulbul

Life was not all about photography in this little vacation I had. I had the chance to write a bit. But I don't want to post all the "eggs" in one "basket" so I'm posting here a poem I've written about 2 weeks ago (in fact it was finished along with my previous post here). This piece was inspired by our little Bulbul (probably related to the Nightingale), who despite being unable to fly because of its broken wing, it does give out melodies (and I would join sometimes) - specially for seeking some freedom out of the cage.

Aman Aman

Not black and white but splashing colors,
worldly, such a never ending course.
No left, no right, nor wrong or even just,
aman aman, nor my mind I can trust.

Aman aman, O trembling bulbul,
tweeting loudly in a funeral?
How does your spirit work I wonder indeed,
for seldom a smile had been in my need.

Seldom does it shine, if would, it could,
for sorrows I never understood.
O bulbul to whom the tweet and the dance?
or maybe a salute to some past romance?

Salute me by the morn or by noon,
whether under the heat or the moon.
Take this core where it never had befitted,
in hope! May my grinning face be permitted.

When the blooms of May may surrender,
and off life bereft be the tender.
Lull me O bulbul, and put me to sleep,
Aman aman, my eyes need not to weep.

This one went quiet, for the time being, even though I've put it in some contest on Writing.com to be reviewed. I've based the poem on simple quatrain style (a a b b) and tried my best to keep the syllables count at (9 9 10 10) successively. With the help of Verse Perfect of course. In this poem, beside all these metering stuff (which I don't quite understand because I'm not a poet myself and I didn't study those already), I tried here to take one word from the last line in each quatrain and include it in the first line of the next quatrain after. Mentally, I was performing a chaining up for ideas in my mind and that how it felt like.
It seems most, if not all, of my poems are either melancholic or nostalgic. After all, this is how I started writing them in my late teens. Should I change? Yet, how? What I write is really how I feel, and it was the main vent (and still is) for my feelings which I seldom take out of my brain and away from my tongue. Left to say, there is indeed a third poem which I've written this week but I'll keep it for the next post.

Finale

As I've promised by the beginning of this post, here is the panorama which got the gold medal in the Panorama theme on Trierenberg Circuit, embedded from 360Cities - so people with smartphones might be able to view this panorama while moving their phone to move around the panorama itself (I suppose, if not, check the main website for this one).

The Smile Giver

Now, after this gold medal, I'm not sure where to go. But I'm just satisfied with how things went on with this panorama specifically, since I've participated in the contest just for it solely and to show it to people outside to let them, at least, wonder who is this man in the portraiture and what does he mean to us. I consider this gold medal as a surplus and a sweet reward over my real intentions. As a next step, I might (just might) think of participating with this panorama specifically in other contests, and maybe get it exhibited as well. It's a rush of serotonin that I lingered for in such a long time now and I really need it amid my frequent anxiety and panic attacks; Something to tell me, that things will be alright, sooner or later, but let's hope so soon as I can't bear much to later…

Micron…

Here I am, back after a little vacation away from this blog for the Eid event (and actually not having time to type it down!). I've been spending Eid sleeping most of the time as I'm trying to fix my sleeping time, but I did some work with my camera and I will talk about some of it in this post. Moreover, I did receive my shipments and I'm trying to find an opportunity to try them out. Anyway, I might keep the talk about these stuff for another post, as most of them are actually accessories and spare parts.

Murder of Colors

This is the title of a little series I've made, again, with colored feathers as a part of June project with the group which was themed "Abstract." Initially, the idea was to take a shot for some feathers, set randomly, from below with a wide angle lens, in hope that the distortion would serve me here to create an interesting attraction. However, many difficulties occurred, specially with the method of lighting with the speedlites, and after trying many times, I had to give up the idea and do a typical abstract approach as my mind is usually set to go: Macro.

Murder of Colors I
Voigtländer 20mm (R), f/22,
250^-1, ISO100.

Changing to macro required a change of in the setting of course, so I placed the speedlites below the set (feathers were sprinkled randomly on a plastic or acrylic sheet) while I shoot them from above using the wireless function in my Canon EOS 7D to control speedlites via infrared. As it is not a matter of HSS, then infrared function can be used with comfort (HSS is not active when controlling flashes via wireless, unless with a special trigger). In this series, I moved from using the usual extension tubes with whatever lens, to reversing the lens with my Vello Macrofier. This method is a saver indeed, as it doesn't add more weight to the camera (which I'm going to shoot with by hand and no tripod), and apparently it does not have all the complications that accompany extension tubes when it comes to the focal plane placement and whether or not the focusing point would be in front of the lens or behind it (which deems it impossible).

Murder of Colors II
Voigtländer 20mm (R), f/22,
250^-1, ISO100.

I was set to use Voigtländer 20mm lens on reverse here, as according to my calculations (which I've found out they were wrong later) that it would give a magnification of 2.5X, while using 50mm lens would give about 1X. I needed something extra here to avoid the typical zooming level that I've used previously in most of my abstracts. Also, to get some extra details out of the lines in the feathers. In this series which consists of merely 3 shots (after sorting them out), I think I prefer Murder of Colors I the most, as it has this glow and vibrant coloration, and some strange color cast from one feather onto another (mainly on the yellow feather).

Murder of Colors III
Voigtländer 20mm (R), f/22,
250^-1, ISO100.

Unfortunately though, I didn't document this simple set for Murder of Colors, and at the moment, I've just realized that there is a whole different series done with feathers which I've totally forgot about despite being uploaded to stock sites already (and accepted by most)! Anyway, I might try to post about that series later. Seems that my busy schedule (or let's say me getting myself busy schedule) made some gaps in my memory! However, I'm happy for one thing, which is finally having an exact calculation method to estimate the magnification level, but that did not come by while working on Murder of Colors series, but rather later, as I was working with my microscope!

Reverse Magnification

Vello Macrofier
Source: B&H

I talked about how I was wrong with some of my calculations regarding the magnification when using Lens Reversing method. Generally speaking, it is supposed to be just like the calculations done with Coupling Lenses technique, where two lenses are connected in reverse to each other and onto the camera; In this method, the magnification is measured by finding the ratio between first lens (attached to camera) and the reversed lens. I could not really find a concrete formula for magnification by reversing the lens directly onto the camera, but I presumed that the focal length should be 50mm or around that, as it is the "normal" focal length. By that, the magnification is to be calculated as 50/FL, where FL is the reversed lens focal length.
However, as I'm working with my old microscope, I got my interest back again and I started searching again, and all I could find is actually practical method to measure the magnification by shooting rulers and finding the ratio between millimeters in the image and the actual width of the sensor. Doing that practically with a ruler did break my believe about the ratio of 50/FL stated above, and I started to look for the source of that difference, as the magnification ratio with a reversed Voigtländer 20mm which is supposed to be about 2.5X, proved to be higher than that (around 3.2X!).
This made me investigate the specs of my camera again and trying to find the true distance between sensor and the mount (a.k.a. flange focal distance), and to my surprise, it was indeed not 50mm as I was thinking, but 44mm. Yet, this didn't explain the results and I just realized the fact that the Vello Macrofier does add some distance further away from the sensor and it should be added (which was about 20mm). By this, the total distance away from the sensor becomes: 44mm + 20mm = 64mm. Thus, doing the magnification ratio again with this value: 64mm / 20mm (for Voigtländer lens) that would yield 3.2X indeed as measured practically with a ruler (values had been approximated of course and rounded to one decimal place).

The flange place for DSLR (top) and
Mirrorless (bottom) indicated by Red.
Source: Wikipedia

With this result I'm more likely to rely on reversing the lens for my macro shots more than using tubes or lenses coupling, or even using my 100mm macro lens. Even though using a dedicated macro lens has its own benefits of course and its quality. Nevertheless, reversing the lens with Vello Macrofier makes the job easier (specially that it offers an aperture control) and better focusing distance than with extension tubes. To elaborate further, again with Voigtländer 20mm lens, as per calculations, using extension tubes to gain a proper 2X magnification or a bit more with this lens, would yield a focusing point behind the lens front (which is impossible); While using reverse lens method, this enables me to get 3.2X with proper focusing distance (in millimeters of course) in front of the lens. Also, I can add filters (UV at least) to the lens front when in reverse just to increase the distance to the sensor (which I did already and gained about 3.7X). There is a whole new world to be discovered with this method, which made me think of having a specially made hood for my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens to enable fitting adapters to the front of the lens. If this worked right, then I might be able to gain 8X just like a breeze!

Micro-Macro

Well, the upper part to explain the reverse lens magnification was ignited by this ongoing project of shooting objects under the microscope. I have this microscope since I was 14, and instead of leaving it to collect some dust, I've decided to put it to use with my camera, specially after surfing the net and finding new methods to shoot through the microscope without using a special mount and adapter. Mostly, a point-and-shoot cameras are used for this task (or webcam sometimes) but all I have here is two DSLRs with LOT of possibilities.

My set for shooting through my old microscope.
Using two 12W LEDs to light the set properly.

Well, the hardest part was (and still) making the set ready. My microscope is an old one with one eyepiece protruding upward and even though I can tilt the microscope but I have to keep it standing as it is because the samples I make are usually, well, not professional ones and can easily slide down. Here comes the hard part, with setting the camera (and rail) on the top of the eyepiece, and the small tea table did not make things go easier either. It's a matter of weight lifting and sometimes balancing the tripod with the lateral arm on top or it would fall over. Nevertheless, I made it with many samples and triggered me to do another research for better ways to stack focus my images (a single image won't do here).

Lamina

The beginning was with some of the colored feathers that I've already used many times for my abstract. There are many problems that are already there before I even think of shooting through the microscope. However, I'm not intending on producing Book-Quality images after all (otherwise, I do have a friend to help me with that). As can be seen in Lamina, which was shot from a red feather, such single shots do not bear much depth of field. Thus, there was a call for focus stacking, and this time by changing the focus in the microscope itself, not moving the camera and rail combination.

Hair Bulb

Typically, I would think of Photoshop as the main tool to focus stack my shots, but again, I've realized that however smooth I'd go with the focus, Photoshop would still give out some bad blends as can be seen in Hair Bulb. This shot was is probably one of the fewest that I did with 40X objective on this microscope (and thus reaching total magnification of about 1280X). Zooming so deep sometimes makes a loss of some good details, as well as it is hard to light even with external sources such as two LED bulbs. These discrepancies made me aware of the fact that Photoshop, and like the case with panorama stitching, is not the best solution for the task at hand. And again I go looking for other solutions.

Hair Bulb (Enfuse)

 
I've found many software dedicated to focus stacking and most of them were to be purchased, at the end I've found one freeware which is actually dedicated to blend HDR images, but according to some tutorials I've found, it can be used for focus stacking successfully: EnfuseGUI (the man deserves some donation there!). In the tutorials they use Hugin (another freeware for panorama stitching) to align images, but I've found that it is a command-line thing and needs quite a patience here! Thus, just for aligning my images, I used Photoshop back again (and cropping some excesses). No need to go to the details of the process here, but the results of using Enfuse can be seen on Hair Bulb (Enfuse), where the blend had been much better. I was not lucky all the time though, and most of the time with other stacks, I have to stack on stages (blending portions and then sub-portions, then sub-sub-portions... etc) which takes some time but the results are far more fit than what Photoshop could do. Did Adobe fix such issues in new editions of Photoshop? I really don't know, as I'm using CS5 and got no plans to go beyond that for the time being.

A Study of 20 Fils

"K"
320X

One of the struggles of focus stacking with microscope images is to achieve some 3D-ish look when shooting various specimens. Using external light sources got me the advantage of viewing metallic opaque objects, such as coins, specifically this 20 Fils which I did inspect long time ago by in-camera macro methods  (using lens coupling) and reached about 17X power. The story is different now and I'm able to few the metallic texture up and close! However, there is always the annoyance of artifacts from this old microscope but the fun lingers on. To this moment of typing this post there are still more work going on with some coins which I might post later.
As I've stated before, the fact that I'm using a lens on reverse enables me to add filters to the lens' front and consequently this would also increase the magnification ratio a bit because the distance to the sensor is stretched few millimeters. But to my own experience now, I have to say that having super magnification is not always what you want or need, simply because it might obscure details!

Banana Peel
320X

With filters, seems like I'm having different worlds to discover; Something I'm working on still. Probably the most astonishing view I had so far is that one with Banana Peel which was my first target to use infrared filter (B+W 092, threshold: 650nm). Things were dark and hard to see at first, and I had to raise the ISO to max just to navigate through, but I put it down when I saw something that captured my eyes…

Banana Peel under Infrared

The image you see above is of course the final product of focus stacking and infrared processing, as well as channel swapping. However, these marks were glowing in my LiveView while the rest of the peel (same peel posted above that) was dark while using this filter. I showed my friend this image and told him the story but we both were astonished and could not find a reason for this. The thing is, doing infrared shots for other materials did not yield such result!

Grape Skin (IR)
320X

Grape Skin (Normal)

I think this matter needs more picture taking to find if this thing is really significant for bananas only or there was something wrong with the microscope or my camera! However, I'll keep looking further for more samples to do. Despite being a tiresome job to do with this microscope and the heavy cumbersome gear that I have to deal with, it is still a good source of muse, specially with the arrival of my new H-alpha filter from Lumicon, which I'm dying to use (artistically and scientifically, if I can call it so!).

Finale

I guess this post is long enough as it is now and no need to talk about my new acquired stuff. This is beside not trying them out yet and having any thoughts about them. The Summer is scorching my head as usual and with me back to work after a long vacation during Ramadhan doesn't make things better for either mood or body, but I'm trying to muse myself with the camera and the new stuff. July project with the group is also ongoing right now and somewhat adds a bit of burden to my time which I want to dedicate further to my new toys and activities. Everyone, Everywhere I look, talks about traveling, I guess this is natural since it is Summer, a typical season, but it makes me drool and my mind is busy calculating to see and plan for some vacation outside, before I commit a murder or something. Anyway, my traveling is typically after the busy season, to have some "quiet" time. Yet, my mind is not set yet on a specific destination, nor I'm sure about my budget. Meanwhile, my only companion seems to be my headphone, and the heat…