Bee's knees (sort of....) Part II

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:47 pm

After I took a few low mag shots of the rear leg of a honeybee I was curious what some of the parts would look like a little "closer up".

It's pretty obvious why they call these the "pollen combs"

And the auricle, part of the "pollen press" in the joint of the basitarsus and tibia, is very interesting when viewed at a little higher magnification. Looks like the perfect tool for the job of crushing and packing pollen. Amazing when you think about it. (Context for the location of this "part" can be seen in the previous "bee's knees" post)

These two shots were taken using a 10X objective, and were illuminated with fiber optic light guides. This is a Nikon Plan, and is the highest mag objective I have that can be illuminated easily from above. Both images are from "stacks" combined using Helicon Focus.

piotr · Post by **piotr** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:06 pm

Absolutely amazing!!!

The pollen grains look very beautiful. Do you have any idea what kind of plant this pollen comes from? Maybe canola (Brassica rapa)?

Charlie, I think these pictures are much better than SEM! I find this bee series extremely interesting. My dad's hobby is beekeeping, I'm going to show him your pictures.

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:15 pm

Piotr... Thanks! The pollen is from Camellia blossoms.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:56 am

These are some excellent image Charlie. The detail and color are outstanding. I especially like the 3D effect they have. Thanks and keep up the Bee series if you can. It would be interesting to see more.

Dembowski · Post by **Dembowski** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 6:24 am

O my goodness ... they're beautiful.

Wim van Egmond · Post by **Wim van Egmond** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:40 am

Wonderful images! This technique is so great. I think you will not make any other type of macro image!

Wim

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:02 am

Appreciate the nice comments...

. "Stacking" certainly is a new and fun toy ... uhhh.... I mean tool! (I do feel like a kid with a new toy

) Still trying to sort out what subjects work well, and which do not. Also trying to figure out the best lighting and shooting methods. But there is no question that for many static "3D" subjects it's a valuable technique.

Subjects like this were so tough to photograph because you were so limited as to your shooting angle because of DOF reasons. Sometimes the required shooting angle was not the most informative or aesthetic. Viewing with the microscope, you are constantly (and unconsciously) moving focus and assembling a complete "picture" of the subject in your mind. The camera can't do that, and from a "psychological" point of view, seeing a photo with only a very narrow band that is in focus can, at times, be frustrating. So I look at this technique as accomplishing for the camera, the image "assembly" we do mentally by varying the fine focus when observing the specimen.

nephiliim · Post by **nephiliim** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:09 am

How do you make stackings? Do you make layer photo's of different focus levels and then put them together? Seems like a lot of work to me...

But the result is great man, even my brain sometimes can't handle a microscopic subject this clearly.

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:59 pm

Tom.... yup... basically you take several (many?) photos moving the focus slightly through you subject. You then combine them. Check out this topic:
http://www.photomacrography1.net/forum/ ... php?t=1794