With the end of winter I've been looking for new macro projects I could use my snowflake rig for and I came across the images of crystals by Robert Brendan over on the Photomacrography site.

I thought that would be interesting to try.

Here are my first few attempts at trying to photograph epsom salt crystals. I dissolved it in water, then let it dry on a glass plate, then photographed it using my snowflake rig. I added polarizing filters below and above the glass plate to get the colours.

I'm pleased with the first results and will be experimenting more with other substances.









Fred.

[Bengan]

Fantastic colors. The last one is without question my favorite

[torashi]

Nice. Reminds me of learning about stress and stress tests in college.

[Prince Harbinger]

Pretty cool shots. Looks like Bismuth crystals.

[GeoJerry]

Love this post. What fun to play with this rig!

[fwwidall]

I'm having lots of fun shooting these crystals. I love these amazing colours.

These I shot with a 10X microscope objective mounted on my bellows. The working distance was so small that I couldn't get the polarizing filter between the glass plate and the microscope objective, so I released the front standard from the bellows and stuck the polarizing filter in between it and the bellows. Seemed to work fine.












Fred.

[reh321]

I'm having lots of fun shooting these crystals. I love these amazing colours.

These I shot with a 10X microscope objective mounted on my bellows. The working distance was so small that I couldn't get the polarizing filter between the glass plate and the microscope objective, so I released the front standard from the bellows and stuck the polarizing filter in between it and the bellows. Seemed to work fine.

Fred.

All the photos you posted are pretty, but this latest group is especially neat!

[BrianR]

Nice! If you haven't seen it already, here's a bunch of alcoholic beverages crystallized and photographed using the resulting crystal's birefringent properties: BevShots.com.

Ice is another birefringent target that you might enjoy photographing.

[GeoJerry]

Do you live near a college with a geology department? If so maybe you can borrow some thin sections, rock slices on glass slides that are so thin that light will pass through them. Under polarized light you can see some spectacular displays depending on the mineral you're viewing and what angle the polarizer is set to.

[photoptimist]

Nice shots!

Plastics do wonderful things under cross-polarization. In particular, layers of clear sticky-tape can be used as an artistic material to compose scenes with single, double, and multiple layers of tape providing different colors.

Also, many phone, tablet, and laptop screens can provide a very high-quality polarized light source.

Enjoy!

[fwwidall]

All the photos you posted are pretty, but this latest group is especially neat!

Thanks. The crystals do seem to be even more colourful under higher magnification.

---------- Post added 04-02-19 at 04:45 PM ----------

Nice! If you haven't seen it already, here's a bunch of alcoholic beverages crystallized and photographed using the resulting crystal's birefringent properties: BevShots.com.

Ice is another birefringent target that you might enjoy photographing.

I did come across that site. I think my next attempts are going to be with asorbic and citric acids. Just waiting on Amazon to deliver some.

---------- Post added 04-02-19 at 04:48 PM ----------

Nice shots!

Plastics do wonderful things under cross-polarization. In particular, layers of clear sticky-tape can be used as an artistic material to compose scenes with single, double, and multiple layers of tape providing different colors.

Also, many phone, tablet, and laptop screens can provide a very high-quality polarized light source.

Enjoy!

I did come across some videos on YouTube showing art made with tape and polarized light. I recently came across the fact that tablets and screens put out polarized light. I did try it out and it worked, but my LED bulb puts out more light. I just stick a polarizing filter on top of it, using an old coffee can to hold it.

[fwwidall]

I just got my hands on some asorbic acid and immediately had to see what crystals I could get with it.

Travel through a Black Hole.....

IMGP4495 by Fred Widall, on Flick

down into a strange fractal landscape



to the very heart of the crystal




A fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon

Fred.