HI all. I've been on a long hiatus from this forum, just busy with other things. I figured I'd share some of my most recent stuff. These are focus stacked, each comprised of around 600 exposures shot manually with the use of a microscope. It's nothing fancy, a Swift 960, like we used in school back in the 1980s. They're shot at 100X, and this is approximately correct, but I actually get a bit more magnification than this due to the extension added by my lens, CPL and microscope adapter. I'm doing what they call eyepiece projection photomicroscopy, so my adapter clamps onto the ocular lens rather than sitting in the microscope tube. I've always wanted to explore butterflies on this scale, and in pictures, so this is fulfillment of one of those little personal dreams for me to have some success with it. I hope you enjoy them. I'll post a few showing some of the different scale types (all on the same butterfly).


There's a spiky little pollen grain clinging to a scale in the lower right of this one. This is also the last image I produced with my K-r. R.I.P. - you were well loved.


Practice capturing the translucency and iridescence of some of the scales.


Compositionally this one is a mess, but I love the combination of subtle colours. The large clear scale near the center shows nice translucency, too.


This one didn't quite turn out as I hoped. The scales are extremely transparent, but it doesn't take much to blow out the highlights. I was trying to capture a bit of the iridescence in the grooves on the scales.

More to follow...

[lesmore49]

Nature is amazing, and your capture of this particular part of nature is excellent.

[PJ1]

These are really interesting. You have certainly mastered the art. The translucent scales are very different. In Borneo years ago we saw butterflies that were transparent.

[Philoslothical]

Thank you both. I think I've seen pictures of those transparent butterflies.

These three are from a Sulfur butterfly. I'm not sure precisely which, yet. They're small, common, and bright yellow, but otherwise similar in appearance to the white cabbage butterflies.


This one shows a corner of its eye with some of the surrounding scales.


The wing scales in towards the body are checked with black, and it forms nice patterns. It's not something one would notice on them in flight.


This is my favourite of this set. These are the elongated fringe scales at the edge of its wing. I was surprised by the bright pink colour, and I did my best not to embellish it in post.