Making the best...

[Tom Clayton]

Don't know if I'll be around here much, but I caught a rare "photo op" today. I can't get the park I live in to unclog a drain in my driveway, so it's constantly under water. Last night, it froze. Today I went out to walk the dog and was wearing polarized shades. I looked down at the ice and spotted the colors, and remembered the polarizing filter that we hardly ever use...

[GT182]

Nice photo Tom. Isn't it funny all the good photos that come from our unfortunate circumstances and we forget to use an appropriate filter. At least you didn't for this one.

I never go out without my amber polarized Panama Jack sunglasses. Wish I could say the same for my camera. LOL

[Chacha]

wow...

That's a cool shot!

I have a few of those... let me check...

[Tom Clayton]

Of course the REAL issue is that I ride my bike year-round, and I get to pull in and out of my driveway across that ice!

[luckydog]

Here ya go Tom,

a little contrast, color, light, cropping, and rotation.......

Attachment 22275................

[Cloud9Gal]

Tom! Great photo op!!

LD~ love the retouch edition- would make a great wallpaper!

[Tom Clayton]

Very cool! Yeah, I've got a couple of tools that can enhance and such, it's just that there was too much crap stuck in the ice. Maybe if it had been at the edge of a pond it would have been cleaner, but I don't get that lucky!

[luckydog]

Tighter crop:

ya gotta get in close, bro !!


Attachment 22314

[Cazzie]

Nice shot Tom.

I see phychodelia all the time when I have my nieces out and we play "let's make crystals" to view under cross-polar filters in my microscope.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol)

[jmig]

I think you guys are taking something chemical...

that looks like some of the things my old stoned college roommate use to describe late at night.

[Cazzie]

I am from your generation John.

I have seen things that would make Peter Max shutter.

Recrystallized household sugar under cross-polar filters:



Micrasterias algae under dark_field illumination, an alien if I ever saw one.



Caz

[Tom Clayton]

That sugar looks wild - and the best part is you can eat it when you're done!

[Cazzie]

That sugar looks wild - and the best part is you can eat it when you're done!

It is a very thin layer of sugar crystals Tom. The kids and I first put the sugar into a hyper solution of warm water and stir until dissolved. Then each kid gets a slide and an eye dropper and they take a little of the hyper solution and apply a drop to a slide and let the sugar recrystalize at room temperature (force drying will not reduce good results). Once they have recrystalized, we view each slide at 40X with cross-polar filters. Cross-polarization with a light microscope is tremendous. Under standard cross-polarization, the standard colors of the spectrum come through, but all one need do is add a clear compensator filter to the microscope filter holder and you will get the reverse colors of the spectrum. The sugar was shot with a compensator, the Tylenol without the filter. It's neat.

Caz

[Chacha]

wow, interesting.....

Is your microscope is connected to your computer?

[Cloud9Gal]

Cazz- in the last picture, it almost looks like colored aluminum foil...pretty!