Honorable Mention
Color From The Deep.
DESCRIPTION
The color in the image comes from using polarised light with a wave retarder. It is optical not digital. It is a copepod, around 1mm, very kindly donated by a scientist from the British Antarctic Survey research unit in Cambridge, UK. I live in Cambridge, Uk. It was taken from Antarctic waters.Polarised light brings out muscle, and other tissue. The yellow/orange colors are muscle fibres, but other tissues are rendered in different hues.
There is much beauty even in a drop of water.
Around 600 images were taken using x 80 magnification and polarised light microscope photography and these were image stacked to create 8 images which were then stitched to create the composition.
The survey studies changes in the population of sea creatures to try to understand the ecosystem of the Antarctic but always with a view to better understand and monitor climate change.
AUTHOR
I'm a Cambridge based secondary (high school) teacher and photographer.I explore texture, colour, perspective, light, shade and translucency using mineral, vegetable and animal matter prepared with skill for the microscope and camera.
Most of my pieces first involve preparation of a slide, which can take can take several days of technical work involving staining and lab equipment. Microscopes have a very limited focus depth and small field of view. I create compositions by taking hundreds or thousands of photographs together with focus stacking and stitching, both algorithmic and manual.
I use a variety of lighting techniques, quite often utilising polarised light.
There are wonderful visions of abstract beauty hidden from view and my goal is to compose these and bring them to colourful light.
