One of the best subjects to photograph during the winter especially at higher latitudes are crystals. I have been doing this a long time, but only recently found a way to get consistent flower-like crystals using amino-acids - B Alanine and Glutamine. Other substances like Menthol and Vitamin C produce amazing crystals and are easy to achieve. The solvent is important for success - start with deionized water, then try water\alcohol. Isopropyl, methanol and ethanol work well but are different! 95% ethanol can be purchased at a liquor store (called Clearview). The two main methods of producing crystals are: 1) place a solution on a microscope slide and allow it to dry, heating sometimes helps accelerate the process. The other is to melt the substance on the slide under a coverslip on a hot plate. Check the melting point before you do this using Google. Some substances don't melt - they just turn brown and burn. Also be careful some chemicals e.g. Benzoic acid can give off toxic fumes. If you are new to making crystals for viewing in polarized light - you might want to check out my article:
https://www.canadiannaturephotographer. ... light.html
I will be posting a new article on my web site on flower like crystals in January and I will post a link along with some new pictures when the article is ready. For now I am just posting a few images I hope you enjoy. Chemicals like Menthol, Vitamin C and amino acids are easy to obtain and produce beautiful crystals. My photos were taken with a Motic BA310 polarizing microscope, a Canon 5D Mark III camera, Digicam control software (free) and processed in Photoshop. The chemicals were from a nutrition supplement store (Popeyes) and many chemicals are also available on Amazon. Images were taken with a 4X and 10X objective.
Hope you like the pictures.
- Menthol
- s180_Menthol_DSC_0075_1024.jpg (229.36 KiB) Viewed 3295 times
Those would make awesome posters.
