Amoeba (another one)

[gekko]

[charlie g]

Charming colors,Gekko....is this darkfield, is it oblique phase contrast substage filter setup...please share the contrast method? My intrest is in the predominance of only those two distincly different colors!

Thank you for this protist image. charlie guevara/ finger lakes,US

[gekko]

Many thanks, Charlie, for your comments. I think the amoeba had gobbled up all the algae it could find . My apologies: I forgot to say that the image was taken using a 20x objective under DIC illumination.

[75RR]

Very nice. Greedy amoebas are that much more colourful! Had also thought it was Darkfield.

[charlie g]

Hi 75R and gekko. Please tell,gekko, can you alter the background of this DIC image from...dark...to grey...to light...in a wetmount slide with a specimen like this?

I ask as some of your other DIC images of protists...did not to my recollection have this dark (almost: crossed polarizer filter dark!)...did not have this dark background . charlie guevara

[gekko]

Hi Charlie,
I think the reason the background is virtually black is that I had (mis?)adjusted the DIC slider to give too much contrast, so the highlights were very bright. In order that those highlights not be overexposed (thus losing detail and color due to the limited dynamic range of the CMOS digital camera sensor), I reduced the exposure, resulting in the very underexposed background that you see. I should have used a different DIC slider setting in order to get a more manageable contrast level.

[charlie g]

I am an inexperienced image capture microscopist, and I am neoludite regarding the software image enhancements you have helped me with, gekko!
But with my DL phase observing, or simple crossed-pol observing, or DF observing...I always encounter the issue you kindly bring to light now ( I could,nt ressit...sorry!)!

I guess, as you just state it...the dynamic range of my relay-lens dig camera setup...is often overwhelmed by the bright areas in all three above contrast methods..so the wonderfully deep rich colors of cross-pol crystals, or subtle details of organisms in DF, or DL phase...well observationally things appear stunning...but my image captures have bright areas which wash out the subtle play of colors and structures. Your kind reply here explains why the dark background around the amoeba...and light background around the 5/22/15 DIC rotifer! charlie guevara

[gekko]

75RR, many thanks for your kind comment.

Charlie, my camera can display a ("live") histogram, and I use it to adjust the exposure so the right extreme of the histogram is well away from the right edge of the histogram window (which corresponds to the maximum brightness level of 255). Otherwise, if I use the exposure that the camera likes, I get overexposed highlights in DIC, polarized light, and darkfield.

[vasselle]

Bonjour Gekko.
Belle photo j'aime beaucoup
Merci pour le partage.
Cordialement seb

[gekko]

Thank you, seb, for your always kind comment.

[JimT]

Anyway, both this image (even with the misadjusted settings) and the previous one are great - as usual.

[gekko]

Anyway, both this image (even with the misadjusted settings) and the previous one are great - as usual.

Thank you very much!

[Raul]

Beautiful image gekko, keep them coming!

[gekko]

Thank you very much, Raul.