Damselfly larva (Dark ground illumination)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod, Nikon D700 Nikon 100 macro (yes Nikon!) Dark ground illumination: twin flash 1/32 power, ISO 200 -0.67, 1/60 sec f20
This little chap was swimming in my garden pond and before he knew it he was photographed in a very small trough using dark ground illumination. This is a technique originally developed for light microscopy. In a nutshell the subject is placed over a dark surface and it is illuminated by back lit light that the subject has refracted into the optical axis of the lens. I made a mask of the subject and cleaned the background. The big disadvantageof this technique is that every tiny weeny particle in suspension refacts light and is clearly visible.
All C&C welcome

[Nancy Bell]

This looks like an x-ray image in color. Very cool effect! I really don't understand your technique. Think I need to see a picture of the set-up. Like the simple composition showing the symmetry of the damselfly larvae.

[Arthur Morris]

Wicked. I am not smart enough to do that :). I had one of them swimming in my bathtub yesterday. Or was that a silverfish??? You are applauded for your efforts.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Nancy Artie glad you liked it ..because there are more!! Really not difficult to set up.

[Ron Conlon]

Really, really cool, and inspiring.

[Norm Dulak]

Hi Jon.

Your technique is clever and the result is excellent. I'll have to try that.

For Arthur, a silverfish is not a larva and probably would not work well with this technique. :S3: