I originally decided to go fundemental and display the beauty of crystals under the microscope. I recrystallized s-mandelic acid on a microscope slide by fast evaporation from 2-propanol. Mandelic acid forms beautiful crystals and the differences in the crystal habits (shapes) is quite remarkable.
I then ran into one of those fundemental data storage issues that left me totally unprepared. The digital camera on the Zeiss polarized light microscope we have in the lab does some funky data storage stuff and the file information will not store images immediately on snapping the 'frame'. Therefore, none of the pretty pictures - see below could be used....
Therefore, off to the backup plan....
I was visiting my wife's university this weekend for her 20th reunion and we decided to take a self guided tour of her old haunts. We happened upon the organic chemistry lab and laid out in all their glory were the tools of the trade, ready for the next class. The light was streaming in from the windows and the glass was side illuminated. The only issue was the door to the lab was locked and I had to shoot through a window at a non-optimal angle.
Dr. DiPippo was my wife's organic chemistry professor at Salve Regina. He was quite the character, full of life, full of love, full of enthusiasm about science and chemistry. He passed away this week after a battle with cancer. He will be missed.
Processing: Adjusted levels, curves, hue/saturation, noise ninja, sepia using hue/saturation, crop, save for web, sharpen, save for web.
I always hope for a 6, but figure will somewhere below that....
Post Challenge Very happy that this scored so well - especially as this is really a chemistry shot that is really dedicated to a good man. Thanks for all the comments
Statistics
Place: 6 out of 62 Avg (all users): 6.7564 Avg (commenters): 7.7222 Avg (participants): 6.2800 Avg (non-participants): 6.7979 Views since voting: 2373 Views during voting: 514 Votes: 312 Comments: 30 Favorites: 1 (view)
The bile rises in the back of my throat as once again I see that despite my PB I am beaten in score and placement by my buddy from Conneticut. Then I pause for a moment and study the photo, I see a great image that is beautifully composed. A shot with lots happening in it but not overly busy. A picture with a gorgeous black and white conversion, rich tonal range and superb sharpness. I then sit back and sip gently on my celebratory glass of wine, I close my eyes and smile as I realise.....I HATE YOU! ;-)
Great image Peter and a genuinely touching story to go with it
Peter, very nicely done. After reading your comments, now I understand why you are so happy to have it on your profile page! Love the different polymorphs, BTW.
Dramatic lighting and nice use of sepia toning (ie not overdone!), subjects are isolated through good use of depth of field. The cluttered feeling to the left makes me a little uncomfortable, but overall I think this is a solid entry - 7.
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