Hi everyone,
This is my second attempt at photographing diatoms, this time using the new Lumitronix LEDs.
My slide preparation was very sloppy, so I asked an AI assistant to help replace the dirty background with a smooth dark field using conventional masks. Diatoms, identifiable fragments, natural breaks and overlapping debris were retained.
All three examples combine exposure fusion to balance bright and dark areas with focus stacking to extend depth of field.
For each diatom, I am posting two versions:
1- Background cleaned, with the recorded colors retained.
2- Conventionally enhanced, with global levels adjustment, mild sharpening using an unsharp mask, and the original color reduced to about one-third of its original strength.
The enhanced versions retain one-third of the original color, giving a subtle green tint closer to what I see through the eyepiece. This is a subjective adjustment.
No generative AI or image reconstruction was used. AI assisted with conventional processing code; sharpening emphasizes recorded detail without adding structures.
The image pairs are diatoms 1, 4, and 9, all at 40×: background-cleaned first, followed by the enhanced version with one-third of the original color.
01_Diatom_01_40x_background_cleaned.jpg
02_Diatom_01_40x_enhanced_one_third_colour.jpg
03_Diatom_04_40x_background_cleaned.jpg
04_Diatom_04_40x_enhanced_one_third_colour.jpg
05_Diatom_09_40x_background_cleaned.jpg
06_Diatom_09_40x_enhanced_one_third_colour.jpg
I would appreciate your comments, especially on the illumination and color rendering.
The rig is a biological microscope fitted with the FrTIR illumination device, positioned beneath the specimen and optically coupled with Cargille fluid. The images were taken with a 40× objective, NA 0.65.
The light source is a Lumitronix LumiStrips LumiFlex1095 LED strip with Seoul Semiconductor LEDs: white 4000 K, CRI 95, 24 V.
Ramon