2020 Photomicrography Competition

Human hair

Robert Vierthaler

Location
Pfarrwerfen, Salzburg, Austria
Technique
Image Stacking
Magnification
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

The 12th place image is that of a human hair. Or to be more specific, a single strand of Mr. Robert Vierhaler’s (the image creator) daughter’s hair. Mr. Vierhaler works for a steel company and does macro and micro photography as a hobby. This image was created using a modified standard microscope fitted with a bellows attachment and a Nema stepper motor in order to capture numerous images for stacking.

Red algae

Dr. Tagide deCarvalho

Affiliation
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Technique
Confocal
Magnification
63X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Tagide deCarvalho is a research assistant professor and a director of the Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA. Although this image is of algae, he learned confocal microscopy as a postdoc, imaging a region of the brain called the habenula. This image of red algae, with its somewhat “skeletal” branching patterns, highlights a species that has some of the most complex life cycles known for living organisms. It was captured using confocal with a combination of natural fluorescence and acridine orange dye.

Crystals formed after heating an ethanol and water solution containing L-glutamine and beta-alanine

Justin Zoll

Affiliation
Justin Zoll Photography
Ithaca, New York, USA
Technique
Polarized Light
Magnification
4X (Objective Lens Magnification)

This stunning capture of crystalized L-glutamine and beta-alanine was taken by professional photographer Justin Zoll using a microscope equipped with polarized light illumination. He has been taking images through the microscope for about five years and plans on moving to more sophisticated techniques in the near future. He seems to be doing just fine already!