Recent content by Andy Resnick

cheap-cheap: Including shipping from Europe, the cost was $US 120 for all three, all in new condition, likely never used :) Thanks, re: the images. More to come as I improve my technique!

I've used a few local groups to make matted prints, this image supports a print size up to 40" on a side so I'll need to price out a frame before moving forward. Not sure how big a print I want- 40" is BIG. OTOH, have you ever seen wall-sized posters made from smaller panels? In college...

Well, it took almost 20 years (!!!), but I finally obtained a set of epi-phase microscope objectives (Zeiss). The principles of epi-phase contrast is nearly identical to transillumination phase contrast, but the phase ring is a 1/8 wave retarder rather than a 1/4 wave retarder (because with...

Finally finished this panorama around Gamma cygni, ready for print: This covers about a 3 x 3 array of 400mm fields-of-view (14.6k x 12k pixels). All stacking of the original 10s subs and stitching of 43 stacks performed in APP. Zooming in (just) a little: near IC 1311 and my homage to...

Here are 2 thin sections (presumably) from the same rock: Fenitized Gneiss. Prof. Verschure classified this sample as weakly fenitized-1 (1% by volume) and moderately fenitized-2 (10% by volume). According to Andersen, this sample seems to exhibit A3 metasomatism rather than A2...

Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris): Nikon D810+ Nikkor 800/5.6 @ f/8, 1/1000s Auto ISO.

Here's another example of a 'pulaskitic fenite', one that exemplifies the type: Strongly Fenitized-2 Pulaskitic fenite sample from the Håtveittjørn Section, located 10m from contact between country rock and the Fen Complex. Classified as a strongly Fenitized-2 (low temperature...

Since I'm not willing to chop down trees to increase my field of view, the only thing I could image for the past month has been M27 (Dumbbell nebula): 1:1 crop Nikon D810 + Nikkor 800/5.6 @ f/8, 6s subs, 14.5 hours viewing time on Losmandy GM-8, stacking and post-processing using Astro...

Those are definitely fragments of one or more peanuts, carried by the adult (still in the shell) up to the top of the pole, the adult then breaks open the shell and feeds the young. Fascinating to watch....

Since COVID lockdown, successive generations of red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) have taken peanuts from our feeder and then, later in the season, brought their fledglings to feed as well. I caught a pair today: While I was photographing the 5th generation (Nikon...

The next fenitized gneiss example: Fenitized gneiss. I’m not sure what feature was marked in blue pen- I didn’t observe anything unusual in that region. This sample is weak F1 and moderate F2, so alterations preferentially show effects of F2. This second metasomatic event is much less well...

Was at a friend's farm yesterday: Cows are much more timid than I expected, they kept backing away.

I don't think so. I explain the Ergodic hypothesis as the claim that 1 system repeatedly subjected to the same experiment a million times will give the same results as a million identical systems each experimented on 1 time.

A chance well-lit scene (rudbeckia) gave me the idea to try approximating @collinsmark's post-processing, but doing it optically- this is straight jpg camera output (plus re-scaling to 800 pixels across): Shot at 800mm f/5.6 to maximize vignetting and near close focus distance (30-ish feet)...

This is a very specific type of fenite: Pulaskitic fenite. ‘Pulaskitic’ means this rock is classified as a nepheline-bearing syenite (field 7' on the QAPF diagram) composed of alkali feldspar (perthite) and nepheline (altered to sericite). From the relevant paper, “Close to the Fen Complex...