Skip to main content

‘People’s Choice’ highlights: Rock photomicrographs and the beauty of light science and technology



Bernardo Cesare’s photo (above) displays granulite rock under a microscope. The picture resembles a piece of stained glass window through sunlight, but it’s just a thin slice of rock 0.03 mm in thickness and 5 mm in size. The rock’s beautiful "interference colors" derive from the interaction of polarized light with the crystalline matter.

Cesare is one of 32 contestants for the People’s Choice Award competition in the SPIE International Year of Light Photo Contest. Judges have already chosen three winners, but now it's your turn to choose. SPIE is providing a prize of US $500 to the People's Choice winner. Online voting continues through 15 August.

This blog post features entries illustrating science and technology, including Cesare's, above, and four others, below. Future posts will showcase other entries -- follow the blog to catch them all.

Of his work, Cesare says on the National History Museum of London website,“My aim is to reveal the beauty of a world that is normally accessible only to geologists and through images to tell the fascinating story of our planet.”

Cesare is a professor of Petrology at the University of Padova. As a geologist, he uses photography in his scientific work. His project, micRockScopica, is a collection of photomicrographs and microphotographs which have been displayed in mineralogical and scientific photo galleries in Europe and the United States.

While studying minerals and rocks in Kerala, India, Cesare realized the potential beauty of this piece of granulite rock. After finding a thin transparent slice of the granulite he transmitted polarized light through the slice. The light rays displayed the natural interference colors shown in his photograph.

To brighten the original grey colors, he placed a red tint plate in front of the polarized light. The greys turned into blues and purples.

For more information about Cesare, see:


Other People’s Choice finalists who demonstrated light in science and technology in their photography are:

"The Constant," by Jasper da Seymour, Mystery Creek Cave, Tasmania, Australia, 15 July 2014. Inspired by the art of painting with light, Seymour uses fiber optic lighting in his photography. See Seymour's portfolio.

"Interference in Soapy Water Film," by Andrew Davidhazy, Rochester, New York, USA, 2011. Interference of light causes colors to appear in thin films which otherwise appear transparent and colorless. For more high-speed, schlieren photographs see Davidhazy's portfolio.

"Jewels on the Window," by Daniela Rapavá, residence, Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia, 12 January 2013. "The nature of light: what are photons?" For centuries we have used the word "interference" to describe the dark-bright bands recorded when we superpose two coherent light beams at a small angle on a detector.

"Phaser Laser," by Cory Stinson, San Diego State University, California, USA, August 2010. From healing the human eye to removing layers of pollution from century old marble statues, laser technology is helping researchers develop new ways to improve people's lives.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An International Inspiration: Attending the International Day of Light 2019 Celebration in Trieste

John Dudley and Perla Viera in Trieste Perla Marlene Viera González, an SPIE Early Career Professional Member working at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, represented the SPIE Student and ECP Membership at the International Day of Light 2019 celebration in Trieste, 16 May. She shares with this community her experiences at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the impact of taking part in this annual day of recognizing light. The International Day of Light brings together culture and science.  — SPIE John Dudley, Steering Committee Chair of IDL This phrase was part of the message given by John Dudley during the introduction to the International Day of Light 2019 at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. And it reflects the importance of bringing together the science, technology, culture, and art that involves light in this emblematic celebration. This year, the IDL celebration was about “Illuminating Ed...

Ten Ways to Celebrate the first International Day of Light

The first International Day of Light (IDL) is less than a month away. A global initiative highlighting the importance of light and light-based technologies, communities around the world are planning events celebrating IDL on 16 May. First Place Winner of the 2017 SPIE IDL Photo Contest SPIE will participate in outreach events local to our community in Bellingham, Washington, attend the inauguration in Paris, France, and host an IDL reception for our conference attendees at SPIE Optical Systems Design in Frankfurt, Germany taking place May 14-17. SPIE is also supporting local events in 13 different communities from the US to India, Canada to South Africa, who were awarded SPIE IDL Micro Grants to create activities that highlight the critical role light plays in our daily lives. Do you need some ideas on how to show your appreciation of light on the 16th? Here is our top ten list of ways you can celebrate IDL 2018: 1. Throw a Celebration:  Light up your party with ligh...

Optics Does That? With Dr. Ashleigh Haruda, Zooarchaeologist.

Dr. Ashleigh Haruda is a zooarchaeologist. Dr. Ashleigh Haruda She examines animal bones found at archaeological sites to investigate the relationship between animals and ancient human societies. These bones reveal information about ancient societies including diet, trade, migration, and market forces. For her doctoral research, she studied pastoralists living in the Central Asian steppe in the Late and Final Bronze Age (1500-800 B.C.E.). These were people who did not practice agriculture, but lived off of their animals, including sheep. “Primarily these people are experiencing their world and their landscape through their animals,” said Haruda. “So, if they fail to move their animals in the right way, or they fail to understand how the weather is going to be that year, they could all die because there was no safety net for them.” By measuring the bones of sheep found in the steppe from the Final Bronze Age, she was able to determine that these pastoralists did not migrate exte...