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Johannes Wolfgang Bettighofer

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Micro images

Image title:

Wetland star

Image description:

The Schwemm, a marshy wetland near Walchsee in Tyrol, has long been known as a biodiversity hotspot. It contains a rich flora of desmids; the specimen shown here comes from a sample in June 2025. The image shows a Staurastrum vestitum var.vestitum. When we observe desmids with high-aperture lenses, we have to work our way through the object layer by layer, similar to a computed tomography scan, mentally constructing the overall image. My goal in photomicrography is to build a complete image from the resulting optical sections in order to capture the three-dimensionality of the objects without sacrificing precise detail reproduction. My approach to this goal: stacking without automates, but rather manual processing and connecting of all image layers. Regarding the copyright issue: The object comes from my own sample; I took the photograph and created the resulting image.