Doug Merson @Micromineral@qoto.org

Fermiite from Blue Lizard Mine, Red Canyon Mining District, San Juan County, Utah, USA
FOV = 1.4 mm
#minerals #microminerals

@AndyLowry Yes, the FOV is the total width of the image. I have a few that are cropped to a bit less then .5 mm.

@tedherman It is not as complex as his. He is many more light which gives better control over lighting individual crystal faces. I admire his work.

This is my current micromineral photo setup. The camera is a Canon 90D with a Canon 70-200 mm zoom as a tube lens. I use a Mitutoyo 5X or 10X M Pan APO objective. The 5X gives a 4 mm FOV, the 10X a 2 mm FOV. The camera is attached to a Stack Shot rail which is computer controlled. I use .015 mm steps for the 5X objective and .005 mm for the 10X objective. I use the control module in Zerene Stacker to set the step size, start point, end point and dwell time between shots.

The resulting images are imported to Lightroom for minor processing and then exported to Helicon Focus for stacking. Final processing is in Topaz AI and Photoshop.

Zircon from Golden Horn Batholith, Washington Pass, Okanogan County, Washington.
FOV = 1.0 mm
#microminerals

Hello #introduction I am an avid mineral collector. It all started 70 years ago when I found a pebble with a reddish metallic substance in it. Found it along a road in western Massachusetts while family was taking a snack break on the drive to Ipswich.

The collection has grown to just over 8600 specimens, most of them micros. They come from gifts, purchases, trades and free tables at a couple of micro group meetings I attend.

I served in US Navy from 1966 to 1987 followed by 20 years at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Mineral collecting opportunities were scarce during my time in the Navy. It picked up some when we were stationed in Hawaii It was there, I got into collecting micro minerals.

In 1978 we were transferred to a ship in the yards In Bremerton, WA. We ended up living here permanently although I spent 5 years in San Deigo without the family.

Shortly after arriving in the northwest, I met Rudy Tschernich and was introduced to the Pacific Northwest Micro Mineral Study Group. This led to the Northern California Mineralogical Association. I still belong to both groups. I also joined the Northwest Chapter Friends of Mineralogy.

he Pacific Northwest Micro Mineral Study