Ultrapurple
Cabbage leaf X-Ray
This was a little tricky. Cabbage leaves are not renowned for their opacity to hard X-Rays so I had to do quite a lot of image enhancement to get a decent view. But I like the result, as it shows some of the delicate structure of the leaf and yet looks like the silhouette of a tree at first glance.
My X-Ray machine started life as a mailroom scanner in a bank. It's about the size and shape of a filing cabinet. When I got it the resolution was pretty poor - it used a standard 525-line video camera to make the images. So I tinkered with it (making sure I didn't affect anything that was involved with safety of course). I replaced the original high brightness, low definition phosphor with a Kodak Lanex Fine screen (less sensitive but much higher resolution), then replaced the video imaging system. First, I used a Nikon D3100 I had floating around, remote controlled via DigiCamControl. More recently, I've upgraded to a Nikon D700 that became spare. DigiCamControl is what makes it possible for me to remote-control the camera safely and get images directly into the computer via USB.
Please, please, please don't think that you can just get an X-Ray machine off eBay or wherever and safely start making images like this. Without proper shielding and other precautions, ionizing radiation such as X-Rays can be seriously hazardous to your health.
Cabbage leaf X-Ray
This was a little tricky. Cabbage leaves are not renowned for their opacity to hard X-Rays so I had to do quite a lot of image enhancement to get a decent view. But I like the result, as it shows some of the delicate structure of the leaf and yet looks like the silhouette of a tree at first glance.
My X-Ray machine started life as a mailroom scanner in a bank. It's about the size and shape of a filing cabinet. When I got it the resolution was pretty poor - it used a standard 525-line video camera to make the images. So I tinkered with it (making sure I didn't affect anything that was involved with safety of course). I replaced the original high brightness, low definition phosphor with a Kodak Lanex Fine screen (less sensitive but much higher resolution), then replaced the video imaging system. First, I used a Nikon D3100 I had floating around, remote controlled via DigiCamControl. More recently, I've upgraded to a Nikon D700 that became spare. DigiCamControl is what makes it possible for me to remote-control the camera safely and get images directly into the computer via USB.
Please, please, please don't think that you can just get an X-Ray machine off eBay or wherever and safely start making images like this. Without proper shielding and other precautions, ionizing radiation such as X-Rays can be seriously hazardous to your health.