Photomicrographer James E. Hayden, RBP has been a consistent winner of the Small World competition for many years. Featured below is a photomicrograph of a skin specimen taken with ultraviolet induced fluorescence.

Skin Original Magnification: 31.2x Specimen: Hematoxylin and Eosin Section Technique: Ultraviolet induced Fluorescence

This section of skin was unremarkable in both brightfield and darkfield. However, the pattern in the image was intriguing and I happened to try looking at it under episcopic illumination with a UV fluorescence cube in place. The green "fire" and blue "bubbles" finally added the color I was looking for. The color comes from the autofluorescence of the specimen and the dyes it is stained with. The lesson in this image is not to give up on a promising pattern - you never know what technique may surprise you with a great result.