242: Match Row

Settings: f/8 (approx,) 1/4, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44-2 M42, 51mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, black velvet, tripod.

241: President Weevil

Settings: f/9.5, 1/40, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 25mm extension, tripod.

240: Coral of the Woods

I can't tell whether this is Yellow Antler fungus or Ramaria aurea, but I'm glad I came across it today.
I also used a fill-in flash to help with this shot; previous outings to capture close-ups of fungi would sometimes yield disappointing pictures when long exposures were needed, due partly to shake, while noise and disappointing colour could also be problems.
Using a flash cuts down the exposure time, gives crisper images and is also useful for giving extra illumination do shaded areas of the image - common in situations like these.

Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 9mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, beanbag.

239: The Teasel

Settings: f/4.5, 1/180,ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44-2 M42, 45mm extension, 1/4 flash, black velvet, white cards, tripod.
(f-number is approximate.)

238: Calendula Seed Head

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 35mm Photax-Paragon M42, 9mm extension, 1/4 flash, white cards, tripod.

237: Peach Top

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 32mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil reflector, white card, tripod.

236: Wrapped Straws

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 16mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil reflector, tripod.

235: Edge of the Goo

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 26mm extension, 1/4 flash, white cards, tripod.

234: Silvan Umbellifers

Settings: f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm.

233: Knees-Down

Settings: f/2, 1/160, ISO 400, P-FA 50mm.

232: Nettle Caterpillars

Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 33mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, black velvet, tripod.

231: Split Sphere

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 48mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil reflector, black velvet, tripod.

230: Half and Half

Settings: f/4, 1/5, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 26mm extension, halogen light, tripod.

229: Poker Top

Settings: f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 26mm extension.

228: Water Droplets On Leaf

Settings: f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 16mm extension.

227: Pokey LaFarge

Settings: f/2.5, 1/100, ISO 200, P-FA 50mm.

226: Mask Men

Settings: f/2, 1/250, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm.

225: Floral Arrangement

A matrix of floral sweets, laid out in a fashion not unlike that of a phosphor CRT - although I don't imagine floral pastel displays will ever catch on. Home theatre magazines would criticise their colour depth mercilessly.
They could be a huge leap forward in scratch 'n' sniff technology, though.

Settings: f/2.8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 16mm extension, 1/4 flash, black velvet, white card, tripod.

224: Scales of the Peacock

Close up, the scales are quite beautiful, something I could never see without the assistance of optical enhancement.
The colours have faded slightly, but the butterfly had been dead for an indeterminate time before I found its wings lying on a paving slab in the garden. Eaten by a bird, I suspect.

Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 56mm extension, 1/4 flash, glass, white cards, copy stand.

223: The Spoken Word On Disc

A cardboard platter silently mouths a single word, as it spins on an old turntable. There are thirty-six 2cm images around the disc, each set at ten degrees to the next.
This is part of a video project - so it will also be produced as a moving image. When recording it on a video camera, I found that I needed to spin the turntable at 78 RPM, while setting the camcorder to 1/500 sec to get the images to strobe [somewhat] effectively.
I have another turntable I will try, which I may be able to control the speed more finely. Except that one doesn't look as interesting...

This version was taken slightly earlier, while the disc wasn't spinning. You can see the ink dots on the paper quite clearly here.

Settings for both: f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44 M42, 16mm extension, halogen lamp, tripod.

222: String Theory

Settings: f/6.7, 1/180, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44 M42, 16mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, tripod.

221: Brown Sugar Crystals

I thought the coarse sugar crystals looked nice on this fruit cake. Then I took this, and they look even more interesting now.
I took the photo just before I had to go out for the evening, but noticed a tiny red fibre on the image once I had copied it over. I intended to re-shoot it when I got back, but when I returned, the cake was cut up and mostly in the freezer...
Cue a lengthy clone stamp session, but it's gone now.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50m Pentacon M42, 33mm extension, 1/4 flash, white cards, tripod. Some cropping.

220: Birthday Cakes

Delicious cakes! The cake in the background had candied ginger and amazingly mirror-like hearts on top, while some of the chocolate leaves on the foreground cake were cast from geranium leaves - a side effect being that the geranium taste could be tasted on them. It was an acquired taste for some, but I found it extraordinary.
I feel genuinely spoiled today.

Settings: f/2.5, 1/180, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm, 1/4 bounced flash.

219: Poppy Heads

Until today I hadn't realised just how many seeds one of these pods can contain; I collected a good two handfuls of seeds from a small patch of these poppies. With any luck there should be lots of poppies in my garden next year.

Settings: f/4, 1/160, ISO 200, 50mm Pentacon M42, 10mm extension.

218: Tiny Snail on Apple

A chance find of a very tiny snail on this fallen apple. Apart from this post's title, it's not immediately obvious that it's an apple from this view. The snail may look tiny on closer inspection, but from further away it does seem like a a larger scene.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 200, 50mm Pentacon M42, 57mm extension, beanbag.

217: Walnuts on White

Settings: f/4, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 9mm extension, 1/4 flash, white cards, tripod.

216: Web Droplets

A spider's web provides a very good medium for raindrops to attach to. This one was almost parallel to the ground, attached to the base of a plant pot. I wasn't looking for one, but it was easy to notice due to its shininess - quite like a sheet of bright jewels hovering above the ground.

Settings: f/8, 1/5, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 19mm extension, beanbag.

215: Squash Leaf Ladybird

Is this possibly one of the larvae I placed under this plant? I'm not sure how long they take to fully develop, but there were a lot of them around.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 19mm extension.

214: Courgette Cross-Section

Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 9mm extension, glass, 1/4 flash, white paper & cards, tripod. Monochrome conversion, cropping.

213: A Green Tomato

Settings: f/5.6, 1/50, ISO 200, 50mm Pentacon M42, 9mm extension.

212: Orange Beetroot

Settings: f/8, 1/60, ISO 200, DA 18-55.

211: Spider Egg Ball

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 52mm extension, 1/4 flash, glass, white cards, tripod.