152: Conifer Buds

Settings: f/6.7, 1/2.5, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 32mm extension, 1/4 flash, tripod. Curves & colour adjustment.

150: Elder Buds

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, Photax-Paragon 35mm M42, 10mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card and reflector, tripod.

062: Lavender Buds

I've been sticking a lot of small objects onto blocks of plasticine this week. Tonight here is a collection of short, dried lavender stalks from last year.
I tried a much wider (but still close-up) shot before this one, but I didn't get good results from any flash lighting I tried, so I went for this closer shot. This turned out more detailed and contrasty, showing the fuzzy parts of the buds nicely.

Settings: f/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M42, 29mm extension, low flash, foil reflector, white background.

034: Pear Tree Bud

I have a habit of going on about texture and magnification, but I can't help but be fascinated by the way things look close up. The transluscent, parchment-like quality of the bud's skin is hardly visible to the naked eye (at least mine,) but close up like this you can clearly see its bronzed skin-like texture and the occasional vein. The occasional wartyness of the bark is shown up as a collection of fine, swollen splits.
Apart from this, the main reason I took this photo was to depict the shape of the twig at the emergence of a bud. The branch crooks quite far sideways at every bud and presents itself as a series of zigzagged Y-shapes.
I also just noticed that every bud grows about 120 degrees around from its neighbour, creating a fascinating triangular helix pattern along the axis of the twig. I don't know how common this is, as I'm not a botanist; but it certainly occurs on pear trees.
Aperture f/5.6, all other settings as yesterday.

020: Cotton Buds

f/16, 1/180 sec. ISO 100, low-power flash and white refelectors. This sort of image clearly highlights the presence of dust paticles on the camera's sensor. I postprocessed this (adjusting white balance, sharpness and exposure,) but did not edit out any imperfections.
Apart from that it's a revealing image, showing the spider-silk-like strands of cotton on the tips. The soft bumpyness would look quite dreamy if a wider aperture was used but I wanted to show up the imperfections this time, and I also found that the flash's power was difficult to control as everything was white. It's flash-lit from above and slightly behind which seems to work well as it casts soft shadows on the front of the buds, enhancing the texture at the side it's seen.
I should consider cleaning the sensor sometime soon. It doesn't usually show up as I don't normally stop down my photos too much, but I do sometimes spot an annoying blob here and there.