254: Double Thorns

Settings: f/11, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 33mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil reflector, tripod.

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.

192: Dry Potato Leaf

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 17mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, tripod.

182: Twisty Twigs

This could be mistaken for a twisted little old tree shot at night-time - near a nearby sodium street lamp. In reality, it's a bit of an old fuschia bush (1/2 metre long,) lit by a halogen lamp on the upper right, and a handheld flash from the upper left.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/4, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm, 1/4 flash, tungsten light, black cloth, tripod.

177: Fir Cone Duo

Settings: f/4, 1/4, 50mm Pentacon M42, 10mm extension, 1/4 flash, white cards, tripod.

168: Buckwheat Columns

Settings: f/11, 1/3, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 77mm extension, 1/4 flash, tripod.

167: Green Lentils

Settings: f/6.7, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 77mm extension, 1/4 flash, white reflector, tripod.

109: Jasmine Tea & Spoon

Upon opening a packet of loose tea, I looked very closely and saw the interesting variance of the shapes of the scrunched-up tea leaf fragments.
All I did for this was get the teaspoon set at the angle I wanted and sprinkled some tea over it. I didn't re-arrange the tea, it's just as it fell.
It's very much a product-style shot, but I don't mind that; I just consider it as trying out doing some product photography. My basic aim of capturing the shape and details of dry tea leaves was fulfilled; the setting also puts them in the context of their use.

Settings: f/6.7, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 10mm extension ,glass, white & foil reflectors, tripod.

074: Turnip Top Crisps

While not completely dessiccated, these bits of turnip are suitably dry and shrivelled to count as crisps in this picture.
What I like the most is how the complementary green and purples, though not very bright, have lost very little of their original colour. There are also some crazy textures going on down there, from the crinkle of the re-growth to the rings and scabby patches on the root skin.

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 200, 50mm M42, 10mm extension, low flash, white reflectors.

072: Skeletal Hydrangea

Two hydrangea flowers, frozen, dried and worn bare by the winter. They have become fused together, and so create a kind of skeletal tent - complete with poles and smoke vents. The entrance must be underneath; I didn't check, but I can easily imagine a ladybird taking shelter under here.

This was a straight-from-camera job as I was away from home, no post-processing apart from a little cropping (not so easily done to an accurate degree with simple image viewer software.)

Settings: f/11, 1/125, ISO 100, 50mm M42, 29mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil reflector, handheld.

068: Dried Starfish

This mummified sea creature looks as if it may have had a challenging life with its gimpy arm, but I'm sure it managed, for a while at least. It may have been one that was regrowing.
It's really not gained much dignity in death, folded over and sand-riddled, but it's not like it cared or understood about such a complex social concept in life. It would have been too busy crawling around looking for other tiny sea creatures to engulf and digest.
mmmm, sea creatures. Nom nom nom.

Settings: f/16, 1/180, ISO 200, 50mm M42, 19mm extension, low flash, foil & white reflectors.

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.

046: Man of Mud

It's a small ornament made of mud, not dung; that had to be clarified now. Yes, such things indeed exist.
I reckoned my flash might have cast too broad a shine on the small object to give the tight-beam effect I fancied. So, like the photo of the wooden cat, my 1 watt LED bike light was chosen. After waving it around over the mud-man to find the most interesting angle, I taped the light to an anglepoise lamp to shine from the upper right.
The final effect is something like a mummy in a lit museum display. It's coarsely textured, contrasty and somewhat dead and nasty-looking. Also, seen this way, its form is fairly ambiguous; you might not recognise it as having a face the first time.

Exposure is f/4, 1/8 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M42 & 19mm extensions. I applied some fine white balance adjustment afterwards, and a little [possibly unnecessary] sharpening.

This was taken very shortly before both the camera and cycle light battery ran out, one about a second before the other... Uncanny. It's like the mud-mummy's curse or something equally daft.

039: Dried Flowers

Another example from the order of dried things from the windowsill, this one a good year or so older than the wheat ear.
These curious purplish flowerheads have retained much of their original shape and vibrancy. I don't know what they're called, but I find them quite impressive because of this simple ability. I wonder if they'll still be standing on the windowsill in a couple more years' time.

036: Lemon & Cloves

This is an old pomander, several years old. No longer citrus-scented, it is now utterly mummified and smells of the pot pourri that it has been lying in. But the mostly-broken cloves that pepper its dusty surface are full of interesting detail and patterns, so they get a big close-up here.
I used my normal manual flash setup with 20mm extension, and at f/5.6 as this aperture usually gives a correct exposure. I used a close tent of white polystyrene boards, foil on top by the flash and a piece of white paper under the front of the pomander.
The paper was close at first and produced a lot of up-light that flattened the image somewhat, so I pulled it away a bit to let an accent of shadow back.

006: Snow Anemones

The snow is still here, and small icicles continue to form from the meltwaters.
It's been difficult to find good subjects today, despite the profound change that an unusually precipitous cold snap can bring. Maybe it's because I find the local area too familiar (or maybe it's just a bit dull,) but I'll put it down to the cold, a slight lack of enthusiasm and the fact that I went out once already today - just not with my camera.
I went to buy some onions and crackers on that short trip. Some of those badly-needed onions were cooked slowly in butter until light brown, slushy and sweet, which when added to lentils and some leftover roast vegetables made a very warming thick soup-stew. Just the thing for days like this. So I'm justifiably compensated, as well as sated. I could have gone out twice, but I wanted to take time over making an interesting lunch today.

Japanese anemones still provide a pretty display in winter, long after they have dried up and fallen still. Flowerheads stubbornly cling the wispy stems and provide a ghostly and beautiful sight when coated in frost or swathed in thick snow.
When shooting them like this, I find that the paler the backdrop the better, and as wide an aperture you can get away with to select details, smudge others and impart a satisfying sense of depth. But not so wide that only one or two heads can be seen. This one was shot at f/2.8.