346: Sticky Cupcake

Settings: f/8 (approx,) 1/180, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44-2 M42, 19mm extension, 1/4 flash (bounced,) cardboard, tripod. Tone curve adjustments, crop to 16:9.

328: Pepper Juice Purses

Not seaweed, but capsicum. The firm pockets of juice on the inner walls of this yellow pepper are very shiny, and are highlighted very effectively by lighting sideways on.

Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 68mm extension, 1/4 flash, tripod. Colour and levels adjustment, slight sharpen and crop.

321: Bad Apple, Raw Shark

Prior to the inevitable removal of moth larva-eaten areas before consumption, this apple inspired me when cut in half. I was already expecting the damage, due to the tell-tale hole in the skin, but this pattern interested me.

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 19mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, tripod. Levels & colour adjustments, slight sharpen, crop to 4:3.

300: Tomato-Twig Arrangement

The 300th image so far; Only 65 more until the year is up...

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44M M42, 9mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, black velvet, tripod.

294: Grapes on Vine

Settings: f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 200, DA 16-45 (38mm.)

288: Turban Squash Top

Settings: f/9, 1/1.3, ISO 100, DA 16-45 (45mm.)

276: Gloopy Apple Web

At first I thought this was some kind of cocoon, but I think it's just a wet spider nest. The dip in the top of this apple seems like as good a place as any to establish a tiny nest / hiding place / gloopy weird mass / etc.

I tried a reversed FA 50mm with this, and it works surprisingly well - with a magnification ratio of about 1:1.5. It's very smooth and sharp, but the focus can't be adjusted, and flare could be a significant problem if turned toward the light. (No hood other than something improvised can be fitted.) The only easy option is to shift the lens body forward by twisting the focus ring so it protrudes past the front element a bit.

f/5.6, 1/2.5, ISO 100, reversed P-FA 50mm with 49-52mm step-up & 52mm-PK adapter, tripod.

268: Skin, Scored

Settings: f/16, 1/4, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44-2 M42, 19mm extension, 1/4 flash, black velvet, tripod. Cropped square.

263: Blackberry Muddle

Settings: f/5.6, 1/25, ISO 200, 135mm Soligor M42 1:2.8.

261: Ripening Tomatoes

The traffic lights are all on at once here, but they're very slow to change. And they get eaten; those two red examples were picked later in the day.

Settings: f/3 (approx,) 1/200, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44-2 M42. Some curves and colour adjustment, slight sharpen and crop.

253: A Mass of Elderberries

Many bunches of elderberries gathered today; these are destined for the pan, to make a rich cordial.

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

237: Peach Top

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

206: Pink Gooseberries

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 9mm extension, 1/4 flash, white foam and cards, tripod.

194: The Imposter

That lone strawberry is looking a little misplaced among twenty-three small, sour, apples.

Settings: f/8, 1/3, ISO 200, P-FA 50mm, 1/4 flash, black cloth & white cards, copy stand.

189: Hilda's Berries

There berries are fresh; some slightly shriveled areas, but they're still tasty.
The variety of dark red tones of these berries show up well.

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

188: Blackcurrants Aplenty

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

171: The Gooseberry

Settings: f/8, 1/160, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 32mm extension.

153: Strawberry Valley

Settings: f/11, 1/2.5, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 49mm extension, 1/4 flash, white paper, beanbag.

056: A Juicy Orange

(...Yeah, that's right.)
f/11, 1/180 sec, ISO 100, same lens setup as yesterday. The camera pointed nearly all the way down onto the half orange; the flash was angled down and a foil hood highlighted the fresh, juicy areas nicely.
I found it important to use quite a tight directional light here, otherwise using white reflectors would flatten the image - lessening the bright highlighted spots and overall contrast. The only thing I wish I had got better was a more even distribution of light from top to bottom. The top area looks quite bright, but further down it becomes slightly dull in comparison. I could always fiddle with the brightness contour, but I didn't want to. I merely got rid of some dust spots.

This orange was a tasty one.

047: Pear Top

Pears - the juiciest pomes of all, in my opinion. If you like the "Conference" variety, then I recommend growing a tree. On a good year their taste can beat any shop-bought ones, as long as they're ripe enough.
The background here was a document sleeve from a filing cabinet, if that's what they're called; it has a lovely deep green that complements the lighter tone of the pear. It has a slightly mottled effect as well, in a way again like a portrait background. This is much like the onion photo I took in January, rather like a fruity re-working of a similar theme.
Settings were f/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 200, 50mm M42, 21mm extension, low flash, white reflector.

The end of the stalk looks like a prune.