305: Corner-Worn

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44M M42, 77mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil & white reflectors, tripod.

243: Droplet Shiny Balls

Settings: f/5.6 (approx,) 1/180, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44-2 M42, 51mm extension, 1/4 flash, black velvet, foil reflector, tripod.

179: Leningrad 4

Settings: f/4.5 (approx,) 1/180, ISO 100, 58mm Helios-44 M42, 33mm extension, white card, tripod. Slight cropping.

077: Condensation

These water drops have formed on the inside of a windowsill propagator. I have managed to get a wide range of grey tones all across this photo, but the background was white. The flash was bounced down, but it didn't hit much of the background. I like the result.
I had to do quite a lot of clone-stamp correction on this, as there were some moulding lines and an adhesive tape mark that I couldn't make out with normal vision.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm M42, 87mm extension, 1/4 flash, foil reflector.

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.

061: Coriander Root

I kept his root from a large coriander plant I grew in 2008. It smelt quite strong, and I thought it might be useful in cooking. It didn't keep its aroma though, and just hangs around now because it looks quite interesting. It would have been nicer to have had more than one of these on show, but it's still good singly.

Settings: f/11, 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M42, 19mm extension, low flash, foil reflector, grey foam background and white paper under front of subject.

041: Cosmic 35

Oops. I didn't upload this one on its designated day, (i.e. yesterday.) I got a bit careless, it seems. First of a series of slip-ups this year, I am guessing. Even if I don't miss any other days for most of the year, I'm sure that Christmas will give me some trouble. But that's a future problem to be sorted out.
Honestly though, it was taken yesterday - the EXIF data proves it.

Pictured is a detail of the top film counter dial on a little Cosmic 35 (Smena 8) camera, mostly showing the film speed conversion chart. That metal knob is nearly 2mm wide. I presume Gost is an old Russian film speed standard.

I used the same greatly-extended macro setup as used in the last photo. The depth of field at f/1.8 is virtually paper-thin; and even at f/5.6, used here, it is clearly still unforgiving. Usual 1/180 sec. ISO 100 was used.
I presumed the flash white balance preset would work OK, (as it usually does,) But I found that the camera's JPEG looked too blue. Granted, the grey plastic on the camera body has an ever-so-slightly blue tint, but this seemed too much. I adjusted the colour temperature to what I think is more realistic.