293: Pepper Seeds

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 51mm extension, 1/4 flash, silver & white reflectors, tripod. Slight crop.

238: Calendula Seed Head

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

153: Strawberry Valley

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

132: The Ticking Clock

As dandelions tend to broadcast their seed prolifically if you leave them to their own devices, I don't like to have many of them out in the garden; even though they look nice. I brought a couple in to photograph.
This one was just like this, but I noticed that having a gap added some extra interest and also gave a slightly clearer view to the centre.

Settings: f/4.8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 26mm extension, 1/4 flash, white reflector, tripod.

071: Sunflower Seeds

It's Stock Photo Friday! Yep, they are what they look like. Although it has to be said that the photo was taken at a lower magnification than it may seem; these seeds are the big variety - many of them are 2cm long.
I am cracking some open and munching on the kernels as I type this, sampling salty fingers and typing.
This may not be the best idea I've ever had, if I consider all the germs that must call my keyboard their home. But builds up the resistance, as they say. Anyway, I reckon they're all my germs.

Settings: f/8, 1/180, ISO 200, 50mm, 19mm extentsion, white reflectors on top and both sides.

058: Star Anise

The star anise was blu-tacked onto a sheet of glass, supported at an angle and parallel with the camera.
It's a very spare composition, but the strong shape and mix of textures are attention-grabbing.

Settings: f/9, 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M4, 19mm extension, low flash, foil above, beige paper behind and white paper underneath.

054: Capsicum Hues

To me, peppers are not only delicious to eat, but fascinating when cut open. I found this particular pepper of special interest because of its traffic-signal-like distribution of colour.
Settings were f/9, 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M42, 29mm extension, low flash firing to right with foil and white reflectors.
I took some at a different angle before, with much more seeds visible. These were very nice details, but I preferred this second view as the curves and plump inner skin textures seem much more pleasing.

037: Cardamoms

A little scene of cardamom pods that look like people in a crowd; Many of them seem to be looking upwards, in the way I see it.
The pods were well past their best. They were stuck to a sheet of glass with small blobs of blue plasticine, hence the avoidant high angle; I cropped the photo mostly to avoid some stray blue blobs at the lower sides that I didn't notice before. A piece of pale yellow paper ran under the glass and emerged upwards behind as a backdrop.

Settings are 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 50mm M42 with 20mm extension. I used the flash firing up and forward with a white refector above. I tried f/4 to start, but I settled on f/5.6 as it provided a more rounded exposure.
I also couldn't help adjusting the colours from the RAW file, as there is a very stylised and faintly strange feel to this scene. The added contrast also improves the texture of the pods.