266: Tea Bubbles

I attached an enlarger lens to the camera with electrical tape to get this shot! Sharpness slightly better than I thought, but not amazing. The composition and foam could have turned out a bit better, but it's an interesting test nonetheless. It was quite difficult to focus the lens, as it only had an aperture ring and I had to move the camera to focus; plus it was f/4.5 wide open, so not a great VF image.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Paterson 1:4.5 M39, 8mm M42 extension tube, 1.4 flash, black velvet, foil reflector, tripod.

204: Chamomile and Calendula

The mixed offerings of home-made tea. The calendula petals add some extra colour to the mix, but I don't think too many should be added, as they are slightly bitter.

Settings: f/5.6, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 77mm extension, 1/4 flash, white cards, copy stand.

181: Luminous Tea Glass

I tried some plain water in this IKEA glass first, and then decided to try some green tea - and the result was much more interesting. The slight hazyness is from the tea sitting in the pot for a while.

Settings: f/11, 1/4 sec, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm, 1/4 flash, glass plate, black foam and cloth, tripod.
I suspended a sheet of glass over two sturdy plastic tubs and topped it with an A4 sheet of black craft foam with a circular hole cut in the middle (just slightly smaller than the base of the glass.) My old Canon flashgun was placed under the glass, pointing directly up with a piece of kitchen paper over it as a rudimentary diffuser.

140: Pouring A Green Tea

A cup of tea, while common, is unique in being so many things to different people.
Some like it any combination of green, brown, white, strong, weak, sweet, dry, milky, lemony, minty, icy, smoky, fruity, tangy, etc... The list goes on.

To me it is simply something that can be both refreshing and comforting, and also energising and relaxing.
To this photo it's apparently frozen!

After using this Pentacon M42 lens for a few shots, here I can say that it is very sharp indeed. The colour seems to be very true as well.

Settings: f/4.8, 1/180, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon f/1.8 M42, 1/4 flash, foil reflectors, black velvet, tripod, remote release.

127: Cup of Tea?

In this case, an after-dinner treat of Green tea with spearmint, lemon balm, sweet woodruff & southernwood. Now, if that isn't poncey, I don't know what is. I made it, so call me a ponce. Tasted interesting, though.
May is definitely the month when it all kicks off in the garden. I can step out and pick a great bunch of varied things to put into my tea.

Non-green tea fans will be relieved to know that I had a "proper" cup of tea at teatime...
And yes, this photo is a day late. Slap my wrist. I just couldn't think of anything to do yesterday.

Settings: f/2.8, 1/15, ISO 100, 50mm Cosinon M42, 10mm extension. Some very slight adjustments in RT.

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.