Fluid dance

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Some more work with the MIOPS Splash this evening.
By forcing the camera to see the initial trigger (equivalent to a half-press on the shutter button), the timing scatter is reduced significantly. This is something I found was necessary with my earlier DIY setup, so it's no surprise it helps here too.
I've included a composite image that I quite liked, and a behind-the-scenes shot too, both after the jump.

This might be my entry for the 52Frames High Key challenge, but I'll see if I come up with anything better during the week before I commit to submitting it!

Multigrade?

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I saw some interesting condensation droplets on the ice packs from my frozen pizza dough delivery this evening, and ended up playing with the new Godox macro flashes.
This colour combination put me in mind of many happy hours spent in the darkroom using multigrade filters to adjust the contrast of my B&W prints.

Sunny Disposition

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Today was better.

I indulged in some retail therapy last night, and ordered a pair of Godox MF12 Macro flashguns that I've been considering for a while. They are pretty nice.

Featherlight

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Playing with feathers again.
A pure white feather this time, backlit, and producing colours by diffraction through the fine structures.
@andrewfusekpeters has some incredible shots of this effect in the wild, so make sure you check out his work if you don't already know about him.

Silica Gel

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Whiteboard Marker.

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A couple of shots of a whiteboard marker in action. Both are stacks captured with the WeMacro rail and stacked with Helicon Focus.
The wider shot was with my Sigma 105mm macro, and the closer shot was with the MP-E65mm macro lens. I'm not totally satisfied with the closer shot, I think it's got a touch of motion blur from the focus rail being in fast mode without sufficient settling time. One to revisit, I think.

One more after the jump.

Aphids

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I was about to bin these old roses when I noticed some aphids living on them.

Counters(t)ink

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One spotted by my colleague today. He was countersinking some metal plates for a prototype we are working on, and noticed the cutting oil was making interesting smoke patterns.

I could have done with some more light and time on this one, but you do what you can with what you've got on hand!
I might have another go at something like this in the future, I think it could be better with some flashes and a bit more setup effort.

One more from last night too, also fitting the mono theme, after the jump.

Whopping Daisies

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I’ve got Bailey for a few days, and we went to the local park this afternoon.
There were some enormous daisies in flower today. They must have been about 40 or 50mm across (1.5 – 2”).
Probably an ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.
I thought it was an optical illusion when I caught sight of the first one, so went over and had a better look at it!

A few more after the jump.

Pic 4 is the dog tax, as is customary.

Pollinator

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I'm with my in-laws for the weekend, and their garden is a real fiesta of bee activity.
It's not perfect, but I was quite pleased with this one.

Twins / Blue Mist / Long Shadows

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I went for a wander in the woods today.
It was rather pleasant, and the bluebells were looking great.

A couple more after the jump.

A Forest of Capacitors

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A spot of electronic repair this evening, which turned out to be quite interesting - the failure wasn't strictly electronic, but one of the components had a fractured lead from metal fatigue caused by vibration.

Man Takes Picture of Flower

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Again.

I guess this is getting a bit boring. I need to try and diversify my subject matter a bit, I think.
That said, I was quite happy with this one, especially for something shot handheld outdoors.

Speedwell

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A walk in the woods with a local wildlife group and Bailey today.
Phone pic of a worn-out Bailey after the jump, to pay the dog tax 😊

I want to go back with a better setup, and without the time pressure of a guided walk to re-shoot a few subjects I saw today.

Herb Robert / Opportunistic Spider

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Went for a quick wander in the woods to see if I could catch the last few rays of sun on the bluebells. That was moderately successful, but I preferred this one.
I gave it a little bit of help with a mini cube LED light with a snoot fitted, which I think quite nicely mimicked a gentle sunbeam, and just lifted the subject out from the background a bit more.

The spider in the second picture (after the jump) isn't in perfect focus in quite the right place, but I was reasonably happy with it for a very opportunistically grabbed shot. Again, I gave the beastie a bit of light from the LED cube, as it was rather dim in the undergrowth.

Networking Notworking

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"Update your firmware", they said.
"It'll make things better", they said.
"Your lights won't turn on", they neglected to mention.
"Your thermostat will be unreachable", they omitted to describe.

Roll back the firmware, I did.
Curse the internet of things, I did.
Roundly, and at length!

Tomatoes in Progress

I’m staying with my in-laws for a couple of days, and they have fingers that are substantially greener than mine. For reference, I appear to have the mysterious ability to accidentally kill off any plants that come within about 100m of me.
They are propagating a burgeoning collection of veg on their windowsill, and the hairs on this tomato plant were really catching the sun this morning.

I wasn’t totally happy with the photos I took this morning, so I came back later with a torch and had another go.
I could have done with focus stacking these, but although I have both the camera and laptop here, I stupidly don’t have the right USB cable with me!
A couple more after the jump.

Bluebells

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Playing With Fire

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I've been wanting to do something with fire for a while, and now felt like a good time.

Brass swarf from the lathe and a few drops of alcohol produces an interesting surreal effect of burning metal.
Unlike real burning metal, this is relatively safe and controllable!

Peek

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The tulip from a few days ago has opened.

I should have focus stacked this one for optimal effect, but I'm tired and feeling slightly under par today, so I skipped that.