D 90 - Not all that glitters is gold

Macro close-up on a hand sharpened pencil.

I'm trying to make some improvements to the visual side of the blog every once in a while. I think that the dark borders around photos help to frame the compositions within them.

Equipment

E-510, 6-15-27mm extension tubes and Helios 44-4. Flash with a soft-box, aluminum sheet reflector.

What I learned

Not every macro proves to be as fascinating as those of thorny chestnut skin. Perhaps most man-made objects are just a very poor imitation of mother nature.

If you look at natural objects you will find them showing new fascinating textures from naked eye view all the way to atomic structure. At every level there is an organization of elements because the nature "made" them as a bottom-up designs - the characteristics of the smallest particles forces specific arrangements at higher levels.

When man designs and produces an item, he thinks top-down. He knows what he wants in the end and then works out what materials and arrangements to use at smaller scales. And there is no particle in this universe that would naturally form itself into a blender, bicycle or a Zuiko Digital lens. So at some structural level man-made things have to be clumsy, simplified, dull and ugly.

Or so says Zarathustra.

D 89 - Master Frodo?

Taking advantage of the warm lamplight in my living room.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
Tone levels and color mix in Lightroom.

What I learned

With relatively slow shutter speed (1/10 - 1/20 sec) making shots in a series greatly increased my chance to capture a any sharp photo.

D 88 - Incarnate

Limitations fuel creation. Again.

I was thinking about a nice close-up shot with my palms spread around an eye for a Pan's Labyrinth like effect. But since I had a macro rings with Helios lens on, I decided to keep this magnification factor and work something out within it.

Equipment

E-510 with all three extension tubes (yeah, now I remember - that's the name) and Helios 44-4 on a tripod.

Cropped and changed to greyscale in Lightroom.

What I learned

This is the mode of work I like not only with photography. It is more like a philosophy for me. I try to approach a subject with some idea in mind and then react to the insights I have while working on it, experiment and come up with something different than what I planned but exciting and satisfying.

D 87 - Does not apply to trams

Just a scene as seen from a car.

Equipment

Samsung s630.

What I learned

Any dirt stains on the windshield can be made irrelevant by putting the lens very close to the glass. Reflections however are a big concern and difficult to avoid when the shot must be done quickly.

D 86 - Chestnuts

Macro festival goes on.
These are some dried chestnuts skins from the Fall. I never thought that they had so much texture and color in them.

Equipment

E-510 with 15mm (the 1st photo) and 48mm (the 2nd one) macro distance rings between the body and the Pentacon 30 3.5. Tripod
Aperture f/22, exposure 30+ seconds. Mirror lock-up.

What I learned

Distance rings are excellent but they severely decrease the amount of light reaching the sensor. So do very small apertures, which are necessary to get some depth of field.

I had some wild ideas today, one was to put the distance rings between the camera body and the Tair 300mm lens. I got a 1:2 magnification factor from a distance of about 2m from the sensor. But the lens is so heavy that I can't hold it steady enough for macro.

D 85 - You smoke?

An older photo, from February. But it matches today's weather perfectly.

Equipment

Nokia 6233 phone 2MPix camera.
Selective color saturation and sharpness in Lightroom.

What I learned

If you know how to use yours, the mobile phone camera is your best friend.

I love the reflections from convex surfaces. They are even better than fish-eye lens shots.

D 84 - Red Hole

I got myself a new toy!
Three macro distance rings for m42 lens mount. This allows me to use my Helios and Pentacon lens as excellent macro equipment.

With all three rings attached Pentacon 30 3.5 focuses from about 1-2 cm from the lens surface and the Pentacon a maximum f/22 aperture. I must measure what magnification factor it has effectively. But this looks like about 1:1 or even larger.

Equipment

E-510 with 3 macro rings and Pentacon 30 3.5 at the end.

What I learned

Gadgets are a fuel for inspiration. I myself regret to conclude this but this is a verified fact.