Non insect macros anyone?

Indian Strawberry. About the size of the nail on my little finger.

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My first attempt at frozen soap bubbles. Wasn't quite cold enough Wed. morning (-14C). I was doing it in the garage because it was too windy outside. I also should have used tripod and different lighting. But it was good practice, now I just have to wait for cold to return!

I think that's a fantastic result for a first attempt. Always wanted to do this but I hate the cold.

Thank You. That was the beauty of doing it in the attached garage. Easy to step into the house and warm up a little.

Been wanting to try a macro leaf for awhile... going to focus stack next time as f18 wasn't quite enough.

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Handmade borosilicate marble interior.

greyswan wrote in post #19322422
Handmade borosilicate marble interior.

Hosted photo: posted by greyswan in
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forum: Macro

Nicely done! I need to set up my bench burner again - it's over 8 years since I last played with molten glass... Mesmerizing stuff to work with.

-Pat

Thank you. If you're a maker, I will tell you I get lost gazing into the glass patterns as well, even though I have never made anything with glass. Amazing process to watch.

Been working on learning how to use a device for producing water drop photos. When I started the acceptable captures were at best 1 in 100 (maybe worse); and after much trail and error (and swearing), the rate is now 1 in 10 (still swearing though). This is an addictive and frustrating endeavor, you get a good photo and think "Yes, I figured it out" and then nothing for the next 10-20 tries.

These are the ones that worked:

Strange Christmas Tree

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Excellent series Rick
Know nothing of process, just an admirer of the results.

You've certainly captured some interesting shapes.

Keep it up and keep posting

Yes, it's as rewarding as it is frustrating. I never used a flash underneath but sounds like an interesting idea. I used 3 flash w/ snoots to direct the light better, one on each side & the third mounted above. The slightest adjustment can change the results dramatically. Which time machine are you using? This is a great winter project & I haven't done it in a few years. May have to give it a go when the temps get low.

Thanks for sharing.

greyswan wrote in post #19322699
Thank you. If you're a maker, I will tell you I get lost gazing into the glass patterns as well, even though I have never made anything with glass. Amazing process to watch.

My ex got me into making beads with her, and I branched out and made a few marbles along the way as well. The trick with the marbles is to resist the reflex to try to catch one if it breaks away from the punty and rolls off the table. I dug back through old pics and found a few closeups of beads.

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Cubdriver wrote in post #19323307
My ex got me into making beads with her, and I branched out and made a few marbles along the way as well. The trick with the marbles is to resist the reflex to try to catch one if it breaks away from the punty and rolls off the table. I dug back through old pics and found a few closeups of beads.

IMAGE LINK: https://photos.smugmug​.com …/IMG_7061-XL.jpg&lb=1&s=A on Smugmug

IMAGE LINK: https://photos.smugmug​.com …/IMG_7064-XL.jpg&lb=1&s=A on Smugmug

IMAGE LINK: https://photos.smugmug​.com …/IMG_7066-XL.jpg&lb=1&s=A on Smugmug

IMAGE LINK: https://photos.smugmug​.com …/IMG_3506-XL.jpg&lb=1&s=A on Smugmug

https://photos.smugmug​.com …/IMG_3509-XL.jpg&lb=1&s=A on Smugmug

You can really get some incredible patterns and colors from the reactive borosilicate glasses. Soft glass was catching up color-wise back when I last worked with it, but it still doesn't have quite the refractive pop that clear encased boro does. (These are all old enough that they were taken with my 20D.)

-Pat

Ooooohhhh - I'm drooling... Lovely work! I'm a great admirer of people who work with glass, it's so precise in execution, so much knowledge needed, and such ephemeral results!

Pigpen: I use a MIOPS splash unit mounted on an old enlarger stand. The unit sync's with my cell phone via Bluetooth connection for all the settings. Between the time for setup / shooting / take down and clean-up, it is a great way to eat up a day (or two). Given the recent weather in central Calif, we been having lots of inside time. This type of photography is highly addictive.

The under flash housing was another one of my "how can I do this?" ideas. Basically, the housing is a home-built plexiglass unit to hold the flash at 90 degrees to the water holder with a mirror mounted at 45 degrees through a clear plexiglass to direct the flash up through the water. I'm lucky enough to have RF sync'ed flashes which allows the use of the housing, I don't know if this will work on a optical sync (might have to use sync cords)

I used the opaque white plexiglass for the sides and top to keep the stray light under control, the first unit was all clear plexiglass and that was a problem. I also built a large plexiglass tray to try to keep the stray water under control, which really helps keep the water in one place (important when on a desk with lots of paper / stuff). Here are a couple of photos for the unit:

Housing with water holder over clear portion

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Another of my "non insect / flower" macro photos. I had a bunch of left-over iron fillings from knife sharpening and some really strong rare-earth magnets (and too much time on my hands). I put a piece of plexiglass over the filling's container with the magnet on the other side and shook the fillings up to the magnet. The resulting clump of fillings (about an inch/25mm high) shows the magnetic lines of force. Just used window light for light to keep the shadows from being too harsh. Think middle school science project.

Each photo was the result of about ten exposures at various focus points and then put into Photoshop for focus-stacking.

Basic clump of filings (magnet is slightly visible at the bottom)

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