Nettle

A stinging hair (trichome) approx. 1.5 mm., of the common nettle, Urtica Dioica.

K5, SMC Pentax M 50mm. f1.7 reversed on SMC Pentax M 200mm. f4.
Auto Bellows M, 40mm. extension.
AF280t off-camera diffused flash.
Stack of 17 frames (@ f5.6 on the reversed 50) in Combine ZP.
PP in Elements 11, copy layer high-pass filter, hard-blended.






Thanks for looking, any thoughts welcome,

Roger.

Nature's weapons, beautifully captured!

That is quite a rig! Fabulous result at microscopic scale, any idea of the magnification?

You've perfected a great technique - the magnification and detail is incredible, I like the classic black background too, really sets off the "icy" sharp sting

Very, very impressive. Almost oozing with formic acid and histamines! I'm in awe both of your technique and the common stinging nettle.

Your picture is much better than the one used to illustrate 'Why do nettles sting' in an on-line teaching resource 'Science and Plants for Schools' (www.saps.org.uk). Have you ever thought about making some of your pictures avaiable for educational purposes? They certainly have the 'Wow!' factor that can make science interesting for children.

Steve

Thank you, you're all most kind!

I would say between 6x & 7x, Rob.

I take snaps just for the pleasure of it all, Steve, & I wouldn't know where to start down the road of "making them available".....

Roger.

You could try stock photography sites, the main ones like Shutterstock and Adobe Stock get global coverage but maybe there are specialist ones for botany, and they pay a modest fee each time someone downloads. Shutterstock shows where your photos have been downloaded which gives me more pleasure than the occasional payment, photos of my garden plants for instance have been used all over Europe and Russia and occasionally other continents.

That's a fantastic reward for the trouble you went to there. The detail is truly remarkable.
Did you move the focus ring, the bellows extension or the subject to make the stack?

Wow, thats really something.
What a lovely detailed shot of something that caused sooo much grief when I was a kid and beyond.

Yes Don, they're very efficient at fulfilling the design brief!!

I focus with the ring on the 200mm., Steve.
It's a little complicated to explain, I'll put a shot of the arrangement up layer on........

Thanks for taking the time & the interest shown,

Roger.

What a surreal image. Raw flesh sprouting a glass bird of some kind - or any of many other imaginings... Rather unsettling, this one (which I like!).

Very good indeed... fascinating result...

Best

Excellent result from a masterful approach. Well executed and processed. Impressive image worthy of the efforts involved.

Best regards