A comment made to me:

"Wow! Almost looks like a biological structure! It really shows the intrinsic link between chemistry and biology. No use as a lens though."

(Coker)

Setting my focus manually for my macros was becoming more difficult, aligning a black insect pin with half-degree accuracy.....
Ah, I know!
What I need is a v. small magnifier/lens to "enlarge" the needle-point/degree marks.
Amazon didn't seem to have anything suitable, so I thought...
I'll make one!

I put a bead ( about 10 mm. diam.) of superglue on a mic. slide. This sat up nicely in a hemispherical shape, just like a lens, in fact!
I let it "dry" for about an hour, then thought that it could be higher, so put another couple od drops on & left it to do its thing, i.e. set.

When I next looked, it was as though the (glass-clear) drop had curdled, crystallised.....

Onto the macro set-up & this was revealed.......







Thoughts, anyone?
Explanation?
Magic?

Thanks for looking,

Roger.

YES!!

Seedpods of snapdragon flowers but not cut, these are as they are & develop into human skull shapes as they mature!

Well done!

Roger.

Simply let me know what you think these are......






Good Luck, all!
(For amusement only!)

Roger.

well done Steve for picking up the challenge!
And, particularly, for doing your own thing with it, to such different, dark & eerie effect!

Roger.

Pentax K5, 100mm. D FA Macro.
Auto Bellows M.

Godox 600 off camera flash. diffused.

Stack of 67 shots, 3 x 22 groups to give the computer a chance to keep up......
Combine ZP.

Elements 11.





Thanks for looking, any c&c welcome.

Roger.

Rob,
These are lovely.
Well done indeed!

Roger.

Thank you, Steve.

I would think that, in a small unit such as this, spiders' silk comes into it's own in the strength/weight dept.!

So. a fine, black insect pin with its point superglued perpendicularly into the back of the package, pointing back, away from the lens along its axis, with a 90 degree downward bend into & held by a spring clothes-peg.

All against a "distant" black foamboard b/g, kept well out of the way of the flash, mounted left of the lens.

All from 25 images focus stacked in Combine ZP, thence Elements 11

All solid as a rock........

Roger.

I think this was a small crane fly, before it became prey to a spider on a bedroom window board (inside).





Some things I noted from within....

The facets of an eye.
A bunch of legs, gathered together.
The iridescence of a wing.
And... is that an egg in there?


(It's about 10mm "high")


Thanks for looking,

Roger.

K5,100mm. D FA Macro.
Pentax Auto Bellows M.
Diffused Godox TT600 flash.

12 image stack in Combine ZP.
Elements 11.







All & any comments welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Roger.