Various Seed Pods

[JSkory]

Hello again. Thought I would share a few of my pictures. As I mentioned in my earlier post I am still quite new at this game. I am using a stereo microscope, basically the same as AmScope but with a different brand, along with a 28MP camera and I use Helicon Focus 7 for stacking.
Here are some various seed pods I picked up in the woods behind our house.

All comments and criticism are welcome - it's the best way to learn.

[stacked from 32 images] not the best background but I like the seeds.


A number of seeds still attached to the flower head. [stacked from 6 images]


Closeup of a single seed head. [stacked from 63 images]
Any suggestions for lighting so that I don't get the bright reflections from the strands? Some type of diffusion? So far I have not used any.


The seeds from above have very long tails. I had to stitch several photos together because I couldn't fit it all in at my lowest magnification.
Again, not the best background. And the filaments definitely did not come out real well. Would a different background and different lighting help with this?


No idea how many images I had. I used CombineZP to stack this before I purchased Helicon.


Here is a Burr with all those little hooks that attach so well to your clothes when walking through fields. [stacked from 76 images]


And a closeup of the hooks on the end [stacked from 12 images] The focus on this did not come out real good. Probably partly because my method of focusing is to very slightly nudge the focus ring of the 0.5X lens under the camera.
I will try this again sometime soon using the Bausch & Lomb compound microscope base I bought off of ebay since I can move it about 1 micrometer at a time with the fine focus knob.

[klevin]

Very inspirational, and I like the one without the green background best. Have you thought about using a more neutral background? I'm afraid the textured green background adds nothing from my POV.

[Lou Jost]

I very much agree with Kevin. The choice of background is almost as important as the choice of subject, and these textured industrial-green backgrounds are unpleasant to look at and distracting from the subjects.

Diffusion would greatly improve your pictures. It is one of the most important things we all do. The forum is full of advice about how to do that, so I would recommend you take a look at the many solutions presented here. I often use a simple cylinder of tracing paper.

[klevin]

In my own shooting, I find either a black or a white background look best, depending on a light or dark subject - you wouldn't want a dark subject with a dark background. I also find that spacing between the background and subject is important, so none of the background is even close to being in focus.

The one exception to the above is that last summer I was shooting field stacks in my garden. Most were not true macro, just closeup, but the out of focus backgrounds made for lovely pictures.

[Lou Jost]

I think black or white are safe choices, but I also think that other backgrounds are often interesting. But they only work if they are carefully chosen to nicely harmonize or contrast with the subject.

[JSkory]

Thanks for the advise guys. I have only recently started to start holding subjects above the background. I have a shipment coming tomorrow with a flexible arm with a rotatable alligator clip to help hold the subjects above the background. As well as some ping pong balls.

E.g. I purchased a battery operated gooseneck LED light. Unfortunately I started noticing that it would occasionally start flickering. Not noticeable looking at it but the images for stacking had slightly different lighting which caused problems when stacking.

I’m planning on going to IKEA this weekend to pick up a couple of their USB gooseneck LEDs.

So I’m slowly building up equipment and techniques.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[MarkSturtevant]

Arranging for an out of focused background would be best. A black one seems appropriate. A white background probably would not show the filaments well.
As for other backgrounds, I like to use paint swatches, which are free from hardware stores. All varieties of colors are possible then.