I’m cooped up in the house and I’m trying to remain sane. And in an effort to keep my sanity during this COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve tried to focus – literally and figuratively – on macro photography. I’ve got the Nikon Df on the PB-4 bellows, which works wonderfully – and after I tried several different lenses and orientations, for now I’ll settle for an inverted Nikkor 55mm f/1.2 lens – one that uses a reversal ring so that I’m photographing through the opposite side of the lens. It’s a poor man’s macro, but hey, I never claimed to be a rich man. And I don’t know anyone who plays their fiddle on the roof…
A few days ago, I went outside – for what seemed to be the first time in ages – and I found a pinecone. I know where this pinecone came from – I picked it up WAY back in November 2019 when I did a photo excursion at the Root Glen in Hamilton College. I took the grounded pinecone as a token of good luck.
Yeah, that’s not working out so well, is it?
Well, I can’t waste this pinecone. So I set it up in my station, and photographed the top of the pinecone – and got some nice artwork out of it.

My God, it looks like someone stacked a whole box of cookies in a swirling pattern. Keep this for Competition Season 2020. If there IS a Competition Season 2020…
Then I photographed the little seashell that I brought back from Atlantic City in 2018. That was when the Stir Crazy team – for which I play when there’s World Tavern Trivia Nationals – won our second consecutive national championship. Now THIS seashell is good luck.

Yesterday, I tried to take a walk around the block. I needed to. There has to be some sort of exercise in my life. And flipping the remote to watch Netflix shows does NOT count as exercise … unless Netflix suddenly picked up the rights to the old :20 Minute Workout exercise show.
I hoped there were blooming flowers along the way. But no. Just a few remaining mounds of snow and some old, straggly twigs.
I plucked one of the twigs and brought it home.
Okay, let’s see what nine photos, focus-stacked, will do for me.

Not bad. I gotta work on the lighting, but at least it’s something worth gawking at.
Yeah, I’ll keep the pinecone one for Competition Season 20-whenever, and if I find any other flora out there worth capturing, I’ll do it. Maybe this will keep me from going completely nuts with this COVID-19 situation.
Maybe.
The pine cone looks like… something else, oddly.
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Oh, the possibilities Chuck…
– a pinch of salt, pepper, cinnamon, oregano, oatmeal, rice, … Scour those cupboards!
– a feather
– a raisin
– a small pile of Fruity Pebbles (Coool, dude!) – milk optional
– crumpled plastic wrap / aluminum foil
– toothbrush bristles
– an inch of twine / rope
– a wood screw
– a match head (white-tipped, pref.), new or used
– transform a sieve into a jail cell
Or create your own “mountain range” with a spoonful of leftover DPW winter gravel.
Okay, I’ll stop. But you could keep yourself busy for months!
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