Bauble

Thanks so much to everyone who commented and/or gave stars to my blip yesterday - I didn't realise it would cause so much interest!

Anyway this is my first serious attempt at a macro shot using the new twin LED lights. A little Christmas bauble (3cm diameter) seemed a logical choice of subject today as we were dismantling the Christmas tree following 12th Night.

My "macro" lens system is very primitive (see here), involving sellotaping  a 20 dioptre lens (which I used to use in my ophthalmic practice!) to the front of my 18-55mm zoom, so the working distance is very short and depth of focus minimal (requiring focus stacking in Photoshop). This makes lighting tricky - I don't think a ring flash would fit in, even if I had one! I found it wasn't possible to get rid of all shadows using the twin LED lights, but the flexible stalks allowed me to manipulate the shadows until I was happy with them.