Alien Seed ( macro)

[Bob C.]

More commonly known as a sweet gum husk (seeds removed).

I recently moved from New England, where this tree does not grow, to the south where it is common. I collected a few husks with intentions to photograph the unusual shape. The photography section of “Talk Graphics” is one of the sections I hadn't visited with much frequency until discovering the “ Full moon part #3” photographs a few days ago.

That motivated me to finally photograph this 1.5" diameter “Alien Seed” and post it here. This photo was manipulated in IrfanView, Corel PhotoPaint and XaraXtreme 4.

I wonder if these seed pods ever made their way to a “Star Trek” set?

Bob C.

[iamtheblues]

I think the seeds grow into tribbles, Bob
Nice shot, by the way.
Saludos,
Bob.

[raynerj1]

nice Bob...

Can we see the unretouched shot? Did you blur the background with an external program, or did you set the depth of field very short? Most auto settings would use a longer depth of field.

[Bob C.]

Thank you Bob and John,

@ iamtheblues
Ahhh yes tribbles. of course! :-)

@ raynerj1
The two pictures of the seed husk were taken indoors on a black cloth and looked brighter on the camera's LCD screen then on the computer but I could see detail there and decided to use them. The “unretouched” husk picture has been reduced in size because when viewed at 100% the husk measured 11.25" wide on my screen. It is posted here as requested.

The background image of the posted “Alien Seed ( macro)” was taken with an aperture wide open at ~ F2.0 from a photograph I made of a fly that was perched long enough on the outside of a window to allow me to grab a macro shot or two before it flew off. If you look carefully at that attached fly picture you can see the circular reflection of the large Carl Zeiss lens in the window.

Bob C.

[raynerj1]

Thanks Bob.

From all the tools you said you had used on the husk I was not sure how much was "photo" and how much was external program. Nice "photograph". You just enhanced what was there. Good Job.