Another "pollen" job

[John Robinson]

Puff balls giving off spores. This is activated by a drop of water on a ripe puffball(see droplet lower centre.) Took the longest time of any pic I have ever taken. heather Angel pioneered this type of photography(bless her ) along with wide angle flower stuff. She's not been bettered in my opinion and that was film days !.
Taken off a mamyia 645 transparency copied with a close up lens and a bit of drainpipe.
Ecktachrome 100 AsA
Probably about f22
Three flashes.
Thanks for previous comments.
Appreciated.

[Diane Miller]

What a perfect shape of the "smoke" -- I love it!

[John Robinson]

Thanks Dianne
Something I hadn't really noticed until you mentioned it !
Does look quite nice !
Cheers
John

[Jonathan Ashton]

I recognise the set up and shot - got the book! (I tried it ...and failed miserably - the spores would not spurt out!) I really like the arrangement, with film retrospective comments can be irritating but if ever you had the opportunity to repeat I would suggest making the flash a little more gentle and reducing some of the contrast. Having said that I admire this image I can appreciate the work that went into it.

[Valerio Tarone]

Amazing the idea, perfect the realisation.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi John. The swirls of pollen in the air are very cool! In multi-year hindsight, I would agree with Jon that more diffuse flash would have made the photo even better. Nevertheless, this is a striking image!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Nothing to add to the comments already given. Spectacular capture John!

[Mitch Haimov]

Spores look amazing. Light on the leaves seems rather harsh. I would have been inclined to remove the tall leaves at left.

[Janet Heintz]

Very cool!
Love this image. Might bring down the highlights just a smidge. But overall just beautiful.
Great Action.
Janet

[Cheryl Slechta]

Magical, Johnny.