Puffball

[John Cooper]

Quite a few attampts to get this image without the hand-of-man , or rather the finger of man:)

Two flashes at rear and one fill flash next to lens.
Canon EOS 5, Canon 100mm lens, Velvia 50, 1/200 sec at F16. Tripod.

[Mike Moats]

Hey John, this is way cool and very creative. Great job on the lighting. Very well done.

[Jim Caldwell]

Fantastic image - how about more details on producing such an interesting photograph?

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Wow, amazing capture.
Like Jim mentioned, could you share with us some more details on how u went about it...

rgds,
Kaushik

[John Cooper]

Thanks for the comments. Of course the puffball needs to be encouraged to perform! Normally it would be dew or raindrops falling on the tissue thin wall, other triggers would be falling twigs or animal brushing up against it - some even make a meal out of them.
I triggered the action with my finger - took about 20 shots - 19 of them had my finger protruding in the frame!!! I concluded that the sac must've had a very good supply of spores.

[Jim Caldwell]

You must have amazing reflexes! Did you use any kind of backdrop behind the puffball?

[Nicole Brooker]

Wow this is really cool and I also like the lighting. The green on the bottom really gives it that extra punch too. Great capture.

[Josh Gahagan]

This is great, excellent job capturing the cloud.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Thanks for the comments. Of course the puffball needs to be encouraged to perform! Normally it would be dew or raindrops falling on the tissue thin wall, other triggers would be falling twigs or animal brushing up against it - some even make a meal out of them.
I triggered the action with my finger - took about 20 shots - 19 of them had my finger protruding in the frame!!! I concluded that the sac must've had a very good supply of spores.

I'd seen such phenomenon in David Attenborough's BBC documentary - the 'Private Life of Plants' . And now I am seeing an image.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards,
Kaushik

[Matthew Pugh]

Hi
A nicely executed and enjoyable image
Another easier way of starting this action - use an old fashioned remote release.
All the best
Matthew

[Stephen Stephen]

John I really like this image. As you've said "less is more". There is just enough spore here to tell you waht's happening without overpowering the whole frame.