Bloodroot seeds--macro

Description:

Very close shot of the individual seeds, which are about 2.5 mm in diameter. They remind me of red bowling balls, or perhaps jawbreakers. The fleshy, gelatin-like structures on the sides of the seeds are elaiosomes, which are attractive to ants. (Or perhaps the elaiosomes are actually the white nuggets inside the gelatinous structures.) Lighting a subject like this is tough--you end up getting a reflection of your light source. I used a Canon twin-head macro flash with more power on the left. That gave a rather harsh highlight on the left, so in this photo, I diffused that by passing it through a thin white plastic dish. The result was good, but still not quite what I want--"diffuse, yet directional." (This reminds me of the ideal garden soil, "moist, yet well-drained"--rather a contradiction.)Sanguinaria_canadensisPCCA20070519-2308A