Mystery Macro - Practicing for WInter

I spent the morning taking extremely close-up shots of all kinds of things around the house and I had flashbacks to days during last winter and the one before, when it was cold and dark and I was in need of a blip.  I started off with my 90 mm macro lens, + extension tube, and a +10 diopter so I could get really close.  Most of the shots weren't very interesting.   Then I had the brilliant idea to switch to the Lensbaby Velvet56, + extension tube and +4 diopter.  I once again got none that I was happy with (so it wasn’t such a brilliant idea after all)  but I did see that this will be a very fun lens to use this winter because it can make very ordinary things look quite beautiful.  Finally, I switched to the Lensbaby Sweet Optic 35 with macro converter and I shot this.  

It isn’t likely that you will be able to guess what it is.  It is a small part of a larger antique item, so nothing that would be on anyone’s radar, but I’ll show it to you tomorrow in my extra anyway.  As I kept taking shots of all these household items, I realized that it was an extremely good exercise in experimenting with the different lenses, lighting, composition, backgrounds, selective focus and post processing in an effort to capture something that would be mysterious but have some aesthetic appeal.  I am not sure I have totally succeeded, but it’s a start.  I’ll have plenty more time this winter to practice.  

Thanks in advance to all of you for joining in again for Tiny Tuesday and the Mystery Macro Challenge. I will post my favorites on Thursday.  As I am on the later side of the world, it may already be Friday for some of you.