The gall of it

The common spangled gall wasp produces these little discs that you find on the underside of oak leaves.  They house the larvae of the wasp, feeding on the tissues of the leaf.  Although they look a bit unsightly they don't actually harm the oak tree itself.

This was an exercise in playing with focus stacking in macro photography to see what sort of settings were required.  I've stacked 45 shots to get this depth of field, and to be honest I probably needed to add at least another 45 to get the full 1.5cm of front to back detail sharp.  For example, the uppermost edges of the leaf on the right hand side of the frame are not quite there yet.

It is however a really interesting process as the amount of detail that you then get in your shot is quite stunning. I love the little darker green leaf capillaries you can see - these are not visible to my eyes normally even when wearing reading glasses.

Earlier in the day Cathy had been for a walk in the sunshine.  I took the camera, with a 24-70mm lens on it.  Needless to say, we saw both a kestrel and separately a buzzard, both of which stayed around for more than long enough to have been able to get some good shots ... had I got a longer lens.  As it is I'll have to put that miss down to experience.  Next time always take a longer lens, just in case!