Measured Ripeness

A vintage micrometer with a blueberry held in its jaws, shown in profile against a white background. The C-frame body is engraved with a conversion table and three patent dates.
A blueberry held in the jaws of a micrometer — J. Matthew Buchanan

I’ve got a long-running project that marries photography with a hobby of mine – collecting patent markings. I’m working to photograph some of the markings in my collection, but progress has been slow. Like, measured-in-years slow. I’m ok with it, though, because it always brings me joy when I manage to squirrel away a bit of time to think of creative ways to capture an old patent marking.

I made this photograph in a bit of a hurry after finishing some others for my Permanently Marked project. The idea struck me as I was eating a handful of blueberries while putting the scoops back in their storage container in the garage. I glanced down at this old micrometer and at the blueberry in my hand, and then, of course, had the urge to measure the blueberry. Weird, right? But, once I did, and saw the contrast of the fresh blueberry against the cold metal of the tool, I knew I had a great shot.

So I quickly reassembled my backdrop, set the lights up again, and started shooting.

Metadata

Published
April 26, 2026
Camera Make
Canon
Camera
Canon EOS R5
Lens
RF100mm F2.8 L MACRO IS USM
Focal Length
100mm
Aperture
f/22
Shutter Speed
1/3s
ISO
ISO 100
Captured
February 9, 2025, 4:15 PM
Exposure Program
Manual
Metering Mode
Multi-segment
Flash
No Flash
White Balance
Auto
Creator
J. Matthew Buchanan
City
Perrysburg
State
Ohio
Country
United States
Copyright
Copyright 2025 J. Matthew Buchanan
Rights Usage Terms
All use of this image requires a license from the copyright holder, which can be obtained at https://jmattphoto.com/photos/JMB-20250209A-0024/.
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