Macro photography is fascinating. I love the close up looks at nature that macro affords. The patterns and detail are beautiful and rarely noticed unless looked for. I have walked right past bunches of flowers with barely a glance, but with my macro lens, a Tamron SP AF180mm F/3.5 Di LD (IF) 1:1 Macro or Sigma 50mm 1:1 macro, I force myself to linger, explore, and see the details. A tulip is pretty, but can be a landscape unto itself when looked at through a macro lens, as in this shot taken at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival:
Exploration of the smaller places yields glimpses into a world that is astounding. While searching for spiders amongst lupine and grasses at Steamboat Rock State Park, I ran across this lone ladybug searching for a meal:
Once I knew I was looking for ladybugs, the hunt was on! I found ladybugs all over the place, but I never would have seen a single on had I not been looking.
The opportunities for macro abound. Light too harsh for landscapes? Look beneath some foliage. Sky too cloudy? Look on top of foliage. Light too bright? Shade a flower. Even right in your own front yard, with a little searching, treasures can be found.
While macro opens up new worlds, these worlds have a very shallow depth of field. The slightest movement throws everything out of focus. For this reason, a good tripod that has multiple, adjustable positions is critical. I use Bogen 190XPROB tripod legs. The center column can be repositioned on the fly for horizontal or vertical shooting, and the legs can be angled to 0 degrees. Both of these allow for ground level camera positioning. On these legs I use an Acratech V2 ball head. It is light, highly adjustable and very stable.
Now get out there and explore!
No comments:
Post a Comment