Life in Macro Mode

I take photos of places and nature, that’s my thing. I mean I do occasionally take photos of friends and family, and I love that too, especially those random ones everyone wants you to delete *immediately*, to wipe off the surface of the Earth or else you’re dead meat (as if). Those are the best in my opinion because they’re natural and sometimes, – I repeat – sometimes, you get an unexpectedly good photo which they’re actually thankful for. I’ll confess that I never do delete them, it’s always nice going back and laughing at those random, happy memories. But I do, however, respect their wish to not upload them onto any of my social networks. – If any of you are reading this, don’t worry, your photos are safe with me! – Back to what I was saying, portraits and such are just not my thing, yet. I’ll need to improve my skills further, which is why I got a new flash unit at Christmas. Better lighting for better portraits, time to start the online tutorials once again.

However, lately I’ve had this urge for the details in things. I found myself taking photos of flowers and not finding that good enough. I’d think to myself that there has definitely got to be more to a flower than just this photo (and there definitely is). I therefore submerged myself into the pleasures of macro photography, only to realise that my camera’s macro mode was not powerful enough, or at least not as powerful as I’d wanted it to be. Yes, I did consider buying a new macro lens but thankfully, a good friend told me about the ‘reverse lens technique’ – which I had never heard of – which apparently saves you from the cost of a new lens. I must admit it was kind of weird at first but then it simply became the norm. For any photography enthusiasts out there who wish to experiment more with macro mode but squint on the idea of having to buy a new lens, I’ve got the solution for you! Take your good old standard lens, reverse it and hold it against the camera body. There’s obviously no connection between the camera body and your lens now so you’ll have to do all the zooming and focusing manually, yourself. You can buy a ring in order to mount the lens onto the body if you wish, it would only cost you 2-3 euros [enter converted currency here]. I’ve tried it, it doesn’t take too long to figure things out, and the results are pretty satisfying. Note, however, that you do need a steady hand for this. I was even told I must have Parkinson’s because I couldn’t get a decent focused photo to begin with (wait till you get them to try it). I’m getting there though, keep your hopes up and you’ll get your perfect shot. Who would’ve thought, I’ve even discovered a long hidden appreciation of insects!

So life in macro mode is my new motto these days – it feels as if I’ve been given a new pair of eyes – although I’m definitely not abandoning my landscapes and portraits. It’s just one of my new fascinations. I’ll share a few of my recent photos with you. Please be kind, I’m still new to this 🙂