Taking a closer look

comments 20
Photography

Since my 365 project for this year went a bit ‘waa-waa’ I’ve been looking for something to get me back into picking up my camera every day. Anything.

So I went digging through my draws to find something. Anything. A prop. Whatever. Then I found something. You know those things that you buy because you think they’re absolutely amazing and you’ll never not use them?

My Raynox add-on lens was one of these things. I bought it waaay back when I had a bridge camera. So much fun! Then it got tossed in the draw and never got used.

I dug it out recently and decided to have a play around with it. Instantly I was reminded at how tricky it was to use. Lots of wobbling. (Yes, I know I should really be using a tripod, but was going to see if I could get away without one.) I wanted to get some photos of creepy bugs and the sort, but it chucked down raining and all the bugs ran away.

Mellow yellow

Getting in a little closer, one step at a time.

In the heart of it

If this flower was lower and I had a better tripod, this could have been less blurry

Hazy, daisy

Even daisies look more than ordinary with a bit of a macro lens.

After the rains

It had just finished raining – made the most of the raindrops!

Ants, ants!

Watching some ants feast on pollen. I didn’t even know they did that.

Macro photography is hard. Especially when it’s just a little bit breezy and your subjects keep on shifting. Though, I do rather like it.

20 Comments

  1. These are gorgeous! I really admire your skill my photos are always so out of focus. Of course I primarly photograph my dog and he is always moving around 🙂

    • Thanks Sati 🙂 Still learning. Lots of learning, but it’s fun.

      Dogs are so much fun to take photos of. Well, when they’re still for all of 5 seconds!

  2. Those are pretty good, somebody from the Oxford Flickr group managed to get some really good macro shots in really windy conditions, but she had one of those super expensive Benro tripods.
    I’ve got a bit of a photographers block at the moment, I should get out of Oxford once I have that mythical thing called money. I’ve not yet taken pictures in London without it tipping buckets down on my head.

    • I had a bit of photographer’s block before I dug this little thing out. It definitely helped to change things up a bit from the usual things I try and photograph.

  3. Gorgeousness!! I LOVE that last one w/ the ant, that is awesome that you could capture that Jaina.

    • Thanks Ruth! The ants were quick moving little buggers. I wanted to yell at them to stop, meanwhile my arms were shaking while trying to keep perfectly still. Hard work! 😉

  4. As you know, outdoor macro is my preferred genre. I agree, it can be frustrating, particularly trying to shoot moving bugs on a windy day! I have been wondering whether to get a Raynox to add to my macro to get really close. Do you find the Raynox very tricky to use? Your shots suggest ‘no’.

    • I’ve got the Raynox DCR-150 – in the beginning it was a bit tricky. Just learning how to use it and how to get the best out of it. Once you’ve got that down, it’s just a matter of practice.

      Though I am kicking myself now and wishing I’d gone for the DCR-250 which has got more magnification and really isn’t all that more expensive.

      It makes it very quick and easy if you’re ever out and about and fancy taking some macros. Just clip on the lens and you’re ready. And for the price, you can’t really go wrong.

  5. Great macro photos! Maybe they’d be blurry when printed in a large size, but great for the screen! Love the dew on the leaves. And we should do a challenge together! Maybe in Sept. The summer seems to be flying by and I am not motivated ;).

    • Yes! Summer is flying by, not that we’re having a summer over here. September sounds like a plan – count me in!

  6. PS Did you know that your photos aren’t appearing in the RSS feed? Maybe you purposely did that? I dunno.

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