Whether it be big pictures of little subjects, or small up close images of large subjects, macro photography is a photographer’s dream.  My files are stuffed with imagery that fits this category, so please  forgive me for the large number of images in today’s post.

A variety of lenses can be used for close-up/macro image making. Of course photographers can also “recreate” digital images from normal to macro via the crop.

Way, way, way back when I first began to pursue close up images, on film of course, I had no way of getting “visually” close to subjects or cropping them after the fact. I could not afford one of those new macro lenses at that time. I was using Canon 35mm equipment in addition to Mamiya and Pentax medium format cameras. I had a straight normal focus 100mm lens for my Canons, and purchased a set of Canon extension tubes for close focus. My world changed.

Little critters are certainly popular with viewers of imagery, but they are not the favorites of most macro photographers. There is no more difficult form of image making, than crawling around trying to get in a good position with an insect or other small creature for a close-up. It can be frustrating but it is very fulfilling.

Below you will find flies, caterpillars, dragonflies, some beetles, a bee, a grasshopper, a butterfly, and some spiders. I don’t even consider that to be enough for a good sample, but I admit I only opened a couple of folders.

Behavior, such as mating is part of the business of a natural history photographer be they in macro mode or not.

And on and on.

A fully grown female Bull Frog is a different animal so to speak than insects and spiders. That surely does not mean that you cannot create compelling macros of one. Oh those eyes!!!

Likely the most common subject for macros and the most popular among photographers are flowers, be they wild or garden in their variety. I could not say where I made any of these flower photos.  Soft or unobtrusive backgrounds help to make the blossom “pop” if you will.

Close-ups do not mean one  blossom or leaf of a plant at a time. Simple, elegant images always work.

The seasons are always beautiful on a grand scale, but they are none the less pretty up close.

The color, texture and design of some autumn leaves are often best shown up close. A little morning dew can add to the image. There is nothing to photograph in nature, that getting up early won’t improve.

A feather and a leaf.

Transitions from one season to another are always worth some photos.

I found the plant below with a covering of ice.

A super close-up of one section.

Some ice over a some water.

Ice is in fact a wonderful subject when it lives at the edge.

Over the water,

Of course, I could not write a macro article without some images of dew.

The perfect vehicle for dew, if you have patience and will make your every move in a calculated fashion, are orb webs.

A small breeze, or maybe one leg of your tripod touching the edge, and you have an unintended abstract. Turn every loss into a victory.

A single blade if grass is also a fine vehicle for dew, but you had better be oh so careful.

Sometimes a web and some dew will create something you did not expect. A pearl necklace maybe? 27

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Now for something that is not so small.

The world is filled with many “Christian based” churches and religions. I suspect but do not know for sure, that is a good thing. Among them are large numbers of churches and religions who state, that Jesus is God and is necessary, with understanding, for Salvation. That is even better.

However, without a true understanding of the blood Sacrifice of Christ, and our own personal part in the accepting of what He did and why, it will all have been a mute point.

We live today and have for some time, in the age of the church of Laodicea. Those churches use the base belief of who committed the Sacrifice, and how that affects us, as a springboard to their religions, without ever committing the church itself, or their parishioners to a true belief and dedication to that Sacrifice and to Salvation. As if you go to church and sing songs, repeat prayers, believe that Jesus did something good for us, and then are saved. 

God provided us not only a road to eternal Salvation, but an opportunity to have a personal relationship with Him through the Sacrifice of His Son.

Always view any Bible verse within the context of the entire Bible.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

God Bless,
Wayne