A coleus leaf for Macro Monday:
I like the colors of this one and the veins in the leaf are pretty focused. I thought I had a handle on the process this week. I took what I thought was a ton of photos of some flowers and foliage from my garden. I stabilized the camera with both hands and thought the images would be sharp.
Wrong.
Most were blurry at best. A couple were okay. None are truly sharp. It’s time to stop goofing around with this and get out the tripod.
The macro lessons continue.
Did I really decide to start this Macro Monday thing because I thought it would be easy? The joke is on me because I had forgotten just how tricky macro shots can be. As in, I can’t just grab the camera and wander outside and shoot something decent at the last minute.
And yet, that’s just what I did last night when I remembered that I didn’t have a macro shot for today.
So. You get macro lavender. It’s not great but it will do.
Vacation photos and stories coming soon!
You know how I said one of the reasons I wanted to do Macro Monday for the summer is so that I could prep my blog post in advance? So that I could enjoy my weekend without thinking about posting on Monday morning?
Guess who was up at 5am today taking a macro photo to share? Yep. I guess that’s just a sign of a really good weekend. And, luckily, I have a little bouquet of chive blossoms on my kitchen window sill.
It reminds me of Chihuly Glass!
Happy Monday, friends.
Last Monday Robby, who is generally my first commenter every day, asked me to explain what macro photography really means. I’ve got to admit, the question gave me pause. I mean, I know it’s a super close up. But what else? So, being a librarian, I did some research and what I’ve drilled it down to is this: true macro photography means that the image is a small item that is made bigger than life size. Interesting. And a bit of a game changer for me because now, instead of just wandering around looking for things I can shoot with my macro lens, I’m now looking for tiny things to shoot with my macro lens. A small distinction but a disctinction worth noting.
And so, in the spirit of true macro photography:
That flower is about the size of the nail on my pinky finger. Small. And very close up.
Macro Mission Accomplished.
Welcome to Macro Monday, a weekly post where I will share a photo I took with a macro lens.
Today’s post was not without it’s challenges. First, I tried to attach my macro lens to the big camera. And then realized that my macro lens doesn’t fit the Canon EOS 6D but rather fits my older camera, the Canon EOS 7D. Despite the higher number, the 6D is actually the better camera (it’s a full frame) but the 7D is just fine. Of course the battery was completely drained so I had to charge it, not a big deal, and then yesterday I took some photos. The next challenge came when I tried to upload the photos to my computer to process. The 7D uses a different memory card than the 6D and I don’t have a card reader for that type anymore, having recently replaced the previous one I had that fit multiple sized cards. I had to think way way back to remember how I used to do this and ended up directly connecting the camera to my laptop to transfer the photos.
This will get easier, right?
In the end, I wound up with 8 photos of the center of this gazania. Most weren’t as sharp as I’d like and this one only barely passes muster for me but it’s what I have and it gives me a good place to start from, knowing that practice will improve my rusty macro skills.
Happy Monday, go have a great day!
