Optic Nervosa

I had been expecting my second post to be on HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, something I've been dabbling with recently. However, I'm sure nobody wants to see my dabbles - so the HDR post is going to have to wait. Instead I thought I'd post up a collection of new macro shots taken on this very warm and sunny May bank holiday. Inspired by Ely Open Gardens and our own garden makeover efforts I ventured out with my now trusty reverse mounted lens in search of nature in all its gruesomeness and glory....

WARNING - some people may find the next photo a little disturbing...
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Rattus Norvegicus...

WARNING - some people may find the next photo even more disturbing...
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Je t'aime...

It's been a while since I last dusted off my SLR. For the past 18 months my photographic output has consisted solely of snapshots of my daughter. Nothing wrong with that of course, she makes a great subject for action shots (she doesn't stay still long enough for portraits), but I felt it was time to get back into "proper" photography - besides, I think my camera club colleagues were tiring of my proud father trip. I needed something to inspire me though, a project, a new technique to explore - preferably involving a new piece of kit!

I've always been a fan of macro photography, it's ability to make the commonplace unfamiliar, the mundane extraordinary and bring the oft overlooked into focus. So when I stumbled across a photo forum one lunchtime, demonstrating what can be achieved with the combination of a relatively cheap canon lens and a simple reversing mount, I was determined to give it a try.

Three days and two successful ebay bids later I had my mount and a Canon EF 50mm F1.8 lens. The mount allows you to fit the lens onto the camera backwards using the filter thread. It all looks a bit odd but gives you a much shorter focal distance - allowing you to get really close to the subject.

Well, I ventured out during my lunch break to find suitable subjects to snap. My office backs onto the M11, but a handy footbridge takes you over the motorway and into a small village surrounded by open fields and country lanes. I was hoping to find some early Spring flowers to capture in close up, but was initially dismayed to find nothing but bare branches and dead leaves...not the most inspiring of subjects...but I started taking a few shots anyway and began to get more and more inspired by the results I was getting. Forty minutes later I had a collection of images I was more than happy with and one of the most enjoyable lunchtimes I've spent in a long time.

Here are a few of the shots I took that day, the first of many macro photos I'll be posting here I'm sure...

A teasel