In conjunction with World Environment Day, let me talk a bit about my first love of photography – macro. It has been a while since I last did anything with this unseen environment but it was definitely fun when I still had the lens to do so.
Macro photography opened a whole new world to me – in the sense that I could now see what I couldn’t see before. It has also taught me the value of patience in photography where a rushed shot most likely will result in a failed shot.
One of my favourite subject (other than the long-legged fly) are jumper spiders. Before photographing them, all I knew about them was how small they were and they could jump away really far, and really fast.
When I photographed my first jumper, I was astounded as to how cute these little fellas are. Their big eyes staring back at you. I never got bored of seeing them thereafter.
Of course, there are times when even the ugly can be beautiful. Take the caterpillar for example. It is hairy, it is pretty much butt ugly but it is one of the most beautiful caterpillars I have seen.
Can’t touch it though, unless you want to itch like mad.
Then, there is the pornographic material. Bugs do it everywhere. They don’t care if they have an audience. They just do it. And well, I doubt I could sell these shots to pornography sites. Is there anyone in the world that will get turned on by this?
There is perception that macro photography is expensive. And yes, while I would say that a pure macro lens is unrivaled, you can still get some awesome shots with relatively cheaper equipments.
The above was shot with a G9 and a Raynox MSN-202. The combined cost is not even the price of a top-end macro lens. But it still gave me the wow factor. In fact, I think it is one of my best shots.
So, why don’t you give it a try? Venture into this unseen world and maybe, you will realise just why the environment is worth saving. It is not just the things we can see, it is also the things we can’t see.
woohoo .. macro photography, one of my favourites. Speaking of which … it’s been quite a while for me too LOL~
awesome shots there, i still dig so much about that “mating” shot (well, not so much about the action hehe .. but the colours and the timing) .. i have yet to get an awesome mating shot hehe. and the butterfly’s eye shot, cool!
ok, nick has successfully tempted me .. shall go shoot bugs this weekend :D
wow. =) wonderfully detailed and vibrant colors. =)
on the mating shot (sorry, i could not get past it), the male (assumably the bee behind) is much smaller than the female (the bee in front?)? or are their positions reversed in bee world? that’s something new. =)
@meendee woohoo yay i inspired someone! or tempted someone :P
@steph lol err i have no idea about their positioning :P I am assuming the same as humans? :P
omg the first and last shot is EPIC!! i love the details you’ve captured… brilliant!!
i think you should continue taking bug shots. definitely your forte.
@orenzai thanks :)
@sharon hehe thanks babe, you buy the lens for me? :P
yeap!
i have only recently taken up photography and right now, i’m having heaps of fun just mucking around with it. honestly, these are really spectacular. it lets you look at the world from a different perspective altogether.
looking at these pictures, i feel rather inspired to give macro a go. only problem is finding some moolah to get me the right lense. perhaps with time, and an extra job, this might simply materialise one day! :)
Glad that you are loving photography :) And yes, yes try Macro! :) Can start off with the Raynox DCR-250 :)