Get a little bit closer

One thing I like to do with cameras is to always "get a little closer". Some photographers love the wide-angle lens, but unless I need to take a large group picture or a landscape shot, I will usually have my biggest zoom lens mounted on my camera.

Since some of my favorite subjects are wild animals and often a little camera-shy, that usually works out well for me. Sometimes though, a subject captures my attention and I want to get a bit closer, like inches away instead of feet away. My beloved zoom does not handle that request very well. Instead, I will sometimes switch to either my short zoom or my 50mm prime lens. Sometimes that does the trick, but other times, I need to reach into my camera bag for something special. In the case of these tiny flowers, I wanted to capture them on a different scale than I could with just my lenses.


I dug into my bag and came out with a kit of macro filters I had picked up a while ago. I didn't have a lot of time and the breeze was making things a bit challenging since every breath of wind would move the flowers just enough to lose their focus. Still though, I feel like I came away with a few nice shots. I especially like the sharpness in the middle blue flower below. Click on it and let me know what you think here in the comments.


Are you an experienced macro photographer? Please feel free to leave comments with suggestions or resources.