Macros and Closeups

Today’s post is about the photography of small objects. It’s often referred to as macro photography. All macro photographs are closeups but not all closeups are macro images.

In simple terms, a macro image is one where you get a 1:1 or greater ratio of the image size on your camera’s sensor to the actual subject size .

A closeup is an image of a small object but its reproduction ratio is less than 1.1. It is smaller on the camera sensor than it is in real life.

The following picture is an example of a macro image. This first picture features a small piece of jewellery, 12.7 mm (1/2″) in width.

The remaining pictures for today are all closeups. Forget about the distinction and hopefully enjoy the photographs. All the photos were taken with a macro lens.

This picture was taken beside our house where we planted a number of Tiger Lillies, brought to us from Québec by Rolande’s sister-in-law in 2005. They’re still prospering and I couldn’t pass up the water droplets on the fronds, photographed on a recent rainy day.

At the same time, I took this picture of some aspen leaves that had blown off our tree in front of the house. I was attracted to the detail in the wet leaves lying on the very wet, stone pathway.

Wildflowers have emerged and I took the opportunity recently to get a few pictures. Following is a sample of what I found, beginning with this interesting flower. I have no idea what it’s called, despite combing through some online, wildlflower catalogues. It’s identity remains a mystery to me. If anyone knows what this flower is called, kindly let me know.

This is an easy one, the flower of a wild strawberry plant. Nice flower, but no strawberries.

This very interesting flower is known as the Yellow Lady’s Slipper, my favourite from this series of pictures. I think the origin of its name is evident from the slipper-like form of the flower.

Insects are always popular subjects for macro photographers. They are generally very small and very interesting. A macro photograph reveals a lot of detail that we would not normally see. Insects are challenging subjects. It’s difficult to move in close for the picture without scaring them off. Also, it’s not good to irritate some species, like bees for example. I’d like to give it a try!