Going macro

Cactus Detail. Tucson, Arizona, 2013

Sometimes, as a change of pace, I’ll grab a tool I don’t often use: my macro lens. It is enjoyable to flip the switch wired to my photographer’s eyeball and start “seeing” the tiny details in that micro-world that always surrounds us.

I chose the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 lens for several reasons: its good reviews as a sharp, top quality lens, it will work with both full-frame and crop-sensor bodies, it’s a fast lens, and it gives you some stand-off when trying to stalk shy insects. It is, however, a fairly heavy, large hunk with a relatively large price tag for the newer version which has image stabilization. (I have the older, cheaper version without stabilization and generally use it on a tripod, so lack of I.S. isn’t important to me.)

Playing with depth of field…the above was shot at f/2.8 to isolate one or two of the spiny tufts.

You’ll have to analyze your personal macro wants and needs, then decide which macro tool would be best for you.

Some more macro images from the desert:

Cactus Detail #1. Tucson, Arizona, 2013

Cactus Detail #2. Tucson, Arizona, 2013

I routinely shoot at f/22, and even up to f/29 with my Sigma lens on a crop-sensor camera and diffraction doesn’t seem to be as big a problem as it is on other lenses.

And a little color pushed through a Polaroid simulation filter in Nik Color Efex Pro software…it’s a Texas Ranger (yep, that’s the name of it) transplanted to Arizona.

Texas Ranger. Tucson, Arizona, 2013

So, for a change of perspective, be a Gulliver and try spend a few hours wandering and peering into that ubiquitous but oft-ignored Lilliputan world around us.