Fly and Grasshopper, Ottawa

It sounds like an Aesop’s fable, doesn’t it? Cue the deep voice over . . .

The Fly and The Grasshopper

Was there a moral to this tale?

With my aforementioned new DSLR, I was trying out my macro lens. Whereas I had always enjoyed taking extreme close-ups with my point-and-shoot cameras over the years – often exceeding the limits of the focusing distance – I had never learned how to adjust depth of field.

So there I was, in the community garden, more or less nose-to-nose with cooperative subjects.

Face-on macro shot of fly on daisy

The Fly

 

Grasshopper close-up

The Grasshopper

 

As I struggled to get sharp shots with a hand-held camera, twitchy subjects, and teeny tiny bursts of breeze, I began to wonder how anyone produces those amazing macro shots I see all over the web. All. Over.

Talking to knowledgeable folks, I learn about tripods, monopods, and delay shutter cables (OK, something like that) to improve the steadiness of the photographer. I learned about putting tiny subjects into the fridge for a few hours, to reduce their jumpiness, with the added benefit of moving the entire shoot indoors, to eliminate the breeze.

I learned that I probably don’t have the temperament (or the spare fridge – those guys aren’t going in beside the hummous!) to be an amazing macro photographer.

But I also learned that I don’t have to be amazing at something to enjoy doing it.

Good thing!

 

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4 Responses to Fly and Grasshopper, Ottawa

  1. I love being able to see with your camera eye what my own eyes could see when I was younger. My mind is awakened with youthful thoughts. And I refuse to be disillusioned by the icebox revelation — what artist does not use multiple techniques? Good thing, indeed!

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Laurna – I love being able to see, and the camera gives me that needed nudge. I don’t think I will move to bugs in the fridge (or freezer! Yikes for the bug!), but that’s more about being squeamish than anything else.

  2. You seemed to do just fine with these “bugs” — more miracles of design!

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Barbara – I was surprised to see how pretty a fly is, when viewed more or less nose to nose. Not great eye contact, though . . .

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