“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ― Aldous Huxley
My Christmas present from my husband was a macro lens. Above is my first photo using my new lens. It’s of the Christmas candle my children gave me.
I wanted this lens because of my mom, who passed January 1, 2023. She was an avid photographer and this was the lens she used most. She loved to take close-ups of nature like mushrooms, wild flowers and sea creatures. Our house was decorated with her amazing photos. I wonder where they are now?
Instead of buying the lens for myself, after dusting off my Nikon after 10 years of unuse, I decided to sign up for a photography class. My class starts later this month and runs through May. I thought by the end of the class, if I had mastered the basics of photography, I’d be worthy of owning the lens.
But with the Christmas gift, I have been trying out the lens. I’m enjoying different close-ups to distance shots.
Here are some of my photos from this week:
A barrel cactus
Barrel cactus close-up.
Elephant feed next to our garage. Quail laid eggs in the planter while we were out of town. They abandoned the eggs after we returned with our car.
Close-up of Elephant feed.
Poinsettia
Close-up
Moroccan Mound is the succulent in the foreground. The purple beavertail cactus is behind the Moroccan Mound — and is the purple plant. 😉
Now for the close-ups:
Moroccan Mound close-up
Purple beavertail close-up, complete with a cobweb I couldn’t see with my own eyes.
After trying out my new lens, I thought about how a different perspective can help us through our days and challenges. Sometimes it’s useful to take a step back, or to take a closer look.
“Look at everything as though you are seeing it either for the first or last time, then your time on earth will be filled with glory.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
When have you changed your point of view or perspective?
Do you prefer a close up view — or looking at the big picture?
Along with great photos we get thought provoking questions …I prefer big picture because I like to see as many sides of an issue as possible. If we are too close we get absorbed in one specific aspect, and while that has its merits, we need to understand what the end game is. It’s sort of like reverse engineering….you know what the end is you just have to get there. As to perspective shift ..always
Thanks! What a great comment. Yes we can get buried in the details and lose perspective of the end game.
The new lens opens a new world. Love that perspective EA! There’s a time and place for both the wide view and then the need to focus down to the center. LA applied that concept to life in general and I agree. Each has a place and each POV provides its own set of information to fill in the whole.
Yes, I completely agree. We need the close up look as well as the big picture in life. I have only used the new lens twice, but am looking forward to discovering that new world.
Beautiful photos! I appreciate close-ups more as I age and my eyesight loses its sharp focus. Your photos bring out the magic I don’t necessarily see anymore (like the cob web). But in life, I’m the opposite. I get involved and drill down and I can get buried in details. It is refreshing when I remember to come up for air, step back, and look at how one whole thing compliments another. I think troublesome details disappear in the beauty of a big picture.
Thank you! I love your comment about how you drill down in the details. Then you come up for air to take a step back to see the whole picture.
I have a Minolta X-370 (not a digital) that I have had for 30 years, and my Macro is my favorite because it gives you control of distance (blurry background, sharp foreground). I also have an array of Cokin filters that take the photos to a whole new level. I do not even know if they make Cokin filters anymore. Anyway, you will have fun using your new lens as you discover all it’s capabilities.
I used to borrow my mom’s camera and lenses back in the 80s. I knew more about photography then because there was no auto point and shoot. Thanks for the info about the filters. The lens came with a set of filters and I put them aside.
Ooooh…you need to play with the filters. Some of them are amazing!
I have no idea what they do. It will be a surprise!
Love your macro view and fab photos. I often miss the details. Thank you! Your mom must be smiling! 🥰
Thank you! I think Mom would be smiling. She liked to take photos, but after I took a year of photo journalism classes at the UW, I introduced her to the professor. He encouraged her to take his classes. He was one of those special professors who took an interest in his students. He taught us so much about the process in the dark room as well as taking photos. Mom ended up putting a dark room in our basement.
I love the close ups and the bigger view. Lovely photos!! You’re right, perspective is everything—in photography and in life.
Thank you. When I had the idea of taking the distance and close-ups for this post, I hadn’t connected it to life. But after ithe page was laid out, there it was!
Ohhh! Love ALL of that!
🥰❤️🥰
Thanks! Great memories. She’d drive an hour from our hometown for photography class while I was living in Seattle for school. We’d meet afterwards for sushi, and look over her photos. 💕
Oooh! Wonderful memories.
🥰❤️🥰
Thanks! I almost forgot about that special mother daughter time 🥰
Cool shots. Love it
Thanks! It’s fun to see things through the new lens.
I love these pictures. You take really lovely photos. ❤️
Perspective is everything, isn’t it?
Thank you for the kind words. Yes, our perspective our outlook is everything!
I think that most of the times when I radically changed my perspective, pot was involved. I like to look at small things close up, like a drop of water through a microscope. Usually, though, I like to look at the big picture.
Ha! Both the closer look and the big picture have their place.
Oh, I love your photos with the macro lens. What a great gift to get for Christmas. Your husband is thoughtful!
Thank you, Wynne. It’s nice to know my husband thinks I’m worthy of the macro lens, even though I didn’t!
I really love good, sharp close-up images. I can’t remember if you said that your photography class is virtual or in-person. Either way, I hope you have a great time and learn a lot!
Thanks. I’m hoping to get my close-ups sharper and in better focus. The class is online, probably zoom. I picked a professor who was rated highly by students, but also has a career in photography and is well known.
Enjoy the class and playing with the new lens! Both perspectives are important. When I’m identifying plants, I have to get really close up, including magnification. But I’m a bigger picture person more often. I read multiple books at once and find wonderful juxtapositions of ideas and fun coincidences.
I am looking forward to a refresher course in photography. It’s been since college that I had my last photography class. I agree that we need to have a close-up perspective as well as be far enough away to see the big picture. I used to read multiple books at once, but if I find a book I really like, I read it through without reading anything else.
Love these pictures Elizabeth. I’m sure after your class these would be even better.
Taking a step back has always made things clearer for me. Seeing the bigger picture.
Thank you! I’m looking forward to the class, because now I am using auto mode only. I need to learn how to adjust the f-stops, etc. to allow in more light or how to change the effects. Yes, sometimes we need to take a step back.
You’re very welcome
😊
Great pictures. Photography is fun, depending on how the picture is taking, a different story is imagined.
Thank you! Yes, you are correct. I haven’t thought of it that way, but a different story can be told with photos.