Wisps On The Wind

I suspect one of the reasons I’m drawn to florals is that more often that not it requires the use of macros. And shooting in macro, my friends, is the great equalizer.

Shooting great landscapes or seductive portraits or fashion photography really does require professional grade equipment; in the case of the latter to get the lighting exactly right, in the case of the former to capture the lighting that is available. A friend once showed me a gorgeous photo captured of the Grand Canyon at night, illuminated by lighting strikes. That shot, I calculated, would have required a large format camera ($15,000) using an unusually sharp wide-aperture lens ($3,000) with a heavy filter to prevent the lightening from washing out the rest of the image ($500) connected to a light sensor that would fire the shutter at exactly the instant the lightening bolt became visible ($1,500) as well as a series of strobe lights that would fire to illuminate the foreground which the filter would otherwise darken ($2,500), mounted on a heavy tripod to prevent movement caused by wind gusts ($600) and proper tenting to prevent sudden rain from ruining all that equipment ($1,000), and the shutter would have to stay open a good long time so the mountains in the distance would be properly exposed. Then, of course, there was the photographer’s time and travel to set all that up on numerous occasions to get the right shot. For one shot, or maybe a series of the same shot.

Much of those necessities go away with macros. Even many smartphones can take good macros. Sure, the photographer still has to get the lighting perfect and set the camera distance correctly to the subject, balancing perspective with a tight focal plane to create depth. But those are more creatures of skill and timing opposed to massively expensive equipment.

​I still prefer my Canon G11 when I set out to shoot macros. It has a precise macro and its zoom allows me to adjust the perspective to fit the situation. New versions of the Canon G-series run, what, about $700? Mighty Mouse!