| At a certain point, there will be a time when you | | | | Macro Lens Experiments |
| have taken pictures of just about everything in | | | | Once you have a macro lens and have got a |
| what seems like every possible angle. It is entirely | | | | bearing on how it works, go out into the world |
| possible you may run out of ideas or find yourself | | | | and start seeing things like you've never seen |
| in a creative lull. One of the best cures for a | | | | them before. Even the most familiar of subjects |
| situation like this is swinging by your local photo | | | | or environments can become dramatically new |
| shop and picking up a nice piece of gear to | | | | and exciting when viewed from a different |
| experiment with. There are lots of different | | | | perspective, and a macro lens will certainly |
| accessories to choose from that can improve and | | | | provide that to you. Here's some fun things to do |
| challenge your skills, but the best place to start is | | | | with your new macro lens: |
| with a new lens. One of the most interesting and | | | | - Explore your house and get a bugs-eye view of |
| useful focused-use lenses out there is the macro | | | | your furniture, carpet, and surfaces. |
| lens. | | | | - See how the lens expands your creativity by |
| All 35mm camera lenses have some kind of ratio | | | | shooting common items in your neighborhood |
| that represent the size of an object in the picture | | | | - Set up a small space and see if you can |
| compared to its real life size. A typical lens | | | | duplicate "catalog" type images of small products |
| presents objects much smaller than their actual | | | | Macro lenses can have a great impact on how |
| size, while macro lenses will get a ratio much | | | | you see the world and provide you with a |
| closer to reality. Have you ever looked at a close | | | | versatile alternative to shooting with a regular lens. |
| up of a flower or a head of an ant? Most likely, | | | | You never know when it may come in handy to |
| those pictures were taken with a macro lens. | | | | get a picture of something really small. It's also |
| There are several different types of macro | | | | fun to take pictures of common objects at |
| lenses available. The most common ratio for | | | | super-close range and see if your friends and |
| consumer photo equipment is about 1:2 which | | | | family can figure out what the item is. Macro |
| means that subjects in the picture will be half their | | | | lenses can turn grass into green bladed mountains |
| actual size. This may not seem like much, but | | | | or ants into scary creatures that make your |
| when you enlarge the image to a 5x7 or 8x10 | | | | imagination run wild. |
| picture, the final object is much bigger than in real | | | | While the cost of a separate macro lens can cost |
| life. Super-high grade equipment can hit a ratio of | | | | you somewhere between $200-400, you'll find |
| 5:1, which would be perfect for mapping out a | | | | that the extra options you'll have to shoot are |
| snowflake or exploring a rough surface like a | | | | well worth the cost. Making "mountains out of |
| sponge. You can find simple attachments for your | | | | molehills" may not work in life, but in photography |
| normal lens (these have varied results) or a full | | | | it can bring a whole new meaning to your pictures. |
| lens to attach to your camera body, whatever | | | | Besides, it's the little things that make life |
| suits your budget. | | | | interesting. |