Pixiq

Spring is the time when  I get galvanised to go out and look for those small things in nature. Just a week or so ago I sat on a hillside on the island of Crete where, in 1974, it had struck me forcibly that I was on the wrong road in life and that I was following an academic research path just because I had not thought about what I really loved...

Although close-up images are by no means all I enjoy creating it is this area, more than any other, that has a hold on my soul. For a start you never run out of material and then there are always new ways of looking at the familiar – especially within easy reach of home.

For many months now I have been working on a new title for Lark – Digital Close-up Photography Q &A with the intention of producing a book to enthuse people to get out there and make their own close-up images. When a subject occupies you night and day you begin to think of other ways to do things and there is a lot to say about ways modern digital cameras open up possibilities.

One niggle I have is the way the term ‘macro’ has come to be employed for any form of close-up photography and I confess that I have gone along with it. No more…macro begins at life size. Before that its close-up.

The Pixiq back catalogue - close-up and 'macro

 Regular Pixiq readers will be aware of a great deal of ‘macro material’ that I have put up as posts but such is the creative flow from Pixiq correspndents that things get submerged fairly rapidly. Thos posts were an attempt to create a resource for others who might be interested and a chance to share things I had found out that might be useful. In what follows I shall be moving on and building on what went before with lots of new developments.

There will also be a series of ebooks with much more detail than I could ever hope to get into a single book...more news soon

I have experimented a great deal more with wide angle close up, with image stacking and white backgrounds and will be posting on these over the next few weeks with ideas that anyone can try. The important thing for me is not to stay static…if an approach becomes over-done then it is time to move on and develop something else, or go back to the beginning.

So for starters if you have not seen those earlier posts then the following posts might be something to get you out there and  into action.

A WALK ON THE WIDE SIDE OF CLOSE-UP

 Wide-angle Macro Photography — Part 1: Close-ups with Impact

  Wide-angle Macro Photography - Pt 2: Ultra-wide Zooms

 Wide-angle Macro: Rectangular Fisheyes, Current Favorites

 Sigma's 10mm f2.8 and 15mm f2.8 rectangular fisheyes assessed

 Wide-angle Macro Photography (Pt. 5): A Versatile DIY Lighting Unit

SO YOU WANT TO BUY A MACRO LENS ?

Do you want to buy a macro lens then check out the honest appraisals here from an uncompromising user...me. There is stuff that applies to any macro lens that you might want to be familiar with before you part with your hard earned cash

 Macro lens for all seasons: Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG IF HSM, pt. 1

 A Macro Lens for All Seasons: The Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG IF HSM, Pt

A macro classic: 105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR (Pt. 1)

A macro classic — the 105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR (Pt. 2)

A Cheaper Macro Option - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG macro