01 February 2007

A rose by any other name...still has aphids

Click on the photo to view the full-size version so you can see the little critter below the largest drop of water near the center of the photo. This was taken with a 200mm lens and a macro filter.

This could be from anywhere, but it happens to be New Zealand. My Kiwi friend (who is also a photographer and a very wise person) pointed out, after seeing the photos I'd taken during the first couple of weeks of my trip, that most of the time I was focused on small things that could have been anywhere, and I wasn't really taking in my environment. I wasn't seeing. She was right, as I learned on another occasion when I was looking left and right for her in a field up ahead of me and she was right in front of me! I did shift my gaze during the remainder of the trip, to look up and around me at the trees and the landscape. But I still am primarily a close-up photographer, I discovered. I love the details, the things other people often don't see. You've probably figured that out by now if you've been following this blog for a while.

2 comments:

Paul Butzi said...

I wouldn't stress too much about 'not really seeing' when you're making closeup photos.

That's the way it works sometimes, and for some folks that's the way to works all the time.

And, for what it's worth, photographing smaller scenes (sometimes right down to macro like this) is one technique I use to get grip on a place that I'm struggling with. You start small, and figure out little bits. Then you integrate the little bits into big bits, and so on.

Far easier that way, building understanding incrementally, than to start with the grand scenic vista by trying to get the big picture all at once.

Rosie Perera said...

Thank you, Paul! That is very encouraging.

 

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