DAY 194

NATURE & LANDSCAPES

The Macro World

THINKING SMALL

The natural world is full of gigantic things. Elephants and buffalo make man look small in comparison. Mammoth redwood trees reach for the stars, and even sunflower plants or corn stalks give most of us a Napoleonic complex.

And yet, sometimes smaller is better. A crisp, colorful, close-up image of the macro world shows some of nature’s finest handiwork. The microcosm of multiple legs and antennae, and the intricate design of normally unseen flower petals, not to mention the contrast of colors, begs to be photographed. In order to do it right, special equipment is needed.

A dedicated macrolens can produce a life-size close-up but with some drawbacks—it’s necessary to hold the camera extremely steady because a true macrolens has a very narrow depth of field. If everything is done correctly, though, the reward is an eye-opening view of the macro world. —WTD