Welcome to 2020.  I hope you all had an awesome Christmas and New Year and you are now ready to tackle this new year head on.  I just started back at the office today so that gets my year on the go.

Share Six chose the theme {Macro} this month and I know that this year Share Six is going to stretch us a bit more.  We are going to try and come up with themes that challenge a little bit.

So I love Macro.  I always wanted a lens and one day I saw that a photographer in a group that I was in was going to sell her lens.  I took a deep breath and decided to go for it.  It was not cheap even second hand, but I ended up having the Canon Macro 100mm in my hands not long after that.  It not a lens I use every day but every so often I will go out and play with it.  The macro lens is ideal for ring photography.  In this case both were beach engagement ring shots.

Macro lens are also fun to experiment with.  Today I went out into the garden and lay down in the grass.  Sadly Richard has been trying to kill the weeds.  He tells me that feeding the ducks is causing weeds.  I, however, am not happy about the ducks going without their food. I am in my happy place feeding the birds, the squirrel and any other critter that may stop by.

Back to Weeds – That is what I am looking for. There were not a lot in our garden that were still living but I did find a few tenacious strugglers (I think I just made up a word) that were not giving up without a fight.  One thing I have discovered over the years is that there is a whole world down in the grass.

I also realized that I have used my macro lens a lot more than I thought. Below are a few older images that I have taken with the macro lens.  In the image below I had gone out to the park just after it rained and the drops were still sitting on the top of the plant.

Another two rain image, this time taken in our back garden.  We have these variegated leaves of pink and green that creates a really nice effect when they are covered with water drops.  Sometimes I am lucky to get a reflection in the water drop.

The image below is definitely a favorite of my and it graces the screens of my work computers.  I loved that I was able to capture the ladybird in this image.

This is another out in the garden macro image of a tiny little bud.  I so enjoy seeing the details come to life within the image.

For the longest time I did not have a macro lens but I had a real desire to do macro photography.  I happened to come across a group in Flickr that talked about using a lens reversal ring to do macro. So what is lens reversal all about.  Think free lensing (which I am useless at) but the lens is actually attached to the camera via the reversal lens ring.  Just a little tip here.  Do not put the ring in to tight.  You will have a panic attack when it does not want to come out.  Your camera is not seeing that there is a lens attached, so you are focusing manually and what you are seeing in your camera, but I did love what I managed to capture with that method.  If you cannot afford a macro lens, but really want to do macro photography you can get the lens reversal ring for canon for $7.95 at B&H.  Google about it and then play if you can.  I know I did.  Below are a few shots taken using the lens reversal ring.  If you want to learn more about the ring check out this YouTube video.

Macro is a fun topic and one that I have really enjoyed over the years.  This has been a great way to start off the year 2020.  I hope that you will all enjoy contributing as well.

Thank you for joining me for this month’s Share Six blog post.  This is a circle blog.  I love sneak peaks – they are always amazing.  This is an incredibly talented group of ladies.  Please take time to visit my friend and very talented artist Elizabeth of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson and see what she has for you this month. To check out her Facebook page click here and her Instagram page here.

Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their page as well.

Come and share your images  Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_macro