Flowers are in bloom, and insects begin to crawl out from their hideouts.
There’s no longer need to hold your breath, it’s spring time!!!
Which means it’s time to dust that old Film or Digital SLR camera and take it out for a long awaited ride. Heck why not let your cell phone tag along? After all, your pictures should be judged not by the camera you use, but the heart you’ve put into each and every one of them.
So, as it turned out, my camera had been thirsty for daylight for quite a while. So I thought I’d take it out from the bag and try out that new trick I discovered last year: reverse-mount macro photography. (Reference) Simply put, I took a 50mm prime lens and mounted it backwards using a screw-on reverse ring ($5 on eBay) that goes on the filter thread. (More information). The optics are now reversed and therefore the focal points are drawn closer, MUCH closer. In Layman’s term, your “zoom” now becomes your “magnification”. The advantage is that this set-up saves you a bundle by not having to purchase ridiculously expensive Macro Lenses. $800 certainly isn’t exactly for ‘everyone’.
Check out some awesome indoor takes below using a Manual Focus Series E Nikon lens i picked up from eBay for around $40. It’s super sharp, focuses smoothly, and super fast (wide aperture), too!!! Best of all it’s Manual Focus, which is the way photography is meant to be. For more magnification, reverse-mount any ZOOM lens. The higher the zoom, the higher the magnification. To focus, all you need to do is vary the distance between your camera and your subject!
Pros: Cheap, excellent picture quality, the thrill of having someone say “hey! you put it on the wrong way!”, great hands-on experience (no dullness from using autofocus)!
Cons: More work! No metering, manual focus (when reverse-mounted focus is achieved by adjusting the distance between the subject and the lens -> requires a LOT of patience –> a hassle when capturing spontaneous moments. However, these can also be considered PROS.
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Flower bud
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Live Spider in Captivity
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Materials:
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Camera: Nikon D90
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Lens: Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 (reverse mounted)
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Aluminum pan and white napkin to trap the spider
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50mm f/1.8 prime lens (any lens will do) with reverse-mount ring
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Flowers (not shown)
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