Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Passion for Macro Photography


I am so excited to have my friend Jamie as a guest poster again this year. Jamie is a woman of passion and creativity. She is a photographer, a musician, and a wordsmith. She has a tender, loving heart and it shows in her photographs and her blog.


It was really hard to come up with just one passion. So much of what my eyes take in as I go about my days stirs some form of passion or emotion in me. But, it is when I look closer, that I really feel the goosebumps on my heart. All I need is my camera and my macro lens. Maybe I am trying to explore the way I experienced the world as a child. Maybe I am wishing to recapture that sense of newness and awe. When you are young, every single thing is new. My two year old niece just discovered worms the other day and thought they needed kisses. Can you imagine back to a time when a slimy earthcrawler was something special and so deserving of love and affection?



On the days that seem mundane and commonplace, sometimes I need to stretch a little to find the extraordinary. And macro photography does it for me every time. When I spend an hour in a field or up against a tree or in a beloved garden and I really look up close, it feels like a meditation on the perfection of nature and all of her intricacies. Everything looks so unique and almost abstract when it is viewed for a magnifying lens... what I thought was just he ground could quite possibly be the sights of a different planet all together. A flower petal becomes a landing pad for bees, the bark of a tree becomes a giant maze for ants, and dandelions gone to seed become old growth forests for aphids and nymphs.



And it is ever changing. Nothing ever looks the same... even if I tilt my lens just a little, the landscape withing that rectangle lens changes completely. And if I try and compose the same hot again, I can never find the exact same perspective.



Taking pictures keeps me in the moment. It helps me slow down. And makes me so aware and full of gratitude for all that surrounds me. I wish to keep my eyesight young for as long as I live, hopefully always catching sights of something new that makes me gasp out loud as I look through my magic lens.


12 comments:

Debby said...

I like the idea of a "magic lens". That must have been what God thought when he made such beautiful things for us to see and enjoy.

spudballoo said...

Oh how delightful and soft, perfect images.

Word veri is 'memes' <<< so bloggy!

Char said...

i love her work and her words - thank you for featuring her. and yes, the macro world can be so very very magical.

Rita said...

Oh that we could all see through the eyes of a child! There are so many wonderful sights out there if we just look! Wonderful post!

Scrappy Grams said...

After I discovered Project 64, I learned about the macro lens. I said to my youngest, "I must have one!" That led to my buying a used Cannon, a used macro lens, and other equipment. It opened my eyes to nature's secrets. I am so in love with macro photography! But I'm still learning in baby steps.

Meri said...

So much joy, right under our noses.

Jeanne said...

Beautiful indeed.
Love to you all
Jeanne

Cindy said...

Beautiful, love this post. hugs.

Hausfrau said...

Such beautiful words and photos, Jamie! It still makes me smile when I see the heart rock photo you gave me...

Jaime said...

It's so much fun to see your own words and pictures on someone else's blog...especially when it is THIS particular blog. Thank you again Relyn, for the opportunity. Much love xoxo

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this wonderful post. A real eye-opener, pardon the pun! Such beauty.

Jeanie said...

Seeing all the tiny bits within -- the most minute details that can only be seen in this way is indeed beautiful. And, it truly helps show the miracles of nature in the most beautiful way. Simply lovely!

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