Getting up close and personal with nature

Macro photography is an incredible way of seeing the world through some new and different perspective. After going outside and finding some very interesting things around me I was blown away by the ability I have behind my camera to zoom in and see the finite details of the world around me. Take little spider-bro for example! He was tiny, basically a dime would have been the size of a car in comparison to him. But by taking macro photos I am now able to look at the small detail on his body and legs and see the little hairs that I otherwise would have never noticed. 

To achieve this I had a specialized filter over my Canon 75-300 lens that multiplied the image by 10x the size. By keeping my focal length at about 85 I was able to get close enough to lil señor here. Just look at his adorable face and little beady eyes looking up at me! How could I pass up an opportunity to not take a picture of a spider that was this photogenic?

By using this method to get some very interesting macro shots, I continued looking around and found some pine needles. Using the macro filter provided some excellent looks but I was kind of bored by the shot so I then sprayed some water onto the pine needles. The water drops stuck to them and adds some more interesting elements to the picture.

This little dandelion was taken using the same method and continued to show me the power and potential that macro photography has. The doors that are able to be unlocked are countless and its really cool to see more of the world around us. Go out and try it out!

For more tips and tricks for taking macro shots outside, check out some other experts over at OutdoorPhotography.com and their article on Macro Everywhere.