A new perspective
Long before I decided to take up photography, I was always fascinated by close-up pictures of insects.
I came to know that this way of taking photos is called "macro photography." I do not really know the other technical jargons, but macro photography essentially captures details of a subject that are not usually visible to the naked eye.
And so I decided to try macro photography and bought inexpensive extension tubes for my kit lens. The goal was to capture images from an entirely new perspective.
From what I gathered, using extension tubes is one of the cheapest ways of getting close up photos. What you do is add the tubes to your lens making them longer longer, and thus farther away from the camera's sensor. Essentially, adding the tubes to your kits lens makes them a poor man's macro lens.
This setup means you have to get really close to your subject. Auto-focus is very limited, as I found out, and the whirring sound of the lens trying to focus proved to be disastrous in some instances. There was this nice butterfly I was about to shoot, but the sound of the lens startled it, before I can take the shot.
In most of the photos, I had to use manual focusing. And this is not easy. It is not the lack of subject or subjects to focus on, but more the challenge of controlling my shaky hands.
I learned the hard way that in macro photography, the smallest of movements can distort and reduce the sharpness of the photos. It can be a bit frustrating to take a number of shots and see that none of the shots are good enough or sharp enough.
So far, this method of photography (if I can call it that) has been the most rewarding for me. With my modest gear, I had to crouch, sneak up and concentrate a lot to focus on the subject or subjects. The crouching is particularly uncomfortable and not good for the knees, but the satisfaction comes after I am able to take a photo that I like after trying to get it several times.
Photo walks
I have been taking photo walks in our neighborhood in Fairview, Quezon City, hoping to snap a few photos. I find it quite relaxing to slowly stroll past patches of vegetation or outside gardens while at the same time looking for subjects to photograph. The best time for taking these photo walks is early in the morning, where most insects are still pretty inactive and are thus more "cooperative."
The house we are staying in is also a stone's throw away from the La Mesa Ecopark, which is also a great source for some macro photos. You do have to pay a minimal amount to enter the park grounds, but I think it is worth it.
Here are a few photos:
