I very clearly remember when I took this image. There was this cute family that walked by me while I was sitting on the ground intently focused on my subject. They stopped and said “is there anything there?” I kinda giggled to myself, as I am always taking photos of something that looks really silly to the people not looking through my lens. I had to say “No. Just some weeds”. I find I say that alot. I love finding beauty in the unexpected parts of nature.

I love the way the curled up leaves are in and out of focus on this image, placed in just the right spots to move your eye around the photo. The brilliant oranges were something I was aware of when taking it, but the pink tones were a pleasant surprise

There are a few very key things I have picked up along the way that have made major differences in my photography.  I tend to treat macro photography like abstract paintings. I focus more on the shapes and colors than I do the actual subject. Handholding the camera is when I feel I can be the most creative. This obviously has some inherent problems. You have to shoot at higher ISOs and lower Aperature Values to get a fast enough shutter speed to keep things in focus. Smaller aperature values mean a shallower depth of field and even more difficulty keeping specific areas in focus.

There are two key things I do help me make the unstability work a little more in my favor. I use manual focus and continuous shooting mode. I rarely take less than 3 continuous frames for one shot. I move my body to get the focus in the spot I’m after. Since you are never totally stationary, taking multiple frames at once gives you a better chance of getting the shot you want out of the multiple frames as well as providing some nice surprises when the focus position shifts slightly from one frame to the other.

I prefer working handheld whenever I can as I have found it’s easier to keep up to the creative ideas I have while I’m shooting. I also love working with a shallower depth of field to create different points of interest. With manual focus and continuous shooting I get greater number of keepers.

Hope this helps!

Shannon