Closer Close-Ups (Kodak Blog, October 5, 2006)

NOTE: This is a “reprint” of my blog post to Kodak’s previous “A Thousand Words” blog.

flower

One of the things that I love about digital photography is the ease in taking closer close-ups and the ability to zoom in on some of the wonders of nature. Most digital cameras today have a “macro” mode, which enables you to take those closer close-ups. You may or may not have noticed that the 1000words blog has a link in the left-hand column to Kodak’s tips on Taking Great Pictures. Under the “More Advanced Techniques,” you can find tips on Creating Close-Up Pictures, including tips on Close-ups With Close-Up Mode (also known as “macro” mode). You can also get some related tips on Photographing Flowers. Once you know the basics, the fun part is practicing taking close-ups, seeing the larger than life results on your computer screen, discovering some of the things you didn’t even realize you captured, and being creative with the results!

The other day, I walked around the garden to capture a few macro shots. I love passion flowers for their multiple layers of texture and interest. From far away, they look like a pretty flower. Up close, you can see their intricate details. There are multiple varieties of passion flowers and this purple one is just one example.

This pink flower is guara, which is sometimes referred to as “pink butterfly” or “whirling butterflies” because the flowers resemble small butterflies. In this picture, I was focusing on a bloom, but if you look at a crop taken from the same picture, I actually captured some bugs crawling on a nearby stem! I didn’t even notice the bugs until I was looking at the picture on my computer screen.

In the picture of this green succulant, as in the picture of the passion flower, I not only got close in distance to the subject of my photo, but I also zoomed in so that the subject filled the frame – even cropping part of the subject at the edges. To me, the photos start to look like art when captured in this way.

When I capture a picture I really like, I love creating things with it. Here are some things that I’ve done and created with pictures like these:

  • Personalization: print a copy of the picture and glue it to the outside of a notebook. This makes it easy to identify the notebook as yours and allows you to enjoy the picture whenever you use your notebook.
  • Greeting cards: create a custom greeting card. You can print the picture at home and attach it to the front of some card stock for a one-of-a-kind card.
  • Calendar page: I like to print a new calendar page each month, selecting a recent favorite picture at the beginning of each month.
  • Art: Print one photo or a series of similar photos and frame them to hang on the wall as art. Higher resolution photos can be printed in larger sizes (poster-size prints, prints on canvas) for greater impact.

Do you have a cool close-up, close-up tips, or close-up creations to share? Let us know through the comments section!

Posted in kodak_blog, photography.