Taking A Closer Look

Macro photography is perhaps my favorite type of photography. The word macro means "above average in size or magnitude" and that's exactly what you get when you shoot macro photography. You can photograph the smallest object and it fills the frame allowing for extreme close up detail. A special "macro" lens designed to bring these small objects into clear view is essential in getting the best images. The lens I use on my pentax is a 50 millimeter standard macro with a 1:1 ratio, meaning the image on the "film" ( digital sensor) is the same size as the object being photographed.
So what does it all mean. Well, it means that when you're shooting macro, you can chase a bumble bee around a flower and when it decides to land you can be right there, up close, ready to fire the shutter.


Aside from chasing bees around the flowers, the flowers themselves can become great subjects when shooting macros . A great macro flower shot goes beyond just a picture of a flower. In the hands of a great photographer a flower shot is magically transformed into a work of art.
I tend to shoot many shots looking for just that right angle and just that right light. Once again it's a bit like fishing, many casts with few keepers. It also seems a bit counter intuitive but cloudy days make for the best flower shots. Direct sunlight casts too harsh of a light on the subject making for a really bad, washed out picture. The clouds act like a big softbox that one might use in a studio diffusing the light and limiting the harsh shadows. I shot many a bad flower picture until I learned that little secret.

Here are some examples of my macro work:

The Big Picture

For those of you that don't know me, I live in the beautiful Pacific North West. I could shoot photography for the rest of my life here and probably not see all this part of the country has to offer. Here there's a Kodak moment around every corner.

Right now I'm shooting basically two types of photography, Landscape and macro photography. Landscape photography is just what it sounds like. You take your camera out to the most beautiful location you can find, wait for the right light and start snapping. Usually the best time to shoot landscape photography is around sunrise and sunset. Yes, that means trudging yourself out of bed at an ungodly early hour to make it to your location before first light. I absolutely love to shoot early morning. You start with nothing but the black of night and slowly as first light creeps over the eastern horizon, the beautiful scenery starts to slowly come into light. Once first light comes on it's a race to get as many quality shots as possible in the short amount of time that the light is actually good. Once the sun reaches a certain point on the horizon, the quality of light quickly becomes too harsh and shooting is over. At that point you stop and breath and hope you got one or two great shots. It much like fishing, you cast your line a hundred times and hope you catch a few worth keeping.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Taken from Hurricane Ridge overlooking the Olympic Mountains.
Olympic National Park, WA

Dungeness Spit Recreation Area overlooking
the Straight of Juan De Fuca and the Olympic Mountains
Dungeness, WA

Nisqually Reach Wildlife Sanctuary
Nisqually WA

Cape Disappointment at Sunset
Long Beach, WA

I pulled over to the side of the road and about killed myself crossing a very large ditch to get this shot in. The light and the mist were just spectacular at that point. Sometimes shots like this scream for you to pull over.

Last Light caught just before Sunset on a beach here in Steilaccom
Steilacoom, WA

An early morning walker on Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach, OR

The Wish
Every now and then all of the elements come together and you're in the right place at the right time.
Steilacoom, WA