Yesterday I was browsing Deviantart for some inspiration, when I spotted a photo of Nariscuss. It was the most colorful picture on the screen, it was really eye-catching.

Nariscuss’ bio:

Wello! My name is Sophie, 18 years old and i’m from Robin hood county. I’ve just finished my second year at college and will be attending Portsmouth University in September, doing a BA Honors in Photography. I’m shy, single and sensitive. Love my mates to bites size pieces! Very laid back, polite and quite artistic. I love Futurama - i’m a slight computer geek, i hate politics and love chinese food! The only sport i like is badminton, i’m not very competitive at anything i do and i suck at accepting compliments. I’m self taught in HTML and web-design. As well as photography, although i do have A-level’s in Photography, Psychology and Business.

Deviantart: http://nariscuss.deviantart.com/

Blog: http://narcissus.paper-rain.org/

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Brian Valentine started taking macro shots as a hobby and today his passion takes him everyday on a trip to his own yard with his camera to discover more about the little things the world has to offer. The macro shots taken by him are absolutely beautiful and very interesting as you get to see all the small details of everything that goes in front of his lens.

For more from Brian make sure to visit his flickr.

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Or, A Few of My Favorite Things

Yeah, I know.  EVERYBODY photographs flowers.  Well, everybody also breathes, but you don’t see me insisting that fewer of you do it, now do you?  I aim my camera at pretty things.  Call me shallow, but not for me, all that journalistic ‘we really should do something about these terrible conditions’ kind of photography.  It’s enough that it should be pretty.  Make me feel good.  Lift my spirits.  Like most artists and creatives, I have more work than will ever be seen.  And like most artists, I WANT my work to be seen.  I do it for me, but I also do it for the world.  Really.  These of some of my personal favorites.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Read more at www.studioonashoestring.com

I really LOVE macro… and browsing around Flickr I found the work from Sakura, a girl from Tokyo that has a natural talent to capture beautiful things. Her images are reallly delicate, colorful, inspiring and gorgest. As the images speak for themselves, I have not much to say. And I’m sure you will also like her work…

I am a Japanese girl who live in Tokyo. Love to take photos of natures, just like small wild flowers and small creatures, around me. You can find me on flickr.

Enjoy the images and make sure to visit Sakura’s flickr page to check out further amazing photos!

Enjoy…

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One method of delving into macro photography is to use adapter rings.

These rings have threads on both sides, one end is screwed onto your present camera lens like any filter and a second lens is attached in reverse onto the other end of the ring

You can buy these adapters or you can make them yourself

You may find filters in the clearance bins at some of the larger photography stores

for as little as one dollar

The Tools

1) plastic bag, 2) safety glasses, 3) gloves, 4) pliers, 5) file, 6) hammer, 7) epoxy and mixing materials, 2 filters

Removing The Glass

Assembling The Rings

The Final Product

The magnification attained will be relative to the ratio of the focal length of the two lenses being used

0.5X=50mm (forward lens) / 100mm (reversed lens)

1X=50mm (forward lens) / 50mm (reversed lens)

2X=100mm (forward lens) / 50mm (reversed lens)

4X=200mm (forward lens) / 50mm (reversed lens) and so on. Read more at www.diyphotography.net

At a little over $9, I found an off-brand 52mm reverse adapter perfect for my 50mm 1.8 and 1.4 lenses. I took it out for a spin at the National Botanical Gardens. Here are my thoughts and experiences with this fun lens accessory.

if you want to get serious about macro (close-up) photography this isn’t the best solution

At only $9 I highly recommend this as a starting point or way of experimenting with macro photography

Protecting the Lens

You Lose the Camera’s Brain so Use Your Own

Depth and Field and Lighting

The three pictures below show the dramatic changes that come with changing the aperture on close up images

A few side notes

You aren’t limited to reverse mounting prime lenses

you can build your own reverse mount extention tube that will work with any lens. Here are some detailed instructions.

Reverse mounting a lens is not the only way to get cheap magnifications

If you already own a nice zoom lens, look into close-up diopter lenses that screw onto the filter threadsRead more at digital-photography-school.com