Me and My Macro

I've been having a lot of fun with my newly acquired Macro lens. Now you may be thinking, wow, that must have cost you a fortune. Not only must you have a swanky expensive looking camera but you must have a very expensive lens. That's the interesting part, no not at all.

I'm going to showcase some of the macro photos I've managed to take with an inexpensive but good quality lens, using your iPhone or iPod.

Let's start with the first question you may have What is Macro Photography?

Actually, the first question you'd like answering is, what is that picture? Oh, that's a close-up on a tree nut I found in the park. It already looked interesting before I snapped it with my macro lens but I hope you agree it looks even more intriguing up close and personal.

Up Close and Personal

Macro Photography is an amazing photography technique. By using a lens that is placed very close to the subject matter you can zoom into a whole new secret world and discover how things really look right up close.

In this article I'll show you the results I've managed to achieve by using my macro lens.

This picture, for example, is a close-up of a leaf I found while going for a walk in the park.

My new Macro lens friend

The iPhone has an amazingly good camera for a mobile. Isn't it fantastic how advanced technology has become? You no longer have to carry lots of different, and usually very heavy, equipment around with you. One device fits all your needs. Of course I'm not saying discard that wonderful Camera that you have in the cupboard as they definitely have a much wider functionality and you can get wonderful results, but if you just want a quick point and shoot with great quality results that fits in your pocket, you can't beat the iPhone.

Once any device has been made, you can bet your bottom dollar, that just around the corner will be some ingenious little elves working away in workshops across the land, ok, usually China, to make attachments and gizmos galore.

Step up my latest discovery from these clever little elves - the Ollo Clip.

It's small enough to pop in your pocket and comes in it's own little drawstring bag which also doubles up as a lens cleaner. It just pops onto your iPhone without the need for any screws or glue (like some other models that are out there which could damage your phone) and if you have an iPod there's a smaller attachment that fits inside to reduce the size of the hole to help it fit snugly onto the thinner device. You can't use the Ollo Clip with any covers you may put on your devices so that's the only minor drawback but it's not caused me any problems.

I discovered the Ollo Clip a couple of weeks ago and I've been having a lot of fun with it already.

The Ollo Clip comes with three lenses:-

WIDE ANGLE LENS

FISHEYE LENS

MACRO LENS

and is available in either black or red

The amazing thing about this picture is if you looked at my pants you would think that the fabric was just plain flat. Pop on the Macro lens and zoom up close to the fabric and it reveals so much more. The fine intricate work of the seamstress.

This looks like I have taken a picture of a fence when in fact it some very strong netting on my rucksack that looks nothing like this to the naked eye.

Don't you just love looking at the world from this perspective?

I was at the ocean the other day with my trusty Macro Lens in my pocket ready for action. You've all seen those frothy bubbles washing up on the soft sand tickling between your toes while you're slowly being pulled into the sand - I'm always pleased beach sand doesn't act like like sinking sand - what's that all about.

So with my trusty iPod - you can use your iPhone too but if you're on the beach you may want to be a little careful as you don't want any water or sand getting in places they shouldn't - your iPhone won't thank you but the pictures will come out a whole lot better. In fact, that's such an important thing to keep in mind why not check my tips after this picture on how to give your device some emergency medical attention should it slip out of your hand. With a lot of luck and depending on how fast you've treated the problem, you'll be home and dry with a happy device without the need to fork out mega bucks for a new phone.

I was watching the waves lap around my feet and it was a particularly bubble making ocean day so attaching my trusty Ollo Clip I waited for the waves to roll in and as they ebbed and flowed it left some amazing bubbles behind which I captured really close up.

Not for the faint hearted

On my journey with my Ollo Clip on the beach today, I found what looked to the naked eye like a pebble on my purple beach towel. However, my macro lens revealed that this was an elaborate intertwining of sand, fine shell and coral all mingled together which had made a little ball.

Even my beach towel looks interesting under the lens, you can really see the work that's gone into it. I have another picture of that coming up.

This looks very intricate and detailed - like fine hair or noodles. Again, that sand gets in on the act looking like tiny rocks.

Here's the same subject matter but taken the way you'd be looking at it on the beach. Look at all the detail that's missing, even the towel looks ordinary.

The seaweed was slightly buried in the sand so I zoomed in to take this shot.

You'd walk past this small piece of seaweed on most beach walks but I was on the look out for subjects so thought I'd give it a chance.

Before you leave, why not challenge yourself