Black and White Macro

When you think of butterflies and poppies, colour instantly springs to mind, so it’s nice to see a fresh approach in black & white. Converting to monochrome really helps the eye to focus on the graphic markings of the marbled white and the light catches the hairs on the poppy stem perfectly.

Spider webs and black & white seem to go hand-in-hand, so it takes something pretty special to stand out – and here it is! The lines of the web feel as though they have been drawn by an artist and the frost emphasises every strand. The centre of the web is off-centre, which works brilliantly. What makes the shot, however, is the frame around the edge – a natural artwork, made all the more beautiful by the knowledge that it is temporary.

What looks like a mass of human blood vessels is actually the result of 23 stacked images of a spider’s web! It’s a fascinating picture and shows what can be achieved when you have an idea in your mind’s eye. If I have one small complaint, it’s that it feels a bit grey – a boost of the white and perhaps even a touch more contrast would really make it pop. It’s a cracking image.

There’s plenty to admire about this image: the background bokeh is pleasing, there are three main subjects (which provides a nice balance) and the setting feels very natural. However, the branch dominates the frame because we can’t see enough of the insects on the left and right to help out. Plus, the focus should ideally be on the eyes and not on the bodies. It’s close, but just misses the mark.

Playing around with glass, reflections and refraction is a great way to get the creative juices flowing and converting to black & white really helps to pare everything back to a mixture of lines, shapes, patterns and contrast. I can’t help thinking that this composition could have been stripped back a little further though, it feels like there are two or three really striking images contained in this one shot. I would play around with the cropping tool and see what comes out!

There’s a beautiful subtlety to this image. The light falls in all the right places, emphasising the intricate shape of the humble fern. Throwing the background into darkness was the right decision: any background clutter would spoil the wonderful simplicity of the picture. It feels as though the fern is throwing its arms open in celebration.

There’s something mesmerising about this image – the strands of the spider’s web are so fine and yet they feel as though they are sucking you in and trapping you there! When you look closely, the dew has emphasised every strand, which brings a lightness to the chaos. An aperture of f/8 was the right choice as it has allowed detail to be retained in the background foliage.

Tulips are a firm favourite with photographers and their waxy, glossy petals have attracted painters for centuries. Many are drawn to the beauty these flowers seem to acquire as they fade (as here). The composition has been well considered – the ‘fringes’ of the petals direct the eye perfectly around the frame, but it's the light that makes the picture, bringing out the texture.

The photographer Robert Adams once produced a series of black & white images of young alder trees growing close to his home. In each picture the eye is drawn to the empty space between the leaves and branches – an area that photographers often call ‘negative space’, but which is full of energy and possibility. This image has that same beautiful balance.

The photographer has decided to do something a little different here and it has paid off handsomely. Positioning himself under the weaving has created strong diagonal lines across the frame, which adds dynamism. The left hand creates another fine diagonal, while the action takes place according to the rule of thirds. What could have been a slightly static portrait has been elevated into something exceptional.

It takes serious skill to light and shoot a static object like a pen and give it a sense of life and grandeur. Using an aperture of f/18 has captured every small detail and the highlights have been beautifully controlled. It’s a wonderful shot, but it doesn’t seem to suit the dimensions of the frame somehow. The empty space and blackness at the top feels a bit heavy. Maybe a portrait version would work better?

These might look like roof tiles neatly overlapping, but they are actually part of a bird’s feather! The lighting is perfect, really bringing out the texture and tessellation, and the positioning of the diagonal is spot on (it would’ve been tempting to position it corner-to-corner leaving the viewer struggling to decide which half to look at first). Narrowly missed out on a Top 10 spot.