Macro

Coloured pencils and crayons are popular still life macro subjects but this one stands out from the crowd. The vibrant colours immediately attract the eye. An added bonus is the texture of the exposed wood. The decision to immerse the pencils in water is an interesting one, because the many different sized air bubbles add another textured dimension without adding any more colour – that would have been an overkill. Once again, a green background was a good choice, which sets off the multi-coloured pencils to good advantage.

This is a fine example of a macro shot which has a careful and powerful composition plus precise focusing. For any animal to appear alive, the eyes do need to be sharply in focus. The two orange eyes, as well as the rest of the head, are all sharp and become the focal point. The downward swept wings add to the graphic element with the edge of each appearing as a strong diagonal. Many macro shots fall down with a cluttered background. Not this one: the green backdrop perfectly compliments the black venation on the wings as well as the orange eye and flowers the dragonfly has alighted upon. So, for all these reasons, I have chosen this dynamic (in terms of composition) dragonfly as my winning shot for the macro contest.

When a series of fungus shots are all taken so that a single fungus is always placed in the centre of the frame, this can become very boring. So it was very refreshing to see these two fungi in a mossy setting with water splashing off their caps. It provides an insightful cameo of life on a forest floor, portraying weather conditions in which relatively few macro images are captured. Rain can be such a magical element.

While it is possible to take a still life shot with simply a camera and a macro lens, this action high speed flash macro image of a liquid drop falling on another drop is difficult to pull off without using an infra-red beam to trigger the flash. Great care needs to be taken in setting up the shot, since each shot is unique, so it is impossible to compose it in the viewfinder. Added interest can be gained by using a different coloured drop falling into the liquid or by adding coloured gels to the flash heads.

Another very different water drop shot – in this case capturing the second drop as it reaches the column of a previous drop. A pair of scissors has been set up so that one of the loops in the handle frames the water drop. While the rainbow hued water introduces more colour, it does make this quite a busy image, which makes it difficult for the eye to decide where to focus. Sometimes – especially for macro shots – less can be more. However I appreciate the thought and work which has gone into this setting up this multi-coloured shot. The icing on the cake would have been achieved by removing the water drops on the scissors in post production.

This is not a portrait of a fly, but a shot showing a hoverfly lapping up pollen from the stamens of a flower. The soft lighting is perfect for the pastel-toned flower. Off-centering the fly makes for a more interesting composition, added to by the curvaceous line of the red edged petal. This is a simple shot effectively executed, which is pleasing to the eye.

This study of a single moss capsule rising up from the leafy base plus raindrop is a fine example of how less can be more. At this magnification depth of field is very shallow, but in this case it can be used to advantage. By precise focusing on the moss capsule itself, it stands out very clearly against the out-of-focus background. This is the kind of shot where the camera angle is very important since the sensor plane needs to be parallel with the stalk to ensure it appears in focus along the entire length.

This really is an insightful macro shot which needs to be seen enlarged to fully appreciate the integral parts. Taking an eye from the side is always more dramatic than from the front because the eyelashes can be used to frame the eye leading the viewer's eye into the eye itself. On the outer surface there appears to be a pin sharp reflection of a window frame, so we see a rectangular structure montaged onto the circular iris.