Playing in Photography
Today I spent some time playing with photography. You see, I obtained a Canon MP-E 65mm 1X-5X macro lens for a week from BorrowLenses.com, and thought it would be fun to play with this lens since I haven’t shot with it for several years. I really don’t do very much macro photography, and to be honest I don’t take it all that seriously owing to the fact that I’ve never considered myself to be all that good at it. I’ve always been intrigued by being able to take a really close look at a subject, but I’ve never been all that impressed with my photographic results in doing so.
You know how in many cases when you’re earning a living doing something you love, no matter how much fun it might be, it still feels like “work”? Well, in this case the photography wasn’t even pretending to be work. Often when I’m at a great location with my camera, I’m thinking about how I can use the resulting images in one of my books, or how it might be worthy of the cover of Digital Darkroom Quarterly.
This time was different. I only got the lens so I could have fun with it. And what fun it was! Granted, it was a wet, dreary, drizzly day around my home in the Seattle area (no surprise there!), but it was still so much fun to wander around the yard photographing plants, trees, rocks, and just about anything else I could find that seemed worthy of a closer look.
When I came back inside I explored the kitchen to see what I might find. I never new peppercorns could be so fascinating!
Then I got the bright idea of heading out to the garage to see if I could find something interesting on my bike to photograph, since I love cycling so much. Bad idea. It was then that I remembered my last ride had been over a week ago. In the rain. And that I got a flat tire. And that I was so rushed afterward that I didn’t get a chance to properly clean my bike. And that riding for a couple hours in the wet weather really takes a toll. And that if you then let your bike sit in the garage for a week because you’re too busy to attend to it, things get ugly.
The macro lens helped me realize just how bad things had gotten (gee, thanks). My neglected chain was gritty and had some rust starting to show up. But it was fun photography! And I enjoyed working with the images in Photoshop (despite the guilt!).
So, while I’ll spend some time over the holiday weekend making amends with my bike, I’ll also remember what fun I had playing around with a lens that I don’t plan to buy but still wanted the opportunity to play with for a little while, just for fun.
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