Exploring the wonders of creation through a 50mm lens...and other lenses too.

One thing I am really enjoying about my new Macro lens is its power as a storytelling vehicle. I’m finding that some of my favorite close-up photos aren’t just everyday objects, but things in my life that are part of a larger story or narrative. Of course it’s fun to take pictures of ordinary everyday objects like leaves, flowers, bugs, and the like, but I’m finding that I get greater satisfaction out of shots like this one that carry some degree of meaning or tell a particular story.

My dad was a railroader for his entire adult life, starting at the age of 18 and working until he retired over 40 years later. He wore a lot of (hard)hats during those decades, worked first-, second-, and third-shift, and drove his bike instead of his car almost every single day. (When I was a kid we were a one-car family so his practice was partly out of necessity, but I think he just rode his bicycle because he enjoyed it more than driving a car.) When he finally punched the clock one last time, BNSF presented him with this watch as a way of commemorating his years of service–a watch that he wears to this day, and as you can tell by the nicks and scratches on its face, has seen more than its fair share of use. That’s something my dad taught me that has stuck with me over the years: if you really value something, you shouldn’t keep it in on a shelf or hidden in a box. You should use it, and in so doing, show your appreciation for the value it brings to your life.

When my parents were visiting for Thanksgiving I asked my dad if I could take a picture of his watch with my macro lens, and he gladly acquiesced. The setup for this photo was pretty simple: the watch and my camera were just sitting on my living room floor, and there was a big light source off to the left thanks to the door to our porch. I played around with the exact position of the watch, how I wanted the light to be reflected around the bezel, and what exactly I wanted to focus on which was particularly crucial given the extremely shallow depth of field. I decided the most important element was the “Railroad Approved” moniker, especially since the BNSF logo would still be discernible even though it was slightly blurry as a result. I intentionally set the hands to the classic ten-and-two position common for timepiece photography, but didn’t stop the second hand in order to capture just the smallest bit of movement and dynamic energy in the frame. This meant that I had to wait until it came around to roughly the 20-second mark to take a few shots, because it just looked strange in most other positions. (Try it for yourself–there’s a reason most watches are shot with the hour and minute hand at ten-and-two, and the second hand pointing downward.)

I quite like how this turned out, though it’s a far cry from actual timepiece photography with good lighting and a photographer who knows what he or she is doing. Still, I had fun taking it and I’m glad I could capture this bit of my dad’s history at the railroad with one simple photograph.

As I learn to use my Macro lens, one of the things find most enjoyable is its ability to transform everyday objects into something unique and special, and at times, almost otherworldly. That’s my impression here, anyway, though I’m curious to know what you think. This is one of the tuning pegs of the electric guitar I bought when I was in high school (or was it college? I forget, honestly) and still play to this day. It’s a pretty basic Epiphone Les Paul with one or two modifications I made long ago, including a Seymour-Duncan humbucker that I put in backwards for some reason. It was intentional, but I honestly don’t think I could tell you if it affected the sound at all. Maybe I just did it to look cool? In any case, while the guitar itself isn’t going to show up in a museum anytime soon, it means a lot to me and still brings me a lot of enjoyment–especially since my wife took it in to the local music store for a bit of an overhaul two years ago. It hasn’t looked, felt, or sounded that good since I bought it :)

All that is perhaps beside the point, but it’s related to another aspect of my Macro lens that I have found I quite enjoy. Rather than taking pictures of just random objects up close, I like shooting subjects that have a sense of meaning and purpose. This isn’t just any guitar tuning peg…it’s the one on my guitar, the one with a rich sense of personal history to it, and the one I am using to teach my kids now that they are old enough to learn. It’s things like this that make close-up photography super cool :)

As for the nitty-gritty details, oh my. There was so much to consider when I shot this picture: lighting, angle, subject, background, distance to subject, and of course aperture. This was taken at f/54 using a ten-second exposure, and even then the depth of field was almost too small. One of the side effects of such a small aperture is that every tiny speck of dust on the lens (not to mention the surface of the guitar) was visible on the final image, and required a lot of clean-up work in Lightroom. I am quite fond of the final image and I like that it has a story to tell, if not on its own then at least from the one who took it. And maybe it will even make you think about something similar in your life too.

I don’t often do topical posts here on Weekly Fifty, mostly because I would rather just take photos and not worry about pairing them to specific times of the year but also because sometimes I just can’t think of any good pictures that go with certain occasions. Or if I do, I just don’t feel like forcing my photography to bend to temporal constraints. However, this year I wanted to do just that and I had a specific idea in mind, if not a specific image. And it’s all thanks to (what else?) my Macro lens. My goodness I sure am having fun with this :)

Before we put up our Christmas tree I had a picture like this in mind–that of an ornament hanging from a branch with some lights in the background–and while I can’t say I had this exact image in my head as my wife and I were stringing lights and hanging ornaments with my kids and my parents (who had the good fortune of being able to visit us over Thanksgiving this year) I certainly did have photography on my mind. Of course my dad and I shot dozens (hundreds?) of images of all of us doing the decorating, but the whole time I just kept on thinking about getting up close with my macro lens and composing a shot like this. A few days later after my parents had gone and the dust had settled, I set out to get the photo you see here.

I didn’t want this to be just any ornament. I wanted a picture with a bit of history, meaning, and significance behind it, which is something I am learning at which this Macro lens excels. I still have a box of Christmas ornaments from when I was a kid, so my wife and I looked around a bit until we found this one that would work well as a close-up picture but also had a name and date attached to it. The underside of this little scene has “Simon 1988” written on it, and while I don’t recall the exact circumstances under which I came into possession of this plastic bear, tree, and unicorn atop a small drum, I’m guessing it was from my grandparents who were fond of giving us grandkids an ornament each year. (Mom, if you’re reading this…do you remember the story behind the ornament?) I like how the scene shows signs of wear: scratches and marks on the bear’s face, yellowed glue around where the figures are attached to the drum, and some discoloring on the horse as well. I suppose that’s what happens when you keep around a Christmas ornament for over 30 years :)

A bit about the image itself: My initial instinct was to shoot wide open because more bokeh = better photo, right? Well, not exactly. Wide open at f/3.5 resulted in the blurry mess you can see below.

While the bear looks kind of interesting, the composition as a whole is far less compelling than the one at the top of this post. I realized that by stopping down to f/13 I could get a much more interesting image: red highlights on the tree behind the rocking horse, better definition on the bear, a more interesting background, and my favorite, starburst lines coming out of the red light.

And with that, I’m closing out 2021 with a wish and a prayer for health, happiness, and blessings for all of you. What a year it has been, and I hope 2022 brings much-needed long-term respite from the pandemic. I hope you all, dear readers, got your COVID vaccine and your loved ones are safe and healthy, and may God pour out His blessings on you now and throughout the new year. Thanks for being part of Weekly Fifty and here’s to a bright and beautiful 2022 just around the corner.

As far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed shooting photos on rainy days. Something about the overcast lighting, the rain falling, and the subdued feeling of just being outside in those conditions elevates the art of photography for me, and I find that I enjoy the act of taking photos in the rain even if the end result doesn’t even work out. But when I do come back from taking photos on a dreary day with something that looks good enough to put up on Weekly Fifty…well, that’s a good day in my book.

This picture kind of reminds me of one that I took years ago with my 50mm lens and close-up filters, and it was these early shots that taught me so much about doing close-up photography–enough that I feel like I’m not entirely starting from scratch with my new 105mm macro lens. It’s not just about finding an interesting subject (in this case, a drop of water on a leaf) but looking at the light, the foreground, the background, the colors, the depth of field, and everything else that goes into making an interesting photograph. On this picture I intentionally composed things so that the droplet would be somewhat backlit, as I wanted to get a glistening shine on the top edge. I also wanted a bit of foreground blur and tried to get the subject as sharp as possible, though that is almost always more difficult than it seems since water droplets don’t play nicely with a camera’s autofocus system.

To get this image I knelt low to the ground, got close to the leaf, adjusted the aperture, and fired off a few shots. I wasn’t happy with the results, so I adjusted the aperture some more, repeated the process…and nothing. The pictures just weren’t that great, and I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out that what I thought was a small aperture (f/8, f/13) was way too large when photographing tiny water droplets up close. I ended up shooting this at f/19, 1/90 second (thanks to the Vibration Reduction on this lens), ISO 100, and even at f/19 the depth of field is still razor thin. It’s like I’m having to re-learn everything I know about taking pictures as I use this Macro lens, and it’s awesome. I’m super happy with how this shot turned out and can’t wait to keep shooting it to find out what else it can do.