Doing Marco with a telephoto lens in my local area and some birding
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So new toys means new ideas and new opportunities. Not that it prevented me to do this in the past, but this reminded me of actually using a telephoto lens for more than just birding photos. This lens is also capable of doing semi-macro photos which I love and it sort of sparkled an old enthusiasm of macro photography.
This time I was not specially in search of a bird, insects or scene, just go out and having fun and just see what and where my photography would take me. I grabbed the bike and the camera and headed out. Obviously I did not only do macro photos and captured some really cool birds! Even a Tern just after taking flight. Plus a really nice Reed warbler and a Wren hiding in the reeds.
About semi-macro photography with a telephoto lens is that it’s quite difficult and easy at the same time. The extra working distance makes it easer to just take a step back, but at the same time harder as with this longer focal length you need to be stable and focussed to get the “little creatures” in the frame. All in all I really enjoyed it.
I started out in one of the walking or hiking trails in the local meadows, nothing special, but still a good place to start. Where I normally totally disregard butterflies, bees and other insects, now I suddenly pay attention and its funny how much you see when you change you perspective in this sense. The first shots of a fly and a bee. I really like the colours here.
Taking in my new epic shots, hehe… I was enjoying myself, I found this really nice butterfly just chilling and was not bothered with me trying out compositions and just getting a decent shot. Getting the correct angles, in-focus areas and then also getting a good composition is a real challenge. Maybe that technical aspect of macro photography is what sparks my creativity and enthusiasm. Like to hear from you what you think of my first steps here, leave a comment below and let me know.
Moving on and the birds showed up, so that made my macro adventure cut short as I still love birds obviously. As I mentioned earlier some Terns taking off and a couple chasing each other across the sky to steal the fish the other one caught. Also with spring really in full swing birds are now everywhere, making nests (see the woodpecker), singing and calling each other etc. Really a treat to get out and take photos now.
In the end a really nice experience and a couple of hours trying out new gear and semi-macro photography. Let me know what you think and don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
