Tag Archives: macro

Alien Vista – Macro Image

Alien Vista is a macro image I shot several months ago and then got busy or went out of town and neglected to do anything else with it. It was taken with my mighty macro lens, Canon’s MPE-65mm. This lens is a beast, but it allows very close up photography up to 5:1. This would allow taking a photograph of a grain of rice. The downside is the shallow depth of field requiring taking multiple images and using a piece of software to combine the images and their different focus planes. For this image I used Zerene Stacker, which works fabulous for this type of application. It is a fun process, but does require a lot of patience. It is always amazing to me how interesting and often abstract something becomes when shot extremely close up. This is a close up of the inside of a cantaloupe.

Alien Vista, macroThanks for reading and more of my work can be viewed on my website.


Yin Yang Effect

abstract photograph of blue swirlsHave you ever witnessed the yin yang effect in your life?  Well, I believe I experience it frequently or maybe it is some kind of mid life crisis. I especially see it in my creative interests.  One month I am photographing prisons and graffiti and the next I am mixing paints to create some vibrant macro abstractions guaranteed to make your eyes pop.

Or maybe the swing in interest is due to my birth date, which happens to be right on the cusp between the Zodiac signs of Cancer and Leo. I have been told at certain times it can (and does) create conflicting feelings and actions.  Cancer being the conservative homebody and Leo the outgoing risk taker.

There’s a theory in photography, a person should totally embrace what they like to shoot and focus only on that one interest in the hopes of achieving perfection. I certainly see merit to that, although, for me I also see a certain amount of boredom setting in.  I look at my portfolio and see a huge range of diversity and that is only viewing what is online .  Maybe it is due to the length of time I have been shooting or maybe it is the yin-yang effect in my life. I just don’t seem to be able to settle into something permanently. Once I shot a magazine containing portraits of 100 different woman from all walks of life. While the experience was fun, I learned a lot and met many different, wonderful women, I was happy when it was over.  Ready to get back to art.

Regardless of the cause, I am happy with opposite interests in my life.   Here are a couple of examples of what I have been working on from the Abstract Category on my website.

 

blue abstract photograph

Macro Mania

Recently I bought a new macro lens to take my photography to a higher creative level. I have to admit the Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens is a beast I have never encountered before. I call it the mighty macro for it allows a 5:1 close up range, meaning I can photograph something as small as a grain of rice. The lens is not without challenges and certainly test my patience. It is manual focus lens and the depth of field is so shallow, image stacking is required but the creative possibilities are unlimited. Lighting is also a key factor, but I love working in my studio, so I am delighted to have this new tool. Once I master the basics, I plan to produce a series of abstract images, which I can add to my “Misconceptions” Collection or maybe I will start a new series called “Macronanay”.  Below is my first print available using this lens. It is a combination of 10 different photos.

Image shot with MP-E 65

Macro image using Canon's MP E -64

Well Aged by Susan McAnany

To view the print larger or purchase, visit my website:  http://www.susanmcanany.com

As always, thanks for visiting!