Something happens when we get close to a subject. A friend’s greeting is nice but a hug says more. Thru the lens we can hug our subjects, sense their presence more intimately, even imagine how they smell.

Usually, we photograph the blossom; but that’s only a moment in the life. Next comes the fruit or its infant stage. Leaves take form, begin the feeding process of photosynthesis. Suddenly we’re engaged with another living form. It’s magic.

If we take the time to explore our neighbors that look not quite the same as our own species, we enter a new world. Visual messages begin.

Visual messages begin. Are they talking to us? Are we talking to them? Is there communication? There must be, for I feel differently as I spend time engaged with the beauty of this being.

Begin to see…

If we only have a fuzzy idea of a tree, it’s difficult to see it’s tiny parts as they are. A few things can sharpen the picture.

The camera must be steady. Either a tripod or a verrrry good image stabilizer in our equipment.

We have to focus carefully. Cameras with “auto focus” settings can help tired eyes. Some cameras have a way to show a section of the subject “enlarged,” then a fine dial in manual focus mode can help bring parts of the image in sharper focus. This will be essential to really see the small, often overlooked, elements of our new friend into focus.

I seldom really look at the fine parts of a subject until in post production. Using the 100%

“magnification tool,” lets me know how really sharp the image is.

I didn’t always think this degree of sharpness was important. Sometimes it’s not, depending upon what the intent of the images is. However, in this scenario where we want to learn about a subject or phase of its development, it can be important. When photographing our subject here, I needed four takes to get the sharpness to really see this guys parts.