The Devil is in the Macro Details

Macro photography! When I hear these words, a whole new world is brought to my eyes. If done correctly, macro photographs can show a different side to anything, making even the most boring of subjects amazing.

In my rushing attempts to get projects handed in on time and the while trying to organize my schedules I had forgotten about a little 'project' I had saved for a rainy day. Let me take you back a whole 365 days before this story can begin.

Looking outside my dirty window I peered out towards the rising sun. My eyes were just adjusting to the warm oranges, and pinks that cascaded over the street. The occasional car would wonder by, trying to obey the speed limit which always seemed way too slow.

This particular Saturday felt like the right time to tidy up my house. I had been living in a cooped-up, lightly dusted, impenetrable, fortress for too long because of the winter months. The breeze in the air was warmer than usual and perhaps even filled with the promise of spring.

I started with my bedroom and worked my way down the hallway, towards the long and spiraling stairs. The house needed a desperate vacuuming to revive the life inside so off to the closet I went. Zooming down the steps I was frozen by something that caught my eye. A glimmer of green zinged past me making me stop and turn around. I spied for the answer to this strange sight but nothing was visible to me that made sense: Cedar steps, fading white wedding dress decorating the landing on a very old mannequin, the high ceilings illuminating the stain glass windows reflections on the walls. Nothing here would have made that colour.

My eyes darted around, for now that the curiosity had set in there was no turning back. I had to get to the bottom of this. Setting my hand on the window ledge for support, I was started my something crunching under my hand. Under the pressure of my hand I had disturbed a fly- only this was not a living fly! The bug must have died a while ago because the body was very dry. I had found the thing responsible for the shining green! Ripping my hand away from the area, I did so no with disgust but with sparks of imagery flying through my mind.

I had just found the perfect model for my next photoshoot! The bug had stayed very vibrant and looked living! If it wasn't for the lack of movement, I would have assumed it was healthy and well.
I carefully placed this gem of a find into a container with a sealed lid. I was going to photograph this as soon as I had a few minutes to set up my lights.

x-ray style photography

coloured x-ray style

This is where the story comes back to the present. Over the weeks of finding that perfect time to the fly, it had slowly faded from the foreground of memory and eventually slipped away. I had only rediscovered this little guy after cleaning away my desk yet again during the feeble attempts at conquering the Dust Storm Beast that seemed to inhabit my bedroom. While opening the glass container that served as a tomb for the reflecting green fly, my passion to capture a still frame of the bug was reignited. It was time to execute the plan.

Try on some 3-D glasses!

I borrowed a macro lens for my Nikon camera and went to work. These images are some of the creations that came out of this interesting subject matter. The fact that the bug was not alive was very helpful because it did not zip away while I adjusted my composition.

I played around with different styles of photography for this particular photo. I have created a colour and a black and white x-ray, 3-D, and a low key photo. It was a pretty fun side project and I recommend it to anyone that is looking to practice their macro photography further.