In this very dark hour, I have chosen not to dwell on the difficulty of the moment - because in the end I am still the luckiest guy on Earth - but rather to concentrate on things that inspire me. Well, I just found one.
I have never been too impressed by macro photography and usually find bugs creepy. I know a cat who eats them. But there are people who photograph them, with various degrees of success. The following has made me rethink everything I thought I knew about macro photography and reevaluate the definition of « impossible ». In order not to steal the guy’s images, I’m linking below to 4 pages of his gallery with frantic enthusiasm and I hope you will take the time to browse, either through my selections or his.
If I ever caught a glimpse of photographic genius, this is one. I can only dream of some day managing to get results that would be a tenth as amazing as these. From what I gather, he shoots at dawn in the fall and uses bellows and either an enlarger lens or a standard 50mm lens that he doesn’t even reverse. I hear that people also get good results with the Canon MP-E 65mm Macro lens, but that’s out of my league. And then, where does one buy a few ounces of genius?
Here’s the work of Martin Amm from Germany. Kudos.
I’ve felt it before. It comes out of nowhere and wants to take you back there. At times it makes you sweat, but then it chills you to the bones. No way to sail along with it for it is unpredictable and gusty.
« Frantic enthusiasm? Goodness!
Date of comment: 2008-08-27 04:54 •Yes, some of the nicest bugs shots I’ve seen. Great colors! Just one question: does he freeze his bugs and photographs them as they thaw? I’m suspicious of all those water droplets. Perhaps I’m just cynical. »
« T’es marrante, tiens! And how exactly would you freeze a bug on a plant and then thaw it? He says he goes out to a field before dawn and looks for a dragongfly that is still numbed by the cold and covered in dew. It’s hard to believe, though, isn’t it? And the level of detail is mesmerizing. No flash, natural lighting. »
Date of comment: 2008-08-27 15:49 •« Well, I was thinking in a freezer of course. You don’t see the background. Could be a lab. Ok OK
Date of comment: 2008-08-27 18:25 •I want to believe (héhé) »
« They are amazing and it is easy to be sceptical of, and because of, their inherent perfection. »
Date of comment: 2008-08-28 13:34 •