A BOTANICAL MACRO CANVAS

PhotographyEditor:Kailee Parsons

Richard Nilson

Although taking a good picture may seem challenging, developing photos worth looking at is an easy skill to develop. All you need is to bring a camera and look at things around you Really look For example, my favourite subject for macro photography is devil's-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) From 3-5 feet distance it looks quite boring, but is really marvellous upon close examination. I usually do not prepare anything, and do not bring with me more than two lenses. I take these photos during my walks in the forest, or in a huge botanical garden which I am lucky to live near and go to a lot I am a hobby photographer, and have been so for some time I started with digital photography around 2012 when the number of megapixels on the DSLR’s were increasing from 10 to 16-24. At that time I used a 1685mm lens a lot, but I found I mostly used it at 85mm and short distances. That’s how I got into macro photography. For a couple of years 80% of my photos were macro. Then I concluded I wanted to increase the distance marginally So, I changed to 200-300mm tele lenses and used them at their shortest focus distance Photography is a very rewarding hobby, with the opportunity to be creative on many different levels. Staying at close range means you can create your own miniature landscapes. I like to have lots of colours, but mostly smoothed out to a blur in the background. In a way, it is like painting with nature. My best photo tip is: keep the subject in shadow and have everything else sun lit This brings out the colours more than anything