Macro photography isn’t something I’ve done a lot of over the years. For a long time I never invested in the lenses. Seeing the “big picture” of a landscape through a wide angle lens always held more appeal.
But a couple of years ago when I was reintroduced to film photography the first lens that came with my Leica R-series SLR was a 60/2.8 Macro-Elmarit. That certainly opened up a new set of options. Still I wasn’t drawn to images of the smallest details. Most of my Camino pictures were of people or wide expanses along the historic route, not details.
Then came the stay at home orders. Many the biggest pictures I can find are limited to our house, yard and the few blocks in the neighborhood while I walk Yesler. A baseball on a shelf. Flower on the porch. Roses along a fence. With spring here everything is in bloom. We all need some reminders of beauty and renewal.
Luckily I had picked up a few macro lenses to match my 35mm and medium format cameras. My current favorite is a Zeiss 100/2 Macro ZF.2 for Nikon. On the Nikon FM100 filled with Ektachrome 100, it renders beautifully. The photo above was taken with the lens attached to my Sony a7Riii digital camera via a Fotodiox adapter where it works very well with focus peaking.
So until we can all see the wide horizons again, I’ll stay close to home where I can make big pictures of tiny beauties.
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