Have you ever stopped to look at all the smaller things of the world? Neither had I prior to taking up photography. That changed though the first time I got so close to a subject that the lens of the camera picked up minute details. My love for macros was born. I remember capturing a flower close enough that the imperfections of the individual petals were clear as day. It was as if I had been introduced to a whole new world. I almost always look for smaller objects. The camera acts as my magnifying glass, allowing me to see things that I would otherwise completely miss.
I think this picture epitomizes my joy of macros. How many times we do step on fallen leaves without so much as considering the sound they make? Here in Minnesota, I have come to really appreciate the fall season. It is the gateway we get to go through from summer to winter and it is breathtaking. The color of leaves has to be my favorite thing, but it's not often that I look at them individually. However, with a camera in my hands, I somehow look for and at things I don't in my everyday life. The way the veins jet out from the center of the leaf to the seemingly large shadow is cast are all lost on me without my camera.
If anyone reading this is still undecided whether to get a macro or zoom lens or buy their first camera, I believe this should convince you. When you are taking macro photos of small subjects it's as if you are the first to discover something new, and in a way you are. It's at the closest views of the minutest of details of common objects that you discover how unique everything in this world truly is. No two leaves are the same. How else are you going to know that unless you take a closer look?
