Macro photography is a great way to get creative and try something a little bit different. Not long into my photographic journey, I discovered macro photography. I buy myself flowers now and enjoy getting them even more than before – because at some point, I pull out flowers and practice my macro photography!

And sometimes, when photographing live flowers outside, you’ll find other – sometimes unexpected things – in your photos as well.

Although photographing flowers and bugs is fun, I often enjoy trying to find new things to photograph to practice technique and learn something new.

I stumbled upon a tutorial for macro using a mini fiber optic light. I ordered one on amazon for less than $10 and got some really interesting photos! If you want to try this, I recommend getting one that changes colors… it will vary the images you get. I took photos at an angle, from straight on, and looking down into the light. I set up a piece of black velvet material behind to keep the background dark, and used my tripod and shutter release cable. Shutter speed and aperture will greatly effect the results, so play and adjust them until you get a result you like!

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Having kids, there are lots of items that I have found that produce interesting images. A slinky came in handy for this one:

The possibilities are endless when it comes to macro photography. You can start with flowers and insects, and move on to food, spider webs, toys, or really anything that you find interesting and want to explore… the possibilities are endless!