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Photography: Macro Photography & karl blossfeldt

Macro Photography.

I wanted to start my research with an understanding of macro photography. I thought macro photography was just a close-up shot. However, in DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera) photography,it seemed to be used for a photograph with a 1:1 or higher magnification. From what i found out a Macro lens is marked with the magnification, like 1:1 or 1:5.

I found a page online ( see sources) that said 
"A 1:1 ratio means that the image would be the same size on film (negative) as in real life. A 1:5 ratio would mean that the subject would be 1/5 the size on film as it is in real life. Due to the small size of 35mm negatives and digital sensors, a 1:5 ratio is nearly life-size when printed onto 4"x6" paper."

So photographers usually use macro photography to capture small details of objects. Like bugs, drops of water or more texture on objects or plants.

So the actual Macro Lens on a DSLR camera are expensive! But i did read that there is a Macro mode on point and shoot camera's ( i can experiment with the college cameras) but not to zoom in to far because it can lower the quality of the image.

I wanted to start looking at some macro photography and I remembered a photographer we looked at briefly in class and i wanted to look at some of his work.


Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things.

Dryopteris filix mas (Common male fern)
Polystichum munitum (Sheild fern)

I find his work really interesting because he is more known as a sculptor and there is something very sculptural about these images. His images themselves are very unique for the time, this was a very different way to photograph and not many plants were captured like this.

He used these images to teach drawing classes. He didn't print a lot of these onto paper but used them on projection slides for students to draw from, which i think is key to why these images are so interesting. The compositions are very different from a typical photograph, if you think of them for design purposes they work extremely well ( like a William Morris print).

I thought it was so interesting he was cataloging all these images of plants and i thought he must have spend so much time and money finding these interesting plants but then i read he got most of his plants from around his home. I also read not a lot is known about how he processed his images but that he did make his own cameras.

Anemone blanda (Windblume)
Cotula Coronopifolia



























These kind of immerse me into a different world. They don't look real, i guess because its not something you would see by just looking. I love the depth in them and those dark tones.

I dont have a macro lens or a camera really but i do have my phone, i wanted to experiment a bit and see if i could try and capture objects in a slimier way with what i have with my phone... natural lighting and a zoom.








This was a bit more challenging and obviously i cant magnify as much as i would like to. If i got too close my phone camera wouldn't focus so i had to take it far away and then crop on my phone, i used Instagram to edit these as i like some of the editing features on it.

It is defiantly a from of photography i enjoy and am interested in. I would like to experiment with macro photography and perhaps making scenes with figures or paper cut outs and lighting. 







Sources:
https://www.lifewire.com/an-introduction-to-macro-photography-493727

https://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/58-karl-blossfeldt/overview/

https://amanostudy.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/karl-blossfeldt-an-early-approach-to-nature-photography/

https://www.dummies.com/photography/digital-photography/types-of-photography/why-use-macro-and-close-up-photography/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/what-is-a-dslr-camera/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOc2aUL1834

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