MY MICRO/MACRO LIFE

Red-eyed tree frog–My previous version of a MACRO shot

I am turning a MICROscope, using a MACRO photography lens, on the natural world today in order to avoid the horrible and nearly daily news of mass shootings in my country.  You don’t need me to add to the chorus of “Why does this happen only in the US?””  Senator Chris Murphy asked the best question:  “What are we doing?”

When I first learned about photographic lenses, I was confused about why a photo of something tiny, even microscopic, required a macro lens.  I still don’t like the definition, but here it is:  “Macro photography produces photos of small items that are larger than life size.” Before my photographer son, Ben and his wife Jo gave me a macro camera last week, the photo of the Red-Eyed Tree Frog (above) was my attempt at a macro photo…

…as was this Mandrill Monkey Face.

I thought if the photo was close up and the details were distinct, that was MACRO photography. I was wrong. This week, my son Ben walked me through some of the possibilities with my new camera, and here is the kind of macro results a fine photographer like he is can get:

Pederson’s Cleaner Shrimp photo by Ben Popik

I HOPE WE ALL HAVE A HAPPIER WEEK!

Meanwhile, it’s clear that I’m not the only sufferer from FOMO (see last week’s blog). Dick has “a deep FOMO” that he cures by “exhausting [himself] with something else and Janet A. hears “versions of this from many friends and experience it myself on a regular basis.”