Another rainy spring day in Canberra, I took these experimental shots quite early in the morning as the water beading on the long grass (which always needs mowing) looked really interesting and was catching the first light of the day. I used a Canon G9 in macro mode mounted on a gorilla-pod with  2 second timer to avoid any shake. The shots are as close in the cameras lens would allow and I think a bit better than my SLR zoom macro could get. The images were tweaked in Adobe Lightroom and a colour filter added to alter the green values.

These images are close-ups of some Australian birds taken with a 20omm zoom macro. I love how this lens reveals the detailed feather patterns and interesting eyes on the animals.

I have been looking for a Praying Mantis to photograph for some time, they are such cool looking insects. This guys posed for a few portraits in the front yard and is still there frozen in his stance. He almost seemed camera aware and changed positions from time to time – always keeping one eye on the lens. This is the extent of the detail I can capture on my zoom macro, it really suits bigger sized critters such as lizards and birds. Used the 2 second timer on a tri-pod to avoid camera shake.

I only had a split second to shoot this guy and he moved very fast, this was the only decent picture I got. This is about as much detail as I can get with my current lens. He looked a little whiter in real life but came out a little blue on the sensor. The eye us awesome and reminds my of the Illustrator Russel Benfanti.

A few more macro shots from around the house, these guys were definitely looking at me. I like the shadow on the green bug, the photo is a little over sharpened but it was shot one handed while the other hand was lighting it with a dolphin torch. ha ha the bug was on the fridge. Still no mantis, I’m getting over the same old bugs.

These 2 characters are from a trip we made to Taronga Zoo on the weekend, I really like reptiles and these guys have a lot of charisma. They are taken through the fence with a zoom lens and are the best I can get as a spectator on the outside with my gear. some other cool shots to come.

This macro shot is the birth of a poppy flower, the next day it was fully open. I’m tempted to try and time lapse the remaining plants as Suzie planted a bunch and there is some more coming up. This was shot quite late in the day with a 300mm zoom macro lens. This photo was shot late in the day in mid winter, maybe that why the plants furry.

It was -3 degrees overnight but a beautiful clear day in Canberra so Suzie and I went for a walk in the Botanic Gardens, these images are a close up of a leaf with the sun in the background. I’m always fascinated by these patterns, these are with the 70-300mm macro lens.

These macro shot are from a dedicated Sigma 70-300mm macro lens I bought as I really dig this kind of photography, this lens  is kind of a cheapy but better than than the filter style magnifiers I was using for macro. It has been a lot of fun and been worth it. These shots are from around the garden in Canberra.

I arrived at work one morning in autumn to find this very large Dragonfly on a pole, I quickly went inside and grabbed a G9 and some white paper, I knew I needed the white behind the wings to get a clear shot and managed to scoop him up. I did some close up’s from a few angles and then he flew off. He was about the size of my hand. This image has been cleaned up in photoshop to give this very clean result. I love the pattern in the wing structure.