The teeeeny tiny world…

So, whenever I go into the forest to take photos, I feel like what I see that LOOKS interesting looks like… some ferns, some moss, some rocks, some trees… a forest.

No romantic feel. No glistening, golden rays of sunlight piercing through the trees and illuminating the moody mist. It looks exactly like it should. Because that is what it is: a forest.

I’m dragging this big, heavy camera, wide angle lens, a billion megapixel, a lens that was forged from the fires of Mount Doom… and the photos look like… blah.

Then what do I do? I pull out my digicam. My little Nikon point-and-shoot. I switch it into “Flower Mode.” And go close.

How close?

Really REALLY close!

You know those spiders that are so tiny that you’re not really sure whether they’re actually on you, but you flail around and try to get them off when you walk through the woods and run through a random spider web across the path? Yeah, that’s him. All of him, legs and all, is maybe big enough to hang on to your pinky nail.

And the lens is so close, the shadow in the bottom right is the camera lens blocking its own light. We’re talking almost touching the lens.

That’s what I do in a forest. And like a nerd, I can spend HOURS with these little guys. Bugs, spiders, slugs, water droplets, moss sprouts…

Its all a teeeeny tiny world.

Wanna see my version of those glistening, golden rays of sunlight?

That “tree” is about 2 inches tall. The glistening rays of sunlight are simply lens flares. In the bottom of the frame is a few seeds… maybe about the size of a grain of rice.

Its a terrific thing.

But, that was fun. I woke up at 5am to do it, so I’m glad I have something half-decent to show for it. Otherwise, I got to follow around a guy that has had photos in NatGeo and Time and such with his nature photos… so, good guy to learn from.

I’m posting very short and sporatically these days because the UPAA schedule is completely packed dawn till midnight or so. Learning lots. LOTS of photos. Lots of film photos…

And to just whet your appetite, I hung out at the Chautauqua Institute all day photographing its places… but especially the people. I hope they all get to see it. 🙂

But, for that, stay tuned…

-Noah D.