S
ometime in October of 2019 I got my hands on a macro lens. I hadn't really used one seriously before, and so I decided to take it out to the garden and see what I could stumble upon. Little did I know, I'd find what I was looking for long before I got there.
I stopped, out of curiosity, in a small pocket of bramble and discarded herbs and flowers and looked around. All it took was a closer look, and the leaves revealed to me a whole new world. Shield bugs and caterpillars, snails and spiders and ants all of the sudden surrounded me. They had always been there, of course, I just hadn't taken the time to notice them.
I frantically got out my camera and started snapping, and after many failed practice shots I got a few I was happy with. Here are they.
I found this little dude on the smallest blade of grass, resting in the sun.
A fly pauses to rub its forelegs together, seemingly scheming.
Woah there! A dock bug climbs around the corner to find my lens looking straight at him.
After the rain, twigs and leaves are verdant and dewy, and the law of cohesion rules the garden. If you squint and look closely at these water droplets, you still can't see my reflection.
A black ant journeys across the nectar-rich blooms in search of sustenance.
A hoverfly searches for nectar in the garden. Below: a ghost crab spider contemplates its impending leap of faith.
