Today I visited the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam again. Yes, I have been there before. But the Hortus Botanicus is one of those places that you (well, at least me) keep returning to. Every part of the year makes the Hortus very different.
I went there alone today. Marion is away for the weekend. And this was okay, because I had a certain goal for my visit at the Hortus. I wanted to use my macro-lens (a Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm 1:2.8G ED) to its full extend. So it was good to be alone, so I could fully concentrate on my camera (and don’t get me wrong: I love to have Marion around, but then I will be easily distracted :p).
Okay, first let clear up the common misunderstanding that with a macro lens you can only make really close to the subject of the picture. This is not the case. As this lens has a fixed focus, it is all about the distance between the camera and the subject.
Anyway, during my visit at the Hortus my macro lens has been 95% of the time been mounted to my camera.
one of the nicest things about macro photography is that you often see things that you didn’t noticed when just looking at the subject. Of course the magnification is here an important reason for this. But also having a not changing image you can concentrate on is in my opinion an explanation for this.
Anyway, just has you learn to see thing through photography, you learn to see details by macro photography.
Of course is a place like the Hortus Botanicus with all the plants, flowers and trees just perfect for taking macro pictures. There are so many things there that are great for a macro shot.
Some times I almost feel as an sniper: Make your body as stable, aim carefully, take a deep breath and let it go, stop breathing for a moment and take the picture…. :-).
Anyway, I had a great time roaming around at the Hortus Botanicus. Made almost 750 pictures. Many nice pictures and even some that I really like!