Macro Photography
The art of shooting a subject at a ridiculously close distance.
Hey Film Fam, welcome back!
How has your last month been? I know I went a little MIA there for a bit, but sometimes you just gotta say ‘fuck it’ and take some time off for your own sanity - ya know what I mean?
I went on a little road trip (finally!!!) to various places in the Blue Mountains which was exactly what my soul needed to recharge. I also attended a really cool Sydney Creator Event and snapped a whole bunch of Cinefilm, met some of you wonderful people in the film community, and generally had a fun time snapping away while networking. Following that I’ve spend countless hours over the last fortnight developing, scanning and editing brand new rolls of film that I’m keen to share soon.
Oh, and I haven’t forgotten! The newsletter about Unmarked will be going up within the next week or so for Paid Subscribers who want to learn all the ins and outs of how I created such kickass 90’s vibe car photos. A handful of the albums are already over on my Instagram, but I kept the best of the best just for you. So keep an eye out for that!
On top of that my dear friend Lucy Lumen has just launched a kickass FREE resource for the 35mm Film community, which featured my little blog here as a handy resource for those who like to dive into self developing and editing film. That was so lovely to see!
I have a bunch of blogs in the wings on more specifics surrounding mixing chemicals (I made a little reel here!) and developing film - specifically Cinefilm. So that’ll be coming soon as well, alongside some guides that will be available for purchase soon on more of the technical side of shooting film.
All in all, I’ve been working really bloody hard behind the scenes, running around and finalizing my In-person Film Workshop, trying to figure out a way to host one Online as well (I have really shit rural internet so that’s a major challenge!), and even shifted my niche towards Automotive Photography - specifically Car + Owner photoshoots - which has picked up a LOT of interest and my inbox is bubbling with inquiries already!
It all has been a little (okay, it’s been more than a little) overwhelming, so I hope you’ll forgive me for not checking in sooner.
As always these newsletters tend to be a bit rambly, photo heavy where possible, and have the vibe of catching up with that one friend you haven’t seen in a while who’s just very passionate about all things film. So if that’s your kind of jam, you’re in the right place!
Grab your favourite drink of choice, settle in, and let’s get into it!
Macro Photography - aka, ‘doing the big zoomi-boi’
I must admit for the first time a newsletter concept arrived as an Instagram post before it became a blog - I didn’t plan for it to be that way, I was just out and about with my Ricoh KR10-M and decided last minute to share a little educational post with a handful of my favourite macro shots.
The great thing about newsletters like this is that I can get into much more detail and some of the story behind how it all started for me.
Picture this - it’s 2018, film prices are still relatively low, Fuji Superia 400 (the original formula that I oh so deeply miss!) is abundant, and Kodak Ultramax is sold in just about every store you walk into. It’s a gloriously sunny day out in the Blue Mountains, and there I am… squatting in the grass like a gremlin trying to figure out how the heck to use the ‘close focus’ ring on my half broken Tokina lens. Ugh!
It was the original lens that came with my Ricoh KR10-M, my very first film camera I purchased way back in my early twenties. I can’t remember exactly what was wrong with it, maybe the internal glass was misaligned or smudged? - but it had just a single linear streak that would vaguely be in focus enough to snap a macro shot.
The rest of the frame? Just a big gross smudge.
Back then of course I didn’t know that