Tangential

Roughly a month ago, I took a whirlwind trip to Boulder to buy a camera lens. We've started a new business venture - product photography. And one of the products I needed to photograph was this screw:

Not one lens I had could do the job. And since we needed the photograph "yesterday," there was nothing do to but wake up early and make the trek over the mountains. I dithered between Boulder/Denver and Salt Lake City - each is roughly four hours from here - and in the end chose Boulder because it gave me the opportunity to visit a new yarn shop. 

But first, business. I'm glad I went in person because it gave me the opportunity to try out different lenses. If you hadn't already guessed, I was after a "macro" lens, which lets you get your camera super close to the object you're photographing and still focus. I'd originally had my eye on a 60 mm lens, but ended up going with the Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85 mm f/3.5G ED VR. A mouthful, yes, but all that just means that it has more zoom than the one I'd planned on. It was fun trying out different lenses and handing my camera to the salesguy, who knew my camera better than I did. 

Then I went to Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins, and wandered around for almost an hour, drooling over the books, everywhere books! And all those spinning wheels and looms! I'd planned on going to Fancy Tiger too, but rush hour was looming, sunset was coming, and I wanted to get back home. 

Back home, we got our photograph, sent it off to the customer, and resumed our lives. Every now and then, I've tried a few things with the new lens, but it wasn't until last weekend that I got to really put it through its paces with true macro photography. 

We went to Southern Utah for our anniversary getaway. The goal was hiking and sightseeing, and we did plenty of that, but once I realized I had the macro lens with me, I'd randomly stop in my tracks and take a photograph of something I wouldn't usually bother to photograph. (I'd tried, long ago, and given up on these closeup subjects because I didn't have the right lens yet.)

At one point my husband asked me what would happen if I tried to photograph sand. For the rest of that hike I was obsessed with the texture left by different shoes in the sand, which could be a whole photographic study, I think. But mostly, I focused on plants and rocks and colors. The detail! 
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I still want to get some super-closeup pictures of yarn, knitting, and weaving, but have yet to really get something that takes my breath away. Of course, that's part of the fun of photography. Just like in knitting, spinning, and weaving, it takes lots of practice before you can set up a project and know exactly what you're going to get.

xx,

​Pamela