Last weekend, while evacuating bins of loaned-and-returned baby gear and three children and saying goodbye to siblings, my camera bag was left behind at my brother's house. STUPID, eh? What a responsible photographer. I had help in loading the car (never do this) and the result was that I assumed that Dan had loaded the bag in the back, and Dan didn't realize I had the bag with me, and thirty minutes down the road, I looked around and asked, "do you know if my lenses are in the back?" and Dan didn't know, and we opted not to check right then, because the kids were rammy and if worse came to worst, I'd just go back the following weekend.
Two minutes later, my brother called. Funny how differently you feel about making a second road trip when you know you're going to *have* to make it, instead of being certain that it's only a distant possibility. Still, the prospect of getting to drive alone through the country and see these little guys again so soon is rather nice. Throw in a Chinese buffet with my bro & SIL, and you've got a pretty swell Saturday afternoon. (And on the professional responsibility, would-you-hire-this-person front: I totally would have turned around if it had been a gig or if I'd had a gig soon. She defensively adds.)
In the meantime, though, I was left with just my 50mm lens all week, and by Thursday, I was tired of it and not inspired in the slightest. That probably would have happened even with all my lenses at my fingertips, but let's blame the limited equipment anyway. So today, it was the end of the day and I had no desire to touch the camera, and I realized that I needed an assignment if I was going to make good on my 365(ish) promise to myself.
That's when I remembered reversed-lens macro. I've never tried it. I don't have any adapters to make it easy. So I just took the lens, unscrewed it, and hand-held it on the camera. The results were heinously difficult to focus, and from what I can tell I have very little control over aperture (depth of focus). The lady up there is my first attempt. Not horrible. And it made me want to try again sometime, but perhaps with a little equipment assistance. We shall see. At the very least, trying something new opens my eyes to different possibilities and sends me into the weekend a little more inspired.
Are you trying anything NEW?
