On Facebook, Twitter, and our comments we asked for you to show us your best macro photo, and you responded in droves! Get ready for some serious eye candy!
Here are a dozen great macro shots provided by the Adorama Learning Center's incredibly talented readers.
Wizbren Velasquez Ang found this ant hanging on to a stick in a basin full of water right outside of his house one morning in the open shade. Using his Nikon D90 and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AS-D lens on a reversal ring, he shot at 1/125 second and f/11 at ISO 400, with the ambient light supplemented by the camera's pop-up flash.
Michelle Greene says “It's true—oil and vinegar don't mix.” This photo, of the point at which the oil and the vinegar met in a bottle of salad dressing, was shot with a handheld Canon 40D and Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro, backlit by window light. “I noticed this while cooking dinner,” she explained. “Dinner was a little late that night. I have my priorities.”
Edmund Dworakowski placed a Rolex GMT Master watch in a stainless steel colander, and shot away with his Nikon D300s and a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens. Exposure: 1/3200 sec at f/3.8, ISO 200.
Joe Heath's micro abstract is, in fact, the hairs on the back of a moth! He captured this incredible detail with a Nikon D300, Sigma 150mm and a 2x teleconverter, and lit it with two Nikon SB 600 Speedlights aimed through a paper tunnel over the subject. He then shot 19 times, using a macro focusing rail to alter focus points for each image, and stacked all 19 images using Zerene Stacker software. Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/11 at ISO 200.
Dawn Eshelman went to the bottom of the sea to get this underwater macro shot. She says she found this little guy on a shipwreck in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. “I loved the way he was peeking out from under his shell!” Gear: Nikonos V, slide film, Nikon SB103 strobe. Exposure not recorded.
Sonnet Schultz photographed this individual snowflake on her glove last winter with an Olympus Stylus 1010 compact camera with a diopter mounted on the lens to achieve the super-macro focus.
Jim O'Sullivan caught this buzzy couple in the act with a Canon T1i and 50mm f/1.8 II lens with a 10x Macro filter attached. Exposure: 1/160 sec at f/4.5, ISO 200.
David Reagan caught this Robber Fly hovering with a Canon XSi and a 50mm f1.4 lens with a +2 Macro adapter. Exposure: 1/200 sec at f/7 with a 430EX II flash. “ Insect photography is my passion, and anytime I can capture an action shot, I am particularly pleased,” he tells us.
Golden Vision Photos normally photographs pets, but in this case it's a close-up of a Button Bush Flower with a Canon 40D and 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec at f/10 at ISO 800 under natural light.
Kristopher Johnson used a strobe to light this snail and photographed it with a Canon 5D and a 50mm macro lens and an extension tube. Shot at f/22. Photo © Deep Tank Studio 2011.
Joshua Delica shot this ant climbing up a leaf with a Nikon D60 with a reversed 18-55mm lens. Exposure 1/200 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 400.
And finally...Katie LaSalle-Lowery says a freezing fog in Yellowstone National Park's Hayden Valley deposited frost on this fennel-leaved Lomatium on an October morning. She caught this detail with a Fujifilm S5000 and a Raynox DCR-250 macro conversion lens. Exposure: Aperture priority, 1/480 sec at f/6.3 and ISO 200.
