Fleur de me

To put it simply, Longwood was awesome. I met up with about 20 of my closest photo hobbyist friends for a day of learnin' 'bout macros and chattin' 'bout lens. I told Chris I need this now. When he regains consciousness, I'm sure he'll agree.

By the way, if you're wondering what a macro is here is a real definition, but it's generally a very close-up shot. The ones I took wouldn't be considered "true" macros because they're not a 1:1 ratio (I think they're 1:3).

To give you some frame of reference on just how little I knew about, or had played with, macro photos, here is one of my first shots of the day. Please try to contain your yawns:

Big white flower on a big white background. Inspired.

I think I made some pretty good progress and I actually picked up a few more tips and tricks after I shot these:

I think this is my favorite of the day. An unfurling fern that looks like a little baby hand.

Unfurling hibiscus.

Unfurling -- waaiiit a second. Okay, I like unfurling. and this one was taken with extension tubes. They are out of my league. I was all up in this flower's bidness like you wouldn't believe.

Calla lily with a little different post processing.

Dear photo snobs: this is NOT selective coloring. Just a pretty tulip on a bed of dusty millers.

How did a non-flower photo end up  here?

Pretty purple something-or-another with vintagey post processing.

So, that was fun. I didn't know how much I would like macros but they're kind of addictive.