Macro photography with a reversing ring.

Although designing is my passion, I like to try my hand at a few other creative hobbies. Photography has always been an interest of mine and over the past few years I’ve started to become more and more interested in capturing ideas or what I see through a lens. I’d say that my photography tends to capture my ‘graphic design’ eye in terms of composition and what subjects I usually choose to shoot but recently I’ve been getting into macro photography and a whole new world just opens right up!

Currently I’m using a Canon 400D with a standard 18-55m lens. With the standard macro setting you can get fairly close but not on a 1:1 ratio and unfortunately at this time I can’t afford a decent macro lens but with the use of a reversing ring I can get incredibly close for just a small price!

What is a reversing ring you might ask? Well I found this little piece of info on Wikipedia:

Reversing the lens using a “reversing ring”. This special adapter attaches to the filter thread on the front of a lens and makes it possible to attach the lens in reverse. Excellent quality results up to 4x lifesize magnification using fairly cheap, “standard” (not specially designed for macro) lenses can be produced. For cameras with all-electronic communications between the lens and the camera body, such as Canon EOS, reversing rings are available which allow all camera functions, including open aperture metering, to be used.

There’s also plenty of resources online about taking macro photography and for me the best way to discuss my photography is on Flickr. There are hundreds of macro photo groups where anyone can post their photos, discuss and even enter monthly competitions. The key is to keep taking photos, you’ll soon find what works and what doesn’t.

So it’s as easy as that! For anyone like myself who is just starting out with photography and wants to practice macro shots but cannot afford it, it’s such a simple solution. You can easily buy one online at Amazon. Just make sure that the reversing ring matches the size of your lens!

To see more of my macro work check me out on Flickr