Venturing out to my backyard garden is always a ‘macro' adventure. I go prepared each time with my Canon 100mm macro lens attached to my Canon mirrorless camera. And there’s lighting gear involved too. Usually, affixed on the camera’s hot shoe is a Godox speed light. A flashlight can often be found tucked in my garden tote bag for any lighting ideas I may want to experiment with while capturing images of critters. 
 

Macro photography is my absolute favorite genre of photography and for the simplest of reasons - macro is exciting. I find myself sleuthing through my backyard, shifting a fallen leaf off a river rock or rearranging flower petals just to see what tiny insect may be there doing its own thing in nature. You know, like a butterfly pollinating a flower or an ant, carrying a granule of bread crumb across a lily's leaf. There’s an entire microscopic world happening in my garden and I love experiencing just one of the moments through my lens. 
 

Setting up a proper macro photography moment takes skill, lots of practice, and proper gear. A tripod definitely aids in getting in-focus close-ups more times than trusting your own handheld results. Getting in close to take the shot while trying to manage the steadiness of the camera can frustratingly cause camera shake and out of focus images. 

Editing is such a huge part of creating the final macro image for print.  I typically use a focus stacking technique in Adobe Lightroom\Photoshop to ensure that each final image will be as crisp, focused, and clear.

Be sure to visit my online PRINTS FOR SALE section of my website to see all my nature images!