So last Christmas, my family gifted me with a Moment Tele lens. Moment, a company of young millennial photographers produces a wide, tele, and macro lens for the iPhone. They are quality products - these people have designed products that they desired to enhance their photographic endeavors and clearly, the rest of us are beneficiaries. Because they are bikers, hikers, world travelers, and self-proclaimed photo nerds, their products are to be taken seriously.
My experiences with the Tele lens were good and I learned a lot about the interface between lens, phone, and my life in terms of what excited me photographically speaking. I love shooting "interiors," literally and figuratively. My usual mode of shooting is using a Pentax K-7 with the 18-55mm zoom. The lens works for me, particularly shooting in the wide angle ranges. I'm no pro, so most shooting is as much discovery and surprise as it is strategy and plan. But with my abiding interest in the macro world, my interest in the Moment Macro lens just won't go away. The iPhone is a great tool for shooting macro already so to be enhanced by its own especially designed Macro lens seems too good to be true.
I was sharing all this with a dear friend a few weeks ago in response one of those questions I prefer to duck, "What are you doing for yourself these days?" (I can never come up with a comfortable answer as my inner voice whispers to me, "Not much!".) So I told her about the interiors idea that I continue to explore and she mentioned that her younger son, Alden, has a Macro lens for his iPhone. When she mentioned to him my interests he offered to share his Macro lens with me, an opportunity I just jumped at. He also was interested in seeing some pictures that were taken using the lens. So these are for you, Alden. I'm posting five pictures and will add a bit of commentary to each one.
Picture One.
Rocky Neck Surface
This closeup is of a small section a painting. The artist has a studio on Rocky Neck, Gloucester MA. We try to visit her studio (called Imagine) every summer because there are such good vibes there and she does wonderful things with inks, paints, found objects, driftwood, etc. This tiny section of photograph is part of her rendering of the word LOVE. I'm drawn to the etching quality of the photo. She uses blades of all sorts as well as brushes to put her paint to paper or wood or, well, etc.
Joekai 1.
My youngest grandson is six, almost seven years old. He's just beginning to make the shift from scribble to concrete representation in his drawings. I took several pictures of his figures - family members - because they are so darn cute and Happy. His first picture is a self-portrait and yes, he does have curly hair. I'm drawn to the joy that pops out at you when you get close to this character!
Joekai 2.
Another smiling fellow. I was particularly happy to see the detail of pupils in this fellow's eyes, a detail I would never have noticed had it not been for the Macro capacity of the lens.
Stem
No, not science/tech/engineering/math; Pomegranate. This photo was taken looking down at the cut stem of said fruit. Wow. I saw things I'd never seen before. The Macro function added a dimension to the real almost alive fruit I'd never observed. Look closely. It's almost like there are little mushrooms growing in the stem, which there weren't! And if you'd like to know more about the politics of Pomegranates, read on. Meet The Resnicks (Mother Jones)
Living On The Edge.
I'd just finished slicing some parsley (flat-leafed) for something I was cooking when the phrase "living on the edge" drifted through my mind. I kind of like living on the edge sometimes, but not all the time, that's for sure. Sometimes, not so good things can happen to you as is the case for these parsley leaves, now separated from their parents, now fully consumed. (Note the edge of the knife. First of all, the Macro lens reveals it; secondly, it has regular marks on it from my sharpening stone. Not sure that's a good thing.
In terms of favorites, I think "living on the edge" is my least favorite. I've chosen the other three as favorites: two because of the detail in the smiles, one because of how the paint is arranged, and the other because of the small world (the mushrooms) revealed.
Thanks for asking, Alden. And thanks for the loan of the lens. It will be returning soon via your Mom.
CR
Addendum: Picture 6. Alden, I forgot about this one and it is perhaps my most favorite of all that I've taken with your Macro lens. When I was a little kid growing up, my Dad had this humidor next to the big easy chair in which he spent many evenings. On the weekends, he's smoke a cigar from this humidor. It was always an odd object to me, he never explained where it came from though I asked. I was always drawn to the little dog on the top of the humidor's substantial cap. I took a picture of the dog using the lens and I have never, ever seen the detail in this little fellow. It's pretty amazing craftsmanship given its size. The origins are Chinese, I do believe. Here he is.
Addendum, Picture 7. I was walking Kuma. It was a fairly cold Winter day - temps in the teens, breeze coming up the hill from the lake. Not a day to be without gloves for any amount of time for sure. Walking the usual route, the UVM path that goes under the small memorial arch. I kiddingly told my Grandson Joekai that I'd met an ancient man with the most distinguished face, one of those faces that held "character". I'd asked the ancient one if he'd let me take a picture of him and he said "sure" and so I did. This is the picture, not macro, just real close up. 2-10-18
