The world up close

The mark of a committed macro photographer at this time of year is that one knee is wet and dirty.

Come to think of it, the mark of a very committed one may be that both knees are.

And here I am, in one of the many small nature reserves in Perth Hills, just off Great Eastern Highway east of Mundaring, on one knee, photographing a leaf with water droplets on it. Some are small, but the biggest acts like a bulbous lens, enlarging the veins of the leaf.

The world up close is an amazing place, particularly at this time of year in the jarrah forest, when the ground and litter are moist. The lesson really, is just to stop the car, get out, bend down and see the massive, miniature world at your feet. (And usually under my boots.)

Water droplets are perfectly spherical diamonds on tiny spiders’ webs.

Puffballs, a type of fungi, burst from the ground. These are round, usually beige or orange, spore-bearing fruit bodies of the fungi.

Red gum weeps from a marri tree.

Two types of drosera are at work. These are sundews – both the type that are flat to the ground, leaves circled like doilies, and the climbers — long lengths with small bud-shaped nodes.

They are carnivorous and belong to the tuberous drosera (named for a stem-derived tuber that helps them to live through hot, dry summers) and there are about 70 species, most of them confined pretty much exclusively to this south western corner of WA.

They use what’s called a “flypaper trapping mechanism”, having leaves covered in tentacles that secrete sticky droplets (mucilage) to attract and catch insects. Once caught, enzymes digest the insect.

HOW TO DO IT

Photographers used to buy macro lenses for their cameras. Some will even remember Cokin macro filters which slide into a holder on the front of their 50mm lens.

Now, with most up-to-date phone cameras, you just have to put your lens up close … very close … then closer still.

You don’t even have to turn macro on — the phone will just react to what is in frame.

With a fairly current iPhone, move it close to the subject (as close as 2cm) until the macro mode (ultrawide lens) activates.

To make sure this works smoothly, in your Settings, scroll down to Camera, then make sure Macro Control is turned on (green).

Now you will see a yellow flower icon when you get very close to a subject. Tap the yellow flower icon to lock focus, then take the shot. Just click with your thumb on either volume button, or use the main button, but concentrate on keeping the camera still.

On Android system phones like the current Samsungs — once again, get close to the subject and it should do it automatically. Once again, macro mode uses the ultra-wide lens.

Whatever phone you are using, if the image on the screen becomes blurry, back away a fraction, or tap .5x to switch to the ultra-wide lens. Tap to turn automatic macro switching back on.

A small “monopod with legs” for phones is useful with this. I use and recommend the quite sturdy Gizomos GP-15ST Selfie Pod, which is $47 at bigw.com.au or less from some online sellers. It can be used low to the ground (I find it better than a small tripod). If you set up something very sensitive with this, remember that you can use the timer to capture the image.

Or, like me at this moment, you can just be on one knee, knuckle on the ground, concentrating on keeping the phone still over a spider’s web glistening with dew.

I sort of wish I’d brought a knee pad.