Dancing and Singing

                                                                                                                     Available for purchase here

Pawpaw/papaya flower

                                                    Available for purchase here

Sometimes it's as if the flowers in my garden are singing and dancing, opening and closing, swaying in the breeze, following the rhythm of the sun and the seasons. Capturing their beauty is a delight.

Front side of Raynox DCR-250 resting on it's lens cover

Last month I received my first DSLR but I do NOT have a macro lens. What I do have is this little Raynox Super Macro Conversion Lens (DCR-250). For all the above photos and most my recent macros, I have used this snap-on conversion lens with my 50mm lens (it also works well with my 18-55mm kit lens). I use this same Raynox lens with my fixed lens super zoom as I shared here.

On the reverse side you can see the spring-loaded lugs which allow it to quickly snap/clip on/off your camera lens. It's a brilliant system and quite versatile. I often head outside with the Raynox on and just unclip it for non-macro shots, just as you would a lens cover. No doubt a dedicated macro lens has it's own benefits but the portability, ease of use and price of the Raynox makes it a winner too. At less than $80 on Amazon or Ebay it's much more affordable.

As with other macro lenses it gives a very shallow depth of field, I have greater success using live-view manual focus.

Taken this morning with my 50mm, just to show we really do grow gerbera daisies in our gardens all year round in our area. I grew these from seedlings this year, three of which currently have their first flowers and more buds coming.

Hover fly enjoying a snack this morning - taken using the Raynox lens and a little editing. I think the hover fly was dancing and singing too!


Sharing at Shoot. Edit. Submit (chosen as a Top 5 Winner), Tina's Weekend Flowers (voted a Top 3 Winner),
  Sneak Peek Friday, Flower Art Friday, Weekly Top Shot, Macro Monday.