Mantis by David Johndrow

AN: Please introduce yourself. Where do you live and work?

DJ: My name is David Johndrow and I live and work in Austin, Texas.

AN: How did you get into photography?

DJ: I studied photography while getting a film degree at the University of Texas. The first time I saw an image of something that I shot appear in the developer tray I was hooked and decided I wanted to do photography full time. I started doing commercial work after graduating—mostly doing portrait work. I supplemented my income by working as a custom printer in photo labs. I’m glad I had that experience because it forced me to put in a lot of hours in the darkroom. As I got better at making prints that were stronger, I also got better at visualizing my own work. I learned a lot from working with other peoples photographs, both good and bad.

Orb weaver spider by David Johndrow

AN: Tell us about your passion for macro.

DJ: My use of macro came out of combining my obsession with gardening with my interest in photography. For a long time I had no interest in shooting photos in my garden. It was mostly because I didn’t want to do what other photographers have done so well before. But as I spent more and more time outdoors, I started to notice the most sublimely beautiful things going on a very small scale and they looked amazing in the natural light of their own habitat. So, I began experimenting with ways to get up close and still be hand-held. I wanted to be quick and mobile. So I put extension tubes on my regular Hasselblad lens and discovered that although this set-up presented some restrictions (limited ability to focus, lower light gathering power), I liked what I saw. In fact, the forced simplicity of the set-up allowed me to focus more on the image than on the technical aspects of shooting the picture. I used the lens wide open out of necessity because the film I use is relatively slow for the shade light I like. Fortunately, it turned out that the shallow focus worked great at isolating the details of the things I was shooting. Suddenly I would get lost looking through the camera—like entering another world. Ordinary things took on an aura of grandeur and importance. I decided I would treat the subjects in nature as formal portraits and try and make them look iconic and, at the same time, retain their wildness.

AN: What is your inspiration?

DJ: Photographically, my biggest influence is Irving Penn. I love how he can make anything look elegant , from fashion models to tribal people to found objects. I love his high contrast printing style and how graphically strong his compositions are. I also like Edward Weston and Karl Blossfeld. Blossfeld was really good at showing the architecture of nature. Another influence on my art is the botanical artist Ernst Haeckel. I have reproductions of some of his drawings up in my darkroom to inspire me. He really shows the beautifully intricate designs of nature at all scales. Something about his art is wonderfully weird and psychedelic. Besides these photographic and artistic influences, I also need to mention my love of Laurens Van der Post’s stories of the bushmen of the Kalahari and how they revered the small things in nature the most.

Stinkbug by David Johndrow

AN: What do you wish to convey to your viewers?

DJ: I hope that when people look at my photographs, they get a new perspective on the things that are all around us that we sometimes take for granted. We tend to get disassociated from nature and forget what a miracle it is. I am always amazed at the new things I discover out in my garden. Things seem to appear to me as if by magic. I try to capture some of that magic to share with others. It’s a real challenge to depict something that has been photographed so many times. What I’m learning is that the ways of experiencing nature are infinite. I hope people who see my photographs come away with a greater appreciation of the beauty of common things.

AN: Can you tell us about your post processing techniques?

DJ: I like to print my images on silver gelatin, platinum/palladium or gumoil. I let the image dictate what medium I will use to express it. Although I originally capture all of my images on film, I sometimes make enlarged inter-negatives, either with my enlarger or digitally, depending on the image, so that I can make contact prints. By using alternative processes I am able to have a wider range of expression in my printing and a greater chance of the “happy accidents” that I think make photographs unique. I strive for extreme simplicity in my images. Photography, by its nature, is a reduction of information. By removing what is nonessential, images get clearer and more powerful. This is also the reason why I love working in black and white.

AN: Do you have any projects on the go?

DJ: I am now experimenting with simple photograms, bypassing the camera altogether. I’ve gotten so into it that I’ve amassed a large collection of objects that I can print just using sunlight. Of course I still work in my garden with my camera close by and keep my eyes open for the next mystery to present itself.

Toad by David Johndrow

This inter­view and accom­pa­ny­ing images was reprinted with per­mis­sion from Adore Noir.
Adore Noir is a sub­scrip­tion based online pho­tog­ra­phy mag­a­zine spe­cial­iz­ing in awe­some fine art black and white photography.

First ‚œ get close! ‚So many times I see ‚Ëœclose-up‚„ pictures that include way too much in the frame. ‚Like a flower image that shows other flowers, leaves, a fence, the dirt etc. ‚That‚„s not a close-up. ‚The reason good close-up and macro photos are so magical is that they show us a world we might not ordinarily notice. ‚Here‚„s what to do, find out how close your lens will focus and then try and stick to that as much as possible. ‚My ZD 12-60mm lets me get a couple inches from my subject and does a good enough job that I can sometimes leave my macro lens at home.

Ice Crystals by Kristen Smith

Second ‚œ isolate! ‚Close-up photographs are much more effective when the subject is clearly separated from the rest of the scene. ‚You can do this in two ways, first by choosing a subject that doesn‚„t have anything near enough to be in the frame with it. ‚So pick that flower or mushroom that doesn‚„t have any friends. The second way you can isolate your subject is by opening your lens to a large aperture. ‚Doing this limits your depth of field and creates an out of focus background also known as bokeh. ‚Of course sharp focus on your main subject is critical, so be careful. ‚Watch the shutter speeds and use a tripod if necessary.

Chicory Blossom by Kristen Smith

Third ‚œ surprise! ‚Show me something different. ‚Oh gee, another flower picture. ‚Yay. ‚How about a bug? ‚Yawn. ‚A leaf? ‚Zzzzz. ‚Sorry, I‚„m not really dumping on any of these things, but haven‚„t we all seen a million of them? ‚I‚„m just as guilty of it. ‚After a while they‚„re all the same and it takes an effort to bring something different to the world of close-up photography. ‚Find it. ‚Whatever it takes, find something unusual about an everyday object or something you hardly ever see photographed. ‚Try new angles, perspectives, juxtapositions, play with depth of field, background, color combinations; anything to help your image break free of sameness.

Broken Cork by Kristen Smith

So that should get you started. ‚Get close, isolate and surprise me! ‚Feel free to post comments with links to your best close-up photos or share them on the‚forum.

My Website = www.wickeddarkphotography.com and I’m based in New Hampshire, USA

The following images describe the different inexpensive techniques used to create macro photographs

1 — Shows my shot with a zoom lens only
2 — Shows shot with cheap close-up lens #1
3 — Shows shot with cheap close-up lens #2
4 — Shows shot with cheap close-up lens #4
5 — Shows what close-up lenses look like
6 — Shows what extension tubes look like
7 -‚Shows what a lens mounted backwards using a reversing ring looks like
8 — Photo by Yves janse (Thanks Yves) showing how you can stack close up lenses and tubes
9 — Shows a Plamp for holding macro subjects

Links mentioned in this podcast:
Reversing rings on Ebay
Close up lenses on Ebay
Extension tubes on Ebay
Phoenix AF lens review (A cheap dedicated macro lens)
Plamp clamp for holding macro subjects

Thanks as always for the comments by‚Al, Tim and Yves Janse who also suggested this. We LOVE comments and suggestions so please send more.