Macro photography is something one can do if they're on the brink of losing their sanity. So they can lose it quicker.

Mum, the neighbour has lost his mind. What do you see dear? I've seen him come out to the yard, on his knees, for minutes at a time only to rise up with a single fallen leaf pulled right up to his face. He's done this like 6 or 7 times over the last 3 hours!!

This might be the biggest tale tale sign of the impending apocalypse. Thomas Heaton recording videos in his kitchen.... The end is near

For part 2 you could take your macro setup into your garden when it's still cool in the morning and shoot some little critters. They move slower when they're cold. Another fun thing is looking for micro landscapes. The patterns on rocks and things can look like tiny landscapes sometimes. It takes a little while but once you get your eye in you'll see them everywhere.

You need glycerin for the water drops and a small needle

2:05 When an outdoorsy guy starts wearing an animal onesie and says he's "on the edge" you'd do well to heed that warning.

Ha! It has taken me literally years to understand and successfully shoot macro. Thanks for highlighting the process. Your setup is perfect, extension tubes are cheap! and the more you do it, the better it gets! You never cease to amaze me...btw, all you need is a thinner needle (micro syringe let a diabetic kind) to achieve the water drops.

As someone who loves to photograph wildflowers you have just begun to touch on the frustration. Outdoors there are many more variables to deal with. Thanks for the video.

You in the hooded dressing gown looks just like how I picture someone who spent 3 days in their kitchen learning macro. Great job. You're doing wely staying safe.

Lol, try handheld with insects at stupid o’clock in the summer..

Many years ago I was "trapped" at home for a very bad cold and after 4 days I needed to do something to avoid getting bored, so I bought as well some cheap exentions tubes to do the same. I setted up a frame to attach flashes, lights, coloured gels, also a drippling bag to shoot drops sequentially...it took days to have a decent good image then I moved to a sliced orange thinely, litterally puttend in front of my flash and started to shoot and this was very satisfying, at the end of my 10 days of "detention" I was able to "master" macro photography but, at that time spring came out and I prefered to walk in the nature as you know well how it is powerful. Thank you mister!

I really appreciate your honesty Thomas. It can be very tiring to look at KZfaq videos where people always try to impress and present themselves in the best possible way. They often emphasize one success after another whilst "hiding" the truth that .... a lot of planning, time + energy AND failure goes into what they present. Well done for being so truthful here Thomas, it made this video 100% more interesting than if you had simply presented best shots and left out all the hard work and fails.

Thank goodness we have blokes from the north of England. They are the salt of the earth. Thanks Tom I get my macro lens out this afternoon 😊

I love that you're using this time to learn something new. You never stop inspiring Thomas! Thanks for everything over the years

if you want to go total insane try photographing the surface of soapbubbles, but if you get it the result is totaly stunning aswell

Thomas in a dressing gown with ears, going mad to the sounds of acoustic music. This is quality content.

Love this video. I did the exact same thing, well sort of. I bought the extension tubes and jumped in. I am not a pro like you, just a newbie trying to learn something new. Set up in my garage next to a large window for natural light. Bought some cheap daisies and and use a spray bottle. I think the difference was my expectations were really low and so my pics were much better than I thought. Then I went searching for other subjects and thanks to Mr. Spider I was able to get a nice bumble bee and dragonfly that made for excellent subjects. But although I was not overthinking the composition of the shots I completely relate to the frustration. Nice pics btw, much better than mine.

Speaking as a Macro Photographer...You got some very nice results. I did like your feather shot and mix of colour and the last flower shot was gorgeous. Great job.

I spent my whole career shooting jewellery - the key is all in the equipment - I use Zeiss 100mm macro lense - Nikkor 120mm macro on Sinar specially modified for nIkon D850 and Phase one back when needed - for water try glycerine water mixture so the drops don’t explode on contact - love your landscapes BTW

Well done, Tom! You're expanding your repertoire, I'm very impressed! Glad you are keeping busy during the lockdown. I'm sure you'll be raring to go once it ends. The biggest part of each of my days is taking out the trash and walking slowly back and forth to the bins in the warm sun. Stay safe and well. Bob

Finally this quarantine gave us a review of your home

Thanks Thomas, I literally woke up this morning thinking I was gonna go watch KZfaq videos about macro extension tubes. And like you’re some kind of wizard you come out with a video convincing to get some.

You have my sympathy and empathy regarding macro - it's a slow learning process, but very enjoyable.

Haha! You and me alike. 😂 “Just going to do a bit of macro. How hard can this be?” Very is the answer. 😉

You can never be bored with a macro lens. I bought a Sigma 105 prime macro and I don't think I'll ever tire of it, it can be challenging depending on the subject but it opens up so much creativity.

The 100ml L series lens is amazing for this stuff, sharpness, clarity, bokeh, the whole malarkey.

If you are talented and hard-working, it's easy 👍👏🏆

Thank you. I feel so much better after watching that. I've spent the last few days trying to do a timelapse of a small flower opening. Apart from having to know the exact time when they start opening, you also learn, that from bud to flower, they move a lot. The lighting has to be absolutely consistent throughout the timelapse while allowing for any change in exposure needed when the bright petals emerge. You get just one chance per day to get it right unless you want to try shooting them closing up. And the buds don't open at a constant rate. It seems that every variable possible is exercising its right to vary. And none of this gets mentioned in the memoirs of the Marquis de Sade. Still, your sufferings have encouraged me to continue.

Fun! Thanks for the idea. Not sure my dear wife would be so patient with me using the (her) kitchen. Stay healthy and happy everyone.

Beautiful images Tom I tried Macro a while back and gave up its so hard, Good positive video that helps us all to take time out to watch our favourite landscape photographers that are keeping real and positive at this time 👍👍👍

First Man Photography is the teacher.

I'm actually shooting a macro timelapse as we speak... It's a flower opening, and I've been improving on it for days, trying new things and then hoping they turn out as planned. Each time goes differently and there's always tweaks to be made and lighting to be played with... It's such a fun but often frustrating challenge! There's an infinitely deep world to explore right beneath us, should we choose to look! Great video, and I appreciate you giving it a try! More people need to experience this!

The converse of "what you think will make a good macro subject doesn't necessarily make a good macro subject" is also true. . .

Great idea Thomas. Especially in times like now. I used to have a set of extension tubes years ago. Tried inverting my tripod center column and photographing beads of water droplets on the grass. Not exactly rain drops but water from a water sprayer bottle. A good excuse to not cut the lawn quite so often also. Now just watching your video have decided to give it another shot :)

Love it! Quite an entertaining sheltering in place video!! Thanks

Thomas, you took the commonplace and made it exceptional. Well done!

One of your best lessons... lots of learning from mistakes, the best learning... with that dropper, you need the actual fine point syringe... looks like 3 incredible days of learning...

perfect therapy video after a long day at work.

Keep going with macro it will be worth it in the end. A lot of patience is needed to get the best results but when you start getting them and finding you have learned a new skill you will never look back.

This video arrived just in time! Picked up a macro and I’m SUPER excited to get going.

Feels like a Thomas Heaton Cribs episode. Love it

Great photo! I love doing macro, the beauty of small things..

This is so good watching you do something different and seeing how your managing with change and keeping us all inspired

It's surprisingly very easy to pay attention to your Marco tips 🐻 Awesome indoor photo challenge. Next should be Macro Wildlife Photography.

Thanks, Thomas. That was fun. Indoor sports time! Phil

I think one of your most comical videos yet. Thank you.

Well I've done macro photography for years but one thing that I have learnt from this is how to get rid of all my calendars I didn't sell last year! :D Great vid Thomas and definitely not easy!

I do a lot of this type of stuff, great job Thomas, thanks for sharing.

So this is what it's come to - I'm watching a frustrated, grown man in a bear costume try to drip a drop of water on a tiny flower. Repeatedly.

I love macro photography, and yes it’s hard, but so much fun and gratifying when you finally capture that oh so sweet image. Loved your video!

The way this guy does his macro photography reminds me of how Thomas Heaton does his landscapes, I think even the resulting image shows the same personal touch.

Yep. Most people think macro is easy until they try it! Giving up on that was actually one of the main things that led me to get outside and eventually start making time lapse sequences.

you make something beautiful out of the most mundane things. well done sir. I used them to photograph an old pocket watch which I disassembled and placed on a black felt back ground. Very cool.

Best dressing gown ever!

I haven't forgotten the night when aided by the dull incandescent bulb in my bedside light, I managed to take a sharp shot of a male Bluebottle flies face in 1976. M42 thread bellows and a lens on backwards, and a long exposure on slow Black & White print film @ 25ASA. Only this week I learnt that tracing paper is the best surface for putting samples on as it sheds no dust. A dead fly laid on its back overnight on a envelope, will have a line of microscopic dust across the top of it's eyes within hours.I've also reminded myself that some insects look the same at both ends. I'd set up my camera on a very small tripod in full hot sunshine, with the lens some 17mm away from the subject, a small 12mm brightly coloured hairy caterpillar. I'd trapped the leaf it was on so the wind stopped moving it around, and put enough extension on so the subjects face was prominent in the frame. i decided as there was extreme light levels in the scene, that I'd risk video and set it recording. Being so hot, I covered my camera and retreated indoors, and left it to fill the card or run out of battery. Later i got to watch one hour and seventeen minutes of a caterpillar on a sometimes windy day. It's only activity was lost in the boqeh at the other end. The end I was watching was glued to the leaf with it's little feet. When it started to move I was expecting teeth. Instead i've got a 1080p video of it having a dump, then wandering off into the distance. Floating petals on water is in the section Macro for rainy days with a howling wind, and even then floating petals doesn't feature high on the list. You've hardly dipped your toe into the world of Macro. The landscape of the leaf is the habitat of many a good scene at the macro level and so is moss and even grass.

I feel your pain, I was the same when I first started in macro, I also use Glycerine, a 50/50 mix with water works well for me and yes get a syringe with a needle, the metal repels the water so you get nice droplets. Also get a memo crocodile clip these are great for keeping subjects still that aren't in water. Look forward to seeing more of these, stay safe and well!

Macro world in beautiful when u get used to it, been using reverse lens technique which is way harder,(didn't have macro lens ) but got good result over time you can see here instagram.com/p/BpbpnCdB3TW/

OMG there is nothing funnier than a landscape photographer stuck inside! You 4 are really keeping me entertained! Than you!!

A reflector is best . Flash can overpower what you are shooting too . I'm in the same boat . 3 months at home . I was just getting into doing Landscape photography . Mainly been doing motorsport . Can't do that now far too worn out . Macro is great fun . Great vlog Thomas .

Also, if you want cool pictures, try dropping butter in a hot cup of water, tea or coffee, you can try dropping droplets of liquid soaps too. You can also try to make supercooled water in your freezer, and photograph the rapid progression of the ice when you bang the bottle.

You don't even need to buy extension tubes to shoot macro! Just shoot using the freelensing technique with the lens backward. You can also buy a reverse ring adapter and it cost almost nothing a few US dollars. Bonus tip: Wider the lens the more magnification will be. This is where a lens that has manual aperture comes in handy but there is a trick for Canon shooters! I have done this with no problem with my camera or lens but try this at your own risk! Attach the lens you are planning to use to your Canon camera, Turn on the camera, set the aperture to f8 or higher, Press the depth of field button, keep it pressed down and remove the lens. This locks the aperture in the lens that you set the f stop number. Now Shoot using the freelensing technique with the lens backward. @ Thomas Heaton Macro is not easy if you never have done it b4! Great video

It is not "everything worth doing is not easy". The proper, mythbusters motto is: "If it's worth doing, it's worth OVERDOING!". Great effort there and a look behind the scenes of the difficulty of macro photography. I am trying a little bit with my extension tubes but not really as intensely as you.

I have the Nikon version of the extension tubes, had them a while and there great, very powerful for snow flakes or insects etc

I have the extension tubes and they work great. Mine are 13, 21 and 31mm for my Canon. I have been working on macro for a few months now and I have found it is much easier to move my tripod then to disrupt my subject that took a long time to set up. Also water and oil mix works great for spraying and landing on the subject. As well as using a syringe instead of an eye dropper to put minute droplets on. Also try soap solution in water to spray

That was great - definitely one of your more entertaining recent videos...

love this love the dressing gown !!

Wow! That is such an awesome photo!!

Thanks for the macro post! I know it is not your usual post. Your work is fantastic you know how nature produces light and how to capture it.

I'm a huge fan of your videos and your work!

Hi Thomas, I bought a doubler for my Pentax from the AGE UK shop for £3 and discovered that with my 18-55mm kit lens attached to it I can do macro photos too. The step is to do focus stacking so that I can get all of the flower in focus. For that I bought a slide contraption thingy from Amazon for about £20. I've yet to do a set up like you've done in this video but you've added some ideas to my kitbag, so to speak. As an extra I'm going to be trying using some additives to the water, such as salt and detergent and anything else I can come up with from the kitchen cupboards. Thanks for this inspiring video. Stay safe, stay well, stay recording.

Awesome video Thomas! Had a good laugh! Thanks

Well done!!! Loved seeing something a bit different 👏

You can also try a coupling ring. Needed; Kit lens (18-55 is fine) Telephoto lens (70-300 for instance) Make sure they have the same filter thread diameter Coupling ring ($5,- anywhere) Macro slider for the fine adjustments ($20,- anywhere) Take your kit lens and put it on your camera. Set it to manual focus and focus to infinity. Then go for it’s max aperture and widest focal range, then take it off your camera. Attach your telephoto lens to the camera and using the coupling ring attach the front of your kit lens to the front of your tele (your kit lens is now backwards). Take care not to shift focus while screwing the lenses together. Zoom the tele all the way out to its longest focal range. In this example you have 300/18=16,7x magnification! It goes without saying that you will need a tripod and a remote because the image shakes a lot and the area in focus is wafer thin. Have fun!

The biggest problem with tubes is they lose a lot of light, probably two stops for the set you used. I will get you started as will +Filters, or even turning your lens around backwards but you will not regret getting a Tamron 90 True Macro lens. I now should a nice Nikor 105 Macro but the Tamron worked really well for the price. A lens will really get you moving and make it much more enjoyable, especially with insects and outdoor subjects.

Love your frankness and humility. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Great job. I just bought a set of bellows and intend to do the same very soon.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching that and have just ordered some cheap as chips tubes from amazon now just got to sort out my wardrobe to get into character!😄

Ha! Funny you should post this. Yesterday I cleaned out/straighten my photography gear shelves. I found a set of extension tubes collecting dust in the back. It's been years since I used them and I had honestly forgotten I had them.

Funny, I have been working on my macro/abstract photography as well. I have some really cool results. It helps having an 8 year old daughter because I have stuff everywhere that I have no idea what it is. Most of my results if I admit are not my original idea but seems to be byproducts if not only trial and error but rewards of over compensation. One example of this is a tiny silver plastic bead necklace that she has was laying around so I grabbed it put it on a purple plastic plate she love to eat on from ikea, set the plate on a speed light and played with different lighting. When that didn't work I just kept adding more plates and additional diffusers and what I got was totally amazing abstract art that had an image not of the main subject but the shadows and lighting created what look like a persons head. Personally everyone uses insects and flowers but try using things around your house, yard or office. Magnification does amazing things to simple items. Also, last tidbit, when I am shooting landscapes or travel, I always shoot oddball things that can be used for abstract. Like in Rhodes Greece, I shot a steel sewer drain and I turned it into a cool industrial abstract photo.

Thanks Thomas, great video and something we can all try at home. My efforts were with a second hand Nikon D3200 with just the kit lens. I started taking a dandelion but just too much yellow and settled with a small blue flower. I didn't manage to get a reflection but happy with the result. Would love to see another video of something else we can try at home.

So enjoyable seeing landscape and wildlife photographers trying macro for the first time!!

Y'know, Thomas, I've been meaning to try macro for ages, and your video reminded me and inspired me to have a go. I got some extension tubes online, and I've had a tremendous amount of fun in the last few days. Even the daisies in the lawn look fantastic at that scale! Thank you so much for your content, I always find it enjoyable.

Hahahaha. The title alone made me think „now this looks like big fun“ 😂 I am almost disappointed that you eventually made a great image.

I have the greatest respect for landscape photographers because this seeing these compositions is not something I've ever been able to master. However, macro photography, my speciality is quite a different skill set to other forms of photography. Although it's good to see that Thomas has learned one of the most important lessons and that is often in macro photography you get serendipitous opportunities when something you are trying for doesn't work, but you get another opportunity you'd not thought of. This is what a lot of macro photography is about, and that is exploring these opportunities, which weren't what you had in mind.

Brilliant I have been setting up my sons star wars lego figures in the garden That produces some interesting and fun images

Yeh, I'm having the same 'lock down blues', I get my camera out, sit it on the desk, and find myself shooting ball point pens, the computer keyboard keys, half filled cups of tea, door handles, aaaaargh! What am I doing!!! Nice kitchen by the way, thanks again Tom, stay safe mate...

Hi Thomas, add about two drops of liquid soap to your small bottle sprayer. It will reduce the hydrophobic behavior of the water droplets on flower petals ... actually anything. Great post

There is no easy way without artificial light source. Light is the key. Knowledge makes easier what you have done.

So I have a set of extention tubes and haven't really used them. Time passes and I just got a Lensbaby Trio 28 a few days ago. I am so pleased with the images I get with that I now 'see differently'. Your vidoe gave me new inspiration. One step backwards : Two steps forward ! ( well, I know what I mean anyway ) Cheers !

I would really love to see some more macro photography from you. Especially as you learn it

Really like your results. I need to try that set up.

This is what happens when Landscape photographers lose their minds.

Ooh interesting! Now where did I put my extension tubes... I had a ring to reverse the nifty 50, could see the makeup of a fly's eye with it. Cool things to try in these times. Thanks for the light relief Tom 👍

Yes! The photography adventure continues! Our hero (tragic hero?) triumphs once again, after many interesting trials and tribulations. And along the way, we learn some new lessons :-) Thanks again Thomas!

Haha. Love it Thomas! Some ideas for me to try now.

I just dug out last Saturday an old macro zoom lens (not a true macro lens, but a close focusing zoom "not bad") I'd forgotten I had. So excellent timing on this video.

great shot! Persistence pays off👍

Instead of those tubes, you can also get "reversing" rings that mount to the front of your lens where you would attach screw on filters and attach the lens backwards on your camera.

Thumbs down? C‘mon, who the f**k gives a thumbs down? Thank you Thomas, for sharing your experiences, thoughts and the clothing! 👍🏻😁😁

Good work there Thomas, a nice image at the end of it. An often similarly cheap way to get into macro would be a lens reversal ring which allows you to mount your lens backwards. That can give pretty good results too. Next job, get out in the garden and start chasing flies around. If you don't have dirty knees by the end of a good macro session outdoors then you haven't been trying hard enough.