Parsing: https://www.jeremycherfas.net/ { "items": [ { "type": [ "h-entry" ], "properties": { "name": [ "Not Quite Macro" ], "url": [ "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog\/not-quite-macro" ], "photo": [ { "value": "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/pages\/03.blog\/not-quite-macro\/DSC06397.jpeg", "alt": "A wasp, Vespula germanica, drinking from the surface of a leaf. The yellow and black face has a single black dot in the yellow part above the yellow mandibles. " } ], "published": [ "2026-08-09T19:04:00+02:00" ], "content": [ { "html": "

As my interest in the micro-wildlife on our terrace<\/a> has grown I have found myself wanting to know more exactly what I am looking at. I don\u2019t have any way to catch things, but I do have a macro lens on my camera. Problem is, the focal length is quite short, which means that in macro mode the subject can be about 1cm from the front of the lens. In addition to sometimes blocking the light, it alarms most insects. It\u2019s fine for things that aren\u2019t moving, and though the auto-focus is reasonably quick, even a gently waving flower can defeat it. So, yes, I have taken some good close-ups with it, but that\u2019s often more a matter of luck than judgement. It lives on my camera because quite apart from the macro capabilities, it is a great lens for out and about photography. <\/p>\n

As I was reading around and contemplating a new, longer macro lens, I came across an article<\/a> that made me realise that my zoom lens has a much shorter close focus, something I had never really paid attention to. For some reason, I\u2019ve always tended to use it from about 3 metres on out, but it can actually focus one metre away.<\/p>\n

Most of the insects I watch don\u2019t actually seem to land very often, and although I have managed to catch bumblebees in flight, I wouldn\u2019t dream of forcing those images on you. If something settles, however, the camera is quick enough and the lens sharp enough to get something useful.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pretty sure this is a German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica.<\/figcaption>\n

The image is a 1200 pixel crop from the full frame, and I reckon it is decent enough.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still tempted by \u201cproper\u201d macro-photography, although I am wary that to do it well will need a bunch more equipment than just another lens. I\u2019m also in awe of some of the images I see online. For now, then, I will continue to try my improper macro-photography and hope to snap something more interesting than a far-too-common wasp.<\/p>", "value": "As my interest in the micro-wildlife on our terrace has grown I have found myself wanting to know more exactly what I am looking at. I don\u2019t have any way to catch things, but I do have a macro lens on my camera. Problem is, the focal length is quite short, which means that in macro mode the subject can be about 1cm from the front of the lens. In addition to sometimes blocking the light, it alarms most insects. It\u2019s fine for things that aren\u2019t moving, and though the auto-focus is reasonably quick, even a gently waving flower can defeat it. So, yes, I have taken some good close-ups with it, but that\u2019s often more a matter of luck than judgement. It lives on my camera because quite apart from the macro capabilities, it is a great lens for out and about photography.\nAs I was reading around and contemplating a new, longer macro lens, I came across an article that made me realise that my zoom lens has a much shorter close focus, something I had never really paid attention to. For some reason, I\u2019ve always tended to use it from about 3 metres on out, but it can actually focus one metre away.\nMost of the insects I watch don\u2019t actually seem to land very often, and although I have managed to catch bumblebees in flight, I wouldn\u2019t dream of forcing those images on you. If something settles, however, the camera is quick enough and the lens sharp enough to get something useful.\nA wasp, Vespula germanica, drinking from the surface of a leaf. The yellow and black face has a single black dot in the yellow part above the yellow mandibles. Pretty sure this is a German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica.\nThe image is a 1200 pixel crop from the full frame, and I reckon it is decent enough.\nI\u2019m still tempted by \u201cproper\u201d macro-photography, although I am wary that to do it well will need a bunch more equipment than just another lens. I\u2019m also in awe of some of the images I see online. For now, then, I will continue to try my improper macro-photography and hope to snap something more interesting than a far-too-common wasp." } ], "author": [ { "type": [ "h-card" ], "properties": { "name": [ "Jeremy Cherfas" ], "url": [ "https:\/\/jeremycherfas.net" ], "photo": [ "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/newtheme\/images\/zoot.jpg" ], "email": [ "mailto:jcherfas@fastmail.fm" ] }, "value": "https:\/\/jeremycherfas.net" } ] } } ], "rels": { "icon": [ "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/images\/logo.png" ], "canonical": [ "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/" ], "webmention": [ "https:\/\/webmention.herokuapp.com\/api\/webmention" ], "alternate": [ "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog.atom", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog.rss", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog.json" ], "me": [ "https:\/\/indieweb.social\/@etp", "https:\/\/github.com\/jeremycherfas", "https:\/\/jeremycherfas.micro.blog\/", "https:\/\/jeremycherfas.net\/ig.html\/", "https:\/\/pnut.io\/@jeremycherfas" ], "preconnect": [ "https:\/\/fonts.bunny.net" ], "stylesheet": [ "https:\/\/fonts.bunny.net\/css?family=noto-serif:400", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/markdown-notices\/assets\/notices.css", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/form\/assets\/form-styles.css", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/pagination\/css\/pagination.css", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/login\/css\/login.css", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/css\/style.css?v=1.1.3", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/js\/chartist\/dist\/chartist.min.css?v=1.0.1", "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/css\/line-awesome.min.css" ], "noopener": [ "https:\/\/photos.jeremycherfas.net\/flickr\/a_fine_weekend\/" ] }, "rel-urls": { "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/images\/logo.png": { "type": "image\/png", "rels": [ "icon" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/": { "rels": [ "canonical" ] }, "https:\/\/webmention.herokuapp.com\/api\/webmention": { "rels": [ "webmention" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog.atom": { "title": "Feed (Atom)", "type": "application\/atom+xml", "rels": [ "alternate" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog.rss": { "title": "Feed (RSS)", "type": "application\/rss+xml", "rels": [ "alternate" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/blog.json": { "title": "Feed (json)", "type": "application\/json", "rels": [ "alternate" ] }, "https:\/\/indieweb.social\/@etp": { "title": "Mastodon", "rels": [ "me" ] }, "https:\/\/fonts.bunny.net": { "rels": [ "preconnect" ] }, "https:\/\/fonts.bunny.net\/css?family=noto-serif:400": { "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/markdown-notices\/assets\/notices.css": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/form\/assets\/form-styles.css": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/pagination\/css\/pagination.css": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/plugins\/login\/css\/login.css": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/css\/style.css?v=1.1.3": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/js\/chartist\/dist\/chartist.min.css?v=1.0.1": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/www.jeremycherfas.net\/user\/themes\/my-new-theme\/css\/line-awesome.min.css": { "type": "text\/css", "rels": [ "stylesheet" ] }, "https:\/\/photos.jeremycherfas.net\/flickr\/a_fine_weekend\/": { "text": "New Photos", "rels": [ "noopener" ] }, "https:\/\/github.com\/jeremycherfas": { "title": "GitHub", "rels": [ "me" ] }, "https:\/\/jeremycherfas.micro.blog\/": { "title": "Micro Blog", "rels": [ "me" ] }, "https:\/\/jeremycherfas.net\/ig.html\/": { "title": "Instagram", "rels": [ "me" ] }, "https:\/\/pnut.io\/@jeremycherfas": { "title": "pnut", "rels": [ "me" ] } } }