DIY Camera Stunts - Macro Lens

A short while back I found this Rokinon 80 - 200mm Zoom Macro lens in our thrift store.  My first clue that something was wrong was that it was packed in the box for an old point and shoot pentax camera....  The Rokinon lens was broken but I paid the 3 dollars for it anyway,  figuring that I could play around with it; take it apart and use it for something.







And something I have.  Today I disassembled the lens, and discovered that without the zoomy bit - the lens itself fits snugly over one of my other lenses.  And makes a decent little macro lens for extreme close up photography.

Macro Life

Filmmaker Sill Naveen has used some of my music (Music for Unfathomable Jovian Depths)in his short film - Macro Life - a fascinating look at insects and arachnids.

He's edited my song to fit the length of his film and though the edits are a little clumsy (oh well...) the images are wild and colorful and creepy and beautiful.


Macro Life from Sillnaveen on Vimeo.

Dandelion (Macro)

Dandelion Macro by Jeff Carter on 500px

Magazine Macro Collage

My Gear (Photography)

Here is the photographic gear that I have.  It's not much.  Some of it I bought used.  Some of them were gifts from my wife or my brother.  Some of the filters I made myself.

Back Row - Super Albinar 80 - 205mm
-Promaster 100mm with 3x teleconverter
-Canon EF 75 - 300mm
-Wiko 100 -150mm (disassembled slide projector lens)
-Canon EFS 18-55mm
-Canon 28mm

2nd Row- Canon Rebel T4i
-Lens Baby Spark (selective focus lens)
-Super Takumar 50mm (this is my favorite lens)
-DIY Macro lens (made from a broken zoom lens)
-Macro attachment
-Small tripod


3rd Row -Lens Hood x2
-Neutral Density filters 2, 4, 8
-Intervalometer

4th Row- Diffusion filter
-UV filter (pretty much useless these days)
-Starburst filter
-Polarizing filter
-Spot filter
-USB cables

5th Row -Cleaning kit
-Multivision filter 
-DIY Bokeh filter (made from a sink drain trap)
-DIY Blur filter (made with shredded bubble wrap)

Not pictured - Large Tripod

Microscope Mechanical Macro

A couple of black and white shots of a small microscope using my home-made DIY macro lens.

Powerpoint Slides for Everyone - 2014 - Weeks 26 & 27

I was not able to post last week's free background image - I was otherwise occupied at music camp.  But I'm home now (at least for a few days) and I can rectify last week's failure and post this week's image.  It's a two-for-one special today.

These weekly background images are free for you to use in your own projects at home, work, school, or church, in powerpoint or not.  Do what you will with them.  I only ask that you share them freely and that you tell others that you found them here.

For those who like to know such details: the first image is a macro shot of a tree stump I found on the camp grounds.  The second is an abstract sort of image created by using (again) my homemade DIY macro lens  to photograph an old slide projector carousel.  I also used a red filter over the flash.

The Holly and the Ivy

My mother has had these Christmas glasses for forever. I used a macro attachment to shoot them.

Josee Lilacs

These are lilacs - specifically Josee Lilacs (I think so, anyway.  I'm not a trained botanist.)  I took the photograph using my DIY macro lens.   These particular blooms were found in the Asian garden along the riverwalk in Des Moines, Iowa.  Lilacs - and the smell of lilacs - always make me remember the few years I spent living in Lombard, Illinois and marching in the Lilac Parade with the Glenbard East marching band.  I hate marching band.

Josee Lilac by Jeff Carter on 500px

Powerpoint Slides for Everyone - 2014 - Week 37

I nearly forgot; I almost let the week pass without posting a free background image.  These images (usually posted earlier in the week) are yours to download and to use however you like.  I only ask that you share them freely and that you tell others that you found them here.

For those who like to know such things - the photograph is of a brass candle holder made in India, photographed with my homemade DIY macro lens.

Christmas Sparkle Spiral 2

Christmas ornaments shot with a macro lens and a homemade DIY filter.

Flowers of Light

I used a macro attachment to photograph the glowing 'branches' of a fiber optic Christmas tree to create a field Flowers of Light.

Pattern Recognition

Pattern Recognition by Jeff Carter on 500px

It's the rubber grip cut away from a broken zoom lens.  Another picture taken with my DIY macro lens.  

Purple Bouquet

A dried bouquet of flowers I bought for my wife, a macro lens attachment, and a piece of translucent, blue plastic I rescued from the trash...

Public and Private

It's another shot using my homemade DIY macro lens.  I found the bill - the fragment of the bill actually - in the grass as I was walking the other day.  It had been run over by a lawn mower, apparently.

Public and Private by Jeff Carter on 500px

Waves on an Ocean of Light

Beveled pieces of glass over a holographic image - photographed with a macro attachment

A Second Explosion

Last night I shared a photograph I made of a small explosion of light and color. Here's another. They're made with a macro attachment for the camera, a wadded piece of cellophane, and a colorful placemat. Simple really.

Ants in the Lily

Crawling around inside the bloom of these lilies were some tiny little ants.  It's another shot using my homemade DIY macro lens. And it's the same lilies as seen here.

Ants in the Lily by Jeff Carter on 500px

Spinning Colors into Space

It was a simple set up - a glass with colorful, painted stripes, a blue cloth napkin, and a macro lens.

Powerpoint Slides for Everyone - 2014 - Week 22

Here it is again, this week's free background image for Powerpoint (or other similar presentation program) - or for any other project you might have.  You are free to use it at home, work, school, church - wherever - I only ask that you share it freely and that you tell others that you found it here.

For those who like to know such details - this picture was taken using my DIY macro lens.  I think (I'm not a trained botanist, after all) that they are Wild Plum (Prunus Americana) blossoms...