Both Sides at Once Macro

Both Sides at Once Macro

I've posted a couple of pictures in the past showing both sides of a creature/ subject at the same time. I probably didn't explain it too well at the time, so I'm following it up with a bit of a blog post to explain how I did this and to encourage others to try something similar. If you hadn't worked it out yet, I'm a bit of an optics geek or nerd or enthusiast, probably all three....

https://www.ephotozine.com/user/acancarter-331023/gallery/photo/here-s-looking-at-you--60948660/page/2

We see many great macro shots – pin sharp, focus stacked, in flight etc… what can we do that might be a bit different? My idea was to come up with a macro set up to photograph BOTH SIDES of a subject at the same time… so we can image mouthparts of insects as well as their eyes. I think there is potential for interesting composition - who knows, it may even have scientific uses. I didn't want to spend any mpney to try this out, so it was all done with bits and bobs I had in the cupboard or in the gadget bag…


Here is an example, both sides of woodlice! Whoever stops to photograph woodlice? They are very different top side and bottom side, and are quite beautifully coloured. Easy to find as well, but hard to persuade to keep still. In this photo you can see there are two different species - colours, marking, size are all different. There are only two woodlice in the image, you are looking at both the tops and the undersides at once, captured in a single frame.

Interested? I'll explain the set up and some of the limitations tomorrow.