Ready for a close-up: Shepparton local Kelly D’Andrea took up macro photography about a year ago and says the artform has changed her life.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Who’d have known bees were so fluffy and flies were so colourful?
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Kelly D’Andrea sure didn’t until she started looking at them through a macro lens.
The Shepparton local has always loved taking photos, but when she purchased the latest iPhone, she fell more in love with the art.
“I started playing around with the macro mode and was having so much fun and posting all my photos on Facebook,” Mrs D’Andrea said.
Flower power: The magnification of tiny creatures in Kelly D’Andrea’s macro photographs is so great you can even see the pollen on this worker bee’s fluffy face.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
“One of my friends asked if I would like her old camera body she had no use for, so I purchased a second-hand macro lens about a year ago and that was the beginning of the obsession.”
All arms and legs: A stick insect appears to pose for a photo.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
One might be tempted to consider the term ‘obsession’ too strong, however, Mrs D’Andrea has gone so far as to plant an entire ‘macro garden’ in her backyard to attract specific kinds of insects for photographing.
“I will generally plant for the bees as I realise how important they are to our ecosystem, but more specifically I am trying to attract as many blue-banded bees as I can,” Mrs D’Andrea said.
“I plant lots of blue and purple varieties, but mostly salvias because the bees love them.”
Green and gold: To the naked eye, a fly looks ordinary and monotone in colour; under a macro lens, however, you can see its striking metallic colourings.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
She said Australia’s native blue-banded bees were her hands-down favourite bugs to photograph because they were fast, making them incredibly difficult to photograph and therefore all the more rewarding when she did manage to capture a clear picture of one.
“I love the joy that it brings, finding an insect as simple as a bee and then seeing it in a whole other way, or finding an insect that is generally more elusive or skittish,” Mrs D’Andrea said.
“Managing to get a good, close-up photo of them is so exciting.
Little wonder: Kelly D’Andrea has planted a garden in her backyard with varieties of plants to attract specific insects for photographing.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
“My family likes seeing the photos, too. I have noticed they are looking out for insects more, or calling me outside when they see something interesting.”
Mrs D’Andrea’s focus will have to shift somewhat heading into the colder months when many insects disappear, but with inspiration from her passionate Shepparton Camera Club friends, subjects shouldn’t be too difficult to find.
“Recently, I went into the forest and captured some fungi, which I really enjoyed, so I’m hoping to do a bit more of that in the future,” she said.
“I’d love to take some decent wildlife shots and possibly some astro photography, too.”
The eyes have it: Tiny hairs and mesh-like eyes, a fly is magnified larger than life under Kelly D’Andrea’s macro lens.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
Mrs D’Andrea’s images have won a couple of local Facebook photography competitions, a best image award in one of the local camera club competitions and a top-10 placing in Camera House’s weekly competition.
Hang on tight: Kelly D’Andrea has planted specific plant varieties to attract bees to her garden in order to photograph them with her macro lens, but says it is also because she knows how important bees are to our ecosystem.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
Despite her flair for the craft and the accolades her photos have received in such a short journey, Mrs D’Andrea has no plans to turn the hobby into a career.
“It is purely a hobby, as I have so much fun with it,” she said.
Delicate: A macro lens picks up fine details on small creatures, uncovering a tiny world we don’t often see magnified.
Photo by
Kelly D'Andrea
“I feel like in some ways it has changed my life, I find so much joy in just looking for insects and then discovering one or even just sitting back and observing them without a camera and realising there is a whole tiny world living under our noses that we don’t even think about.”
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