I am getting ready to teach a short seminar in macro photography and so I thought I should try to photograph a few objects with my macro lens. This photo is a detail from the obverse side of a coin my aunt Betty owned. It is about the size of a silver dollar, though I don’t think that this coin was minted by the US government.

I’m not into numbers but in a moment of boredom (or curiosity) I started to count things on the US dollar bill several years ago and found that the number 13 seems to prevail. That’s true of this coin, too, which uses many of the same symbols that are on the dollar. There are thirteen stars above the eagle. There are thirteen stripes on the shield in front of him/her. There are thirteen feathers above the e pluribus unum banner. And there are thirteen letters in e pluribus unum.

Why 13? Well my pot smoking friends from the 70s would say that “m” is the 13th letter in the alphabet and that “m” really stands for marijuana. Thus, this silver coin (and the dollar bill) are subversive and subtle promotions of the use of pot. But you’d have to be high to think that. More likely, 13 is the number of original US colonies.

All of this from a macro photo of a silver coin. . . .

Canon 5DII 1/125s f/5.6 ISO250 100mm 2.8L

Several years ago I was asked to do a few portfolio photos for a woman named Jill, who had modeled in her teens and early twenties and who was interested in trying to get back into the market as an “older” model. I said, “Yes” but told her that I had never done anything like that. She had worked with many photographers and told me that she would help me get the poses she needed. Needless to say, I had fun.

The interesting thing about the job was that she told me that she wanted very little “photoshopping” done to her photos because a model portfolio should show potential customers what the “real” person looks like. Thus, I gave her what she wanted, though I did use a slight soft focus on this photo.

Canon 1dII (?) 1/400s f/8.0 ISO200 95mm

Yes, another pink tulip, misted by God with morning dew.

Or did the photographer use a spray bottle?

I took exactly one photo of this flower, in part because I had ventured into my neighbor’s back yard to look at her flowers. To get one photo, I had to step carefully into the middle of her garden and I felt awkward doing this – especially without her blessing. I need to go back.

As for the title, the inspiration was the Star Wars Death Star. Somehow, a cheery purple spherical flower seemed to be the antithesis of the menacing structure in the movie.

I’ve said before that a photographer can get you to look at things in new ways. Add a macro lens to the camera he/she is using and you really see things differently.

It’s hard to see a dandelion that’s gone to seed as anything but beautiful when seen close up. But in a day or two, it will spread hundreds of seeds on the wind in an attempt to take over the defenseless grass in my yard.

This is an HDR photo I took on San Juan Island in Washington state.

From left to right, top to bottom, you are looking at Danine, Lexi, Sara, Kendra, Kaila, McKenzie, Ashley, Holly and Kelly. The were all students in our Photo/Media program at Lake Area Technical Institute. And, if you’ll forgive me for saying it, they were my favorite nine graduates walking across the stage yesterday.

Click here if you want to see more from the Lake Area Technical Institute graduation ceremony.

Having marched in, the Lake Area Technical Institute class of 2012 wait for the ceremony to begin.

Canon 5DII 1/60s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm

I’m not sure if lust makes the list of mortal or deadly sins. And I’m not sure that having a profound desire for real whipped cream and fresh cherries piled on top of a freshly cooked waffle right now constitutes lust. I suppose I could look all of this up but I don’t want to know the answer.

This delicious breakfast was served in a small cafe in the beautiful city of Brugge, Belgium. Deb and I were there a few years ago and I found this photo as I was working on cleaning up old, unnecessary things on my computer. But Belgian waffles are necessary and so is the photo.

But, alas, my breakfast of oatmeal and skim milk is calling me. That’s what I have almost every morning when I am home. Fidelity, of course, is no sin. It is a virtue. . . .

Canon 5DII 1/200s f/2.5 ISO500 50mm (Canon 50mm 1.2L)