The Holidays: Through a Macro Lens

Confession: while you have been hanging stockings and stirring fudge, I have been wandering around the house on a picture-taking rampage. You see, I got a new lens. I had to show you.

I know, I know, it’s really geeky, but I can’t help myself. I just took about 50 pictures of the plants on our sill, and then I started in on the teapot – approaching it from every angle. It’s amazing how a nice lens can make even a wanged up teapot look mystical.

I keep telling myself: you’re a writer. All you’ve ever needed was a pencil. You’ve never salivated over a gadget before. But then, I got blog envy. I started peering into the lives of people like Bea over at La Tartine Gourmande and Cenk at Cafe Fernando, and my voyeuristic side started speaking up and begging for things… like DSLR cameras and table-top tripods.

Then my cranky Hemingway-esque side said, You don’t need a bunch of gear. I thought you liked typewriters. And my Sensible side said, If you want a new camera, you better save your schekels, sister.

And so I saved. The change jar on our radiator had to overflow a few times before I could really splurge. But I’m glad I did.

I’m lucky that I have a few friends who are super bloggers – they invited me over for a camera potluck several weeks ago. They brought the gear, and I supplied the cheese. Then we sat around snapping photos for about two hours.

When I left, I knew I was going to need some Canon magic. A new DSLR and 60 millimeter macro lens. And so this is my Christmas: it’s going to be very close-up and very clear.

I can’t wait to show you how good cheese can look. For now, you'll just have to stare at cookies. Thanks for indulging me. And many smooches to Messy & Picky and Foodinjars for letting me handle their cameras with my cheesy fingers.