If you have a digital camera, you will probably have a macro setting. If you read the manual, you will discover that this is for taking close-up pictures. Take a look through my pictures on Flickr and you will see that I do that a lot, particularly in locations like RHS Gardens where there is a wealth of plant and insect life that is full of fascinating detail.

Recently, I have discovered that while the macro setting does indeed allow very good close-up shots, it can also be used for subjects further away. It alters the way the camera captures light and is as close as I can get to fitting a different lens to my compact camera (Fuji Finepix 1400Z).

I discovered this by accident a couple of months ago when trying to take close up pictures of a cat in our garden. It jumped, I snapped and, when I looked at the resulting image, I was very happy with the result (even though I missed the cat entirely!).

Since then, I have made further, deliberate use of this concept and have started a new set of pictures on Flickr (called Macro Abuse) to showcase some of my favourites.

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