Our Picture This! assignment this month was Macro World, and readers responded with a dazzling host of images that revealed a colorful, delightful, and often surprising look at a world most folks do not take the time to observe. Photography is a reminder of the moments we often pass by in the rush of daily events, and nowhere is that more evident than when viewing these looks at a close-up world. It also plugs us back into the amazing designs and forms that make up our world and keeps us aware of the divine hand that shapes the visual universe.

Praying Mantis

Leslie Crotty made this stunning portrait of a praying mantis with a Mamiya RZ Pro II camera and a 140mm macro lens with #1 and #2 extension tubes. Aperture setting was f/16 on ISO 100 color negative film. © 2009, Leslie Crotty, All Rights Reserved

Butterfly

Taken at The Butterfly Place in Westford, Massachusetts, Yusuf Abudi made this photo with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens with a Canon 500D close-up lens accessory. Exposure at ISO 1000 was f/6.3 at 1⁄250 sec. © 2009, Yusuf Abudi, All Rights Reserved

Christmas Tree Worms

This underwater shot by Jim Kendall was made with a Nikon D200 inside an Ikelite housing with two Inon Z-240 strobes. Exposure was f/16 at 1⁄160 sec. © 2009, Jim Kendall, All Rights Reserved

Sunflower

Terry F. Sweatman photographed this blooming sunflower with accompanying ladybug with a Hasselblad 503CX and a Carl Zeiss 150mm Sonnar T* lens with a #5 Zeiss Proxar. Exposure on Kodak Ektachrome E100VS film was f/22 at 1⁄250 sec. © 2009, Terry F. Sweatman, All Rights Reserved

Macro Botanical

Ray Fielding’s photo is all about light and form delicately etched with a Nikon D200 and a Micro-Nikkor 60mm lens. Exposure at ISO 200 was f/16 at 5 seconds. © 2009, Ray Fielding, All Rights Reserved

Chameleon Eye

Using a Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Lite and a Canon EOS 40D with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 lens with an extension tube, David Dennis photographed a super close-up of a chameleon his son discovered with an exposure of f/4 at 1⁄60 sec. © 2009, David Dennis, All Rights Reserved

In The Heart Of A Flower

George R. Thomson made this graceful image with a Nikon D80 and a Tamron 90mm Macro lens with an exposure of f/5.6 at 1.3 seconds. © 2009, George R. Thomson, All Rights Reserved

Nestled Bee

Mohamedu F. Jones photographed this bee feasting on pollen with a Pentax K10D and an smc Pentax-DA 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited lens with an exposure of f/5.6 at 1⁄60 sec. © 2009, Mohamedu F. Jones, All Rights Reserved

Window Frost

Taken with the rising sun in the background, Mark Hopkins made this shot of the delicate patterns of window frost with a Canon PowerShot S1 IS camera on macro setting with an exposure of f/8 at 1⁄160 sec. © 2009, Mark Hopkins, All Rights Reserved

First Flower Of Spring

Jo Ingraham was pleasantly surprised to find this first flower of spring blooming in Indiana in early March. Exposure with a Nikon D80 and a Sigma 50mm Macro lens was f/8 at 1⁄320 sec. © 2009, Jo Ingraham, All Rights Reserved

Dragonfly

This amazing creature was photographed by Richard Narf with a Nikon D80 and a Sigma APO 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro lens. He used a Sigma 500 DG Super flash with a Sto-fen diffuser and an exposure of f/22 at 1⁄200 sec. © 2009, Richard Narf, All Rights Reserved

My Tubes #2

The hand of man also yields intricate design as evidenced in this photo by Peter G. Engeldrum. Exposure was f/8 at 13 seconds with an Olympus C-8080W. He wrote: “The long exposure is to expose the filament (red glow) inside the tube, (which) is approximately 13⁄4 inches high.” © 2009, Peter G. Engeldrum, All Rights Reserved

Dad’s Pocket Watch

Another look at the human touch came from Roger L. Bacon who photographed the workings of time with a Minolta Maxxum 9000 and a Quantaray 50mm f/2.8 Macro lens on Ektachrome 200 film. © 2009, Roger L. Bacon, All Rights Reserved

Emerging Forms

These small forms emerge from a field of red in this photo by Les Bailey made with a Nikon F100 and a Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 lens with extension tubes on Ektachrome E100SW film. © 2009, Les Bailey, All Rights Reserved

Standoff

Shot at 3x life-size, Frank Phillips caught this 1⁄4”-long nymph katydid and spider mite with a Canon EOS 10D and a Canon MP-E 65mm Macro lens lit with a Canon MT-24EX flash. Exposure was f/16 at 1⁄125 sec at ISO 200. © 2009, Frank Phillips, All Rights Reserved

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