Introduction
I bought my first serious SLR in 2008 (Canon 450D) but never really had time to use it so it was set aside and gathered dust for a long time. In 2012 I wanted to take photos to use as references for painting.
I was particularly interested in macro subjects. Whilst the Canon 450D was great at the time I wanted something a bit more contemporary and faster.
I also wanted more megapixels so that I could have more scope for creative cropping.
The Nikon D7000 seemed ideal for this and seemed to tick all the right boxes. With some minor reluctance I sold some of my vintage hi-fi equipment and used the money to make the purchase.
I also saw some solid reviews for the then new Sigma 105mm/2.8 Macro lens which I duly purchased.
Most of these photos were taken with this combination of Sigma 105mm and Nikon D7000.
These pictures are all available on my Viewbug page.
Viewbug is a site for amateur photographers to share their work and win prizes. I have included links for each photo on Viewbug - if you click on them you can see any prizes or awards they won.
The Photos
Cream Crysanthemum Twotone
This was very much a standard macro shot of a flower. I used a mild cream split-tone in Lightroom to accentuate the creamy feel of the petals. I love the concentric circles that are created by the flower petals in this photo.
Orchid in Black and White No 1
This actually reminded me of a snake that is about to bite it's prey. The lower petals form a structure resembling a mandible with fangs. I should perhaps have used some compressed air to remove the tiny dust fragments on the surface of the lower petals. To the naked eye they looked pristine - this just shows how macro photography magnifies otherwise invisible details.
Orange Flower Macro
I loved the colours on this (and perhaps went a little extreme on the saturation). I was interested in creating an almost abstract geometric style of work from this macro. I love the little matchstick like structures radiating from the centre. I also love the hexagonal shapes at the centre of the flower which is the the bottom right corner in the shot.
The Hidden Landscape
I loved the way the petals here seemed to form a miniature landscape - hence the name. Apologies for the banding on this - this is due to compression. I didn't have access to my old archive to retrieve this in higher quality (it is filed away safely) but wanted to post this because it fits so well with the other photos.
Royal Red Hippeastrum Flower
I have posted this before. It is one of my favourite flower photos. I love the velvety texture of the petals. This was taken using an improvised soft box created with a sheet lighting the flower from behind. I think this is one of the pictures that has won multiple awards (not just on Viewbug).
Curves of a red tulip
Another attempt by me to create something different. I was going for an unconventional view and composition. A lot of people seemed to like it and it won a Viewbug award. The colours look rather artificial to me now.
The Narcissism of Narcissi
I was going for more of a watercolour look on these. As stated above I originally started taking a lot of these shots and purchased my first DSLR in order to take photos to use as painting references.
When I actually started taking photos and realised the near-infinite creative possibilities my focus switched to photography itself.
This was one of those shots that helped to bring me to that realisation.
White Flower, Warm Light
I forget what kind of flower this is. I found the petals on this intriguing because they looked like paper - indeed I had to touch it to confirm to myself that this was not some fantastic origami master's creation!
I experimented on using a mildly coloured light with this - it was slightly warm and this was achieved with an off-white cloth in front of the flash.
This also breaks the cardinal rule of not having your subject dead centre. Rules can be broken though for the right reasons.
You can see more of my work 
(Verification for me here: http://www.aapicture.com/about-me)