beetle photo from cover of a 1970s Kodak book
Toronto. In the days of film photography large manufactures produced not only advertisements for their products but many booklets, books, brochures, pamphlets, etc showing how to do various photographs using a manufacturer’s products.
Kodak was no different. Their written materials were legion. This soft cover book (available in hard cover too) from 1977 offers good ideas for creating close-ups and macro shots on film. Originally it was released as two separate brochures/booklets. Techniques include ways to photograph insects and other small objects so the details may easily be seen.
For many years, minicam lenses offered focussing to 1 metre. To go closer, you were offered many accessories from the maker of the cameras or a third party who made and sold accessories. These included extension tubes, supplementary lens, bellows, framing devices, distance gauges etc. Some even included a mirror box to convert rangefinder cameras to SLRs for longer focus length lenses.
I have often enjoyed close-ups of blossoms and insects, etc. like the bug shown below.
close-up of a raspberry ‘bug’ I found in our garden in 2004
You may spot a copy of this book at one of our auctions, fairs, or sales to add to your collection – or offer you some new ideas if you are one of those ‘niche’ photographers preferring the look of film over digital.
