Thank you, photography

It's Thanksgiving, and I'm sure we're all thanking everyone for how great they are, feeling thankful for our turkey (or tofurkey as the case may be) and all the other things that many of us are lucky to have in our lives. So along those lines, I'd like to thank photography for giving me passion, inspiration and a never-ending sense of wonder for this world in which we live. Photography helps us to explore everything around us and try to see it in new ways, and for that I will always be profoundly grateful.

With that, here is a series of pictures using a technique that I just learned (as in, today) Since I don't own a macro lens, I learned how to improvise and simulate one with the gear I have. Let me just say that it is no easy feat focusing with about 1mm of depth of field. Anyway, these photos are of pieces of the plants around my room and a bee that I found frozen on the sidewalk. The vignetting is caused by the nature of the setup I had to use. Also, of course I owe a huge thank you to all the people in my life who have taught me, helped me and kept me going throughout the years.