What is Reverse Lens Macro?

In simple terms, reverse lens macro is an experimental photo technique where attaching a wide-angle lens backwards onto your camera allows the lens to function as a macro lens. The wider the lens, the more microscopic you can go.

A few years back, I became really interested in macro photography. Unwilling to drop thousands of dollars for a single prime lens, I purchased a reverse lens adapter off of Amazon for about $15 CAD.

Reverse lens macro, like most experimental techniques I try out, is extremely tedious.

The depth of field is terrible, you need extremely bright light, and breathing will throw the entire image out of focus.

I can't explain the science behind it, but turning your lens around like this makes the focal distance unbelievably short. Depending on the focal length of my lens, I am typically anywhere between 1 - 3 inches away from the subject. Breathing is a big no-no, because your focal plane ceases to exist if you move more than half a centimeter away from your lens' ideal focal distance (no autofocus here).

And because you're so close to the subject, there is almost no room for light to actually make it to your camera's sensor. It's full, bright sun, or studio lights if you have them (I don't).

Oh right, you also have to manually hold the little tiny metal aperture lever on the lens open. Say goodbye to f2.8 and hello to ambiguity. This is both how you choose your depth of field, and how you manage your light levels. 

But for all the terrible things I can say about reverse lens macro photography, I'm absolutely in love with it. I have no idea how a shot will turn out until I take it, and even then it's kind of a toss-up. The little screen on the back of my camera can't display images in high enough detail for me to tell if the focus is truly there, so it's not until I've uploaded the images to my computer that I know whether they're amazing or a mess.

Maybe I'm not selling anyone on this technique, but it's perfect for the kind of process art I make. I never would have gotten these shots with a regular macro lens:

To give you a sense of scale, that first image in the top-left shows individual grains of pollen on a hibiscus flower. It's not something you can see with the naked eye.

Individual grains! Of pollen! They look like fish roe—I never would have known this!

Beautiful images aside, the first images I took with the adapter weren't pretty. They were taken solely to test the limits of the adapter, and nothing else. I think they're still really interesting to look at, and give a good sense of scale.

The below images were all taken with a 35mm lens (more magnification than a 50mm). Each image shows surface area equivalent to about half a dime.

All in all, I think it's worth giving the technique a shot. It's cheap and accessible, it just requires a lot of patience. 

And if you want to see more of my macro work, check out my professional photography site.