Mike Moats - Pro Macro Photography

06/05/2026

06/05/2026

Get ready to bloom into a stunning flower photographer!
Join our exclusive online Flower Photography Club and learn from the masters!
• Expert guidance on capturing breathtaking images
• Connect with fellow photography enthusiasts
Ready to grow your skills? Click here: https://www.mikemoats.com/flower-photo-club

06/05/2026

One of the benefits of being a macro photographer.

You don’t have to travel far as macro subjects are everywhere. You can find it at the local parks, in your own yard, and even shoot inside your home. I have four great parks within twenty minutes of my home, and probably seventy percent of my best images are photographed in those parks. I also have a few of my best-selling images that were shot in my backyard.

Most people have flower gardens in their yard, so they can walk outside their home and shoot. This close convenience saves on the high cost of fuel and wear and tear on our vehicles and saves on time as we can shoot when we just have an hour or two available.
In the winter here in Michigan, I do most of my shooting indoors, so I buy flower from the local florist, go online to websites that sell feathers, mounted butterflies, seashells, slab agates, etc, which all can be arranged into artistic compositions.

06/01/2026

In the year 2001 I decided to purchase some camera equipment and go out into nature and have some fun.

It was November when I receive my used Nikon N80 film camera along with a tripod, some lenses all bought used from eBay.

It was a Saturday morning before daybreak when I drove out to a local park to capture my first images with my camera gear.

I got there before the sun came over the horizon as my thought was to shoot the sunrise.

I had no idea what I was doing but guess I would figure it out as I go.

As I got out of my car in the parking lot I looked to the east and saw this tree with these amazing layers of colors behind the tree.
The colors were produced by a storm that was coming in from the west threatening to rain on my first outing with my camera.

I set up my tripod and camera and clicked a couple frames. Have no idea what my setting were on that shot, but got lucky.

When I got the slides back from the processing, I was amazed at what I had capture with the very first click of my shutter.

Little did I know on that day that within a few years I would start a successful photography business that has lasted for 21 years.

Here is my very first image in 2001.

Feel free to share if you like this post.

05/30/2026

What is a color wheel

A circle shape that is divided equally in to 12 sections, with each section displaying a different color according to its pigment value. As all colors are created from the three primary colors (red, Yellow, and blue), the primary colors are shown forming a triangle within the color wheel. The color wheel shows the relationship between the primary colors, secondary colors, and complementary colors.
I’ve heard photographers say you should get a color wheel and understand the relationship between the primary colors and the secondary, and complementary colors.

The color wheel is designed for decorators to coordinate colors as they are putting together fabrics, paints, wall papers, etc. and make sure all the colors work together.

I don’t see how the color wheel has much value for a nature photographer because we don’t get to choose the colors that are in our subjects, the subject colors are already determined and we shoot what is there. If it’s a great subject, I’m going to shoot it regardless if the colors work on a color wheel, so again not sure why photographers talk about the need to learn the colors of a color wheel, because we have no control over the subject's color. Unless you want to change it in photoshop.

05/27/2026

Macro Abstract - What is it? Take a guess. I'll reveal this evening. I just posted the answer in the comments.

05/27/2026

Registration for membership in my new online Flower Photography Club is now open. Learn from the master flower photographers. Here is a link to the information about the club and to register. https://www.mikemoats.com/flower-photo-club

05/23/2026

A few years ago, I did a interview for "The Candid Frame" and the interviewer Ibarionex Perello had made a statement that I found very interesting, and at the same time it was a compliment about my macro work that I was honored by.

Ibarionex Perello said,

“Whenever I have viewed macro photography, it always looks like the photographer is just documenting their subjects, and when I view your work, it has an artistic look rather than a documented look”

I have always felt this same feeling when viewing photographer’s work but never could put in words what I was seeing, until Ibarionex made it clear.

Most macro photographers are documenting subjects.

Documenting subjects is what you see in textbooks when learning about a subject, whether it was flowers, plant life, birds, critters, etc. Textbook images are not to be artistic, but just to let the viewer know what the subject looks like along with the environment it lives in.

I think most macro photographers are trying to create artistic images when they shoot their subjects, and they may not have thought of the fact that they may be documenting rather than create art.