16-year-old Siddhant Sahu says that life is like ice cream, “enjoy it before it melts” he writes in his bio on 500px. For Siddhant, that means making the most of a 16-year-old student’s budget when it comes to feeding his passion for photography.
You see, Siddhant loves Macro photography: one of the genres notorious for being ultra-expensive to get into. Type the search “macro lens” into B&H Photo and you’ll be greeted by price tags that average around 600 or 700 dollars. But price is just an obstacle that you can overcome if you’re determined and resourceful enough.
And Siddhant is nothing if not resourceful.
The photo above—all the photos Siddhant takes actually—was captured using a reasonably-priced Nikon D5200 attached to the camera’s kit lens… backwards.
The technique is called Reverse Lensing, and it’s widely considered one of the cheapest ways to get up close and personal with your subjects without emptying your meager bank account.
You can buy cheap adapters that will attach the lens to your camera backwards, and all of a sudden, using nothing more than a super-cheap kit lens or nifty fifty, you’ve got yourself a macro setup!
Add an affordable speedlight, a trigger or two, and a way to soften that flash up a bit, and you’ve got Siddhant’s gear:
Using the exact setup above, the talented 16-year-old captures some really wonderful pictures that he says are taken mostly, “in my backyard and beautiful garden.”
Here’s a look at some of our favorite shots from his still-very-new profile:
No doubt in our minds, Siddhant is an up-and-comer you should keep an eye on. At 16 and with nearly no budget he’s taking photos like these… imagine what he’ll do after another year or two of developing his skill and gear bag?
To see more from Siddhant and follow along on his journey, check out his 500px account or go Like him on Facebook.
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