Micael Widell Newsletter #57
Captain's log
January was great! Had lots of fun with photography, and made 7 videos with pretty varying topics:
- Almost lost my finger – iPhone 15 Night Photography
- The Best COMPLETE Insect Macro Photography Kit under $1000
- 10 Key Differences between Fuji X100V and Ricoh GR III/IIIx
- AstrHori 25mm Macro Lens – Smaller, Better AND Cheaper than Laowa 25mm? – Part 1 of 2
- Raindrop Macro Photography with OM-1, Olympus 90mm and Globe Diffuser
- AstrHori 25mm Macro Lens – Did they fix it? – Part 2 of 2
- Do You Make or Take a Photo?
Square
Ever since I started with photography I have always been drawn to the 1:1 aspect ratio. I cannot explain why, but there is something beautiful in the square to me. Maybe it is nostalgia over older cameras like the Hasselblad? The photos from the moon landing in 1969? Or perhaps I was inspired by one of my favorite movies, Grand Budapest Hotel, which is not shot in 1:1 but pretty close to it.
Either way, this month I decided to dive a bit deeper into this, and started shooting only square photos. And when I took that step, I felt like I can just as well start making square videos, to make them fit with the photos. Watch my first two square videos here and here. Part of the inspiration was also when I stumbled across this tiktok account, and discovered that square video can look really beautiful.
I received many positive comments about my recent square videos, and I am really happy with them myself, so I am going to continue exploring this going forward. It feels refreshing to change things up a bit now and then!
Italy trip
I made a short trip to Bergamo, Italy for a couple of days. I try to get away like this a few times per year, just to be completely by myself, and to think and reflect.
A secondary purpose of this trip was also to see if Bergamo is a good spot for macro photography, a place to go to in march and april, when insect season hasn't yet started in Sweden. And it certainly is. Another great thing with Bergamo, is that Ryanair flies there very cheaply (almost for free!) and quickly from Stockholm where I live.
I think it is very valuable for inspiration and creativity to change environment from time to time. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut at home, and going away to a new place can break that rut.
Goodbye for now
Thank you for reading this far, and see you in a month! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter in the meantime. If you like my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon. And lastly, feel free to tell your friends about this newsletter, and to reply to it if you have feedback or comments :)
/Micael