I can relate to the photography bug from an early time in life. I think I got my first camera when I was 9. The photos were pretty shite, but I had a blast. All the way up to today, photographing the train while waiting at the station. Not only fun, but allows us to stay focused and creative while doing just about anything. There is SO much of interest all around us daily.
That is an amazing photo, and lens. Allows for, as you say, intimate close ups, a marvelously muted and soft view, or at least that' what I call it, without giving the subject a monstrous probosci either. Or bugged eyes. (So many euphemisms(?) from the bug world in photography. Must be a reason. Maybe because there are so MANY bugs, we have a lifetime's worth from which to choose ).
Though the artist and their craft is the ultimate driver of the view in this realm, the use of nice equipment definitely helps. I shot with a Nikon D200 in my first toe-dipping into digital, after film, and once I wore it out, now shoot with a small Lumix, until I can afford more and better. And there surely IS a large difference, that's for sure. Overall image quality, and particularly speed and light gathering dynamics, and just the simple speed of the whole camera process. At times maddening. I had a small hissy trying to use it for my fireworks photos this year. Yikes. But we do what we gotta do in order to do. Thanks for sharing the inside view of your photo world.
Yes – so much around us at all times, if we're willing to pause long enough to notice. :)
I'm grateful for the tools that allow me to show the world how I see it – from the expensive yet delicious pro gear I've accumulated to the iphone and olloclip macro lenses in my pocket – I'm always at the ready.