The colour of money

One of my bad habits is that after every trip, I hang on to all my leftover currency. Sometimes I can justify that (I make frequent enough trips that I'll always get the chance to use US dollars), but in some cases it's plain daft. For example, I still have Icelandic krona from my one trip there in 1999! I sometimes wonder whether, subconsciously, I'm hoping that if I hang on to them, it somehow increases the chance I'll get to go back to these places again.

(I have two billfolds full, and I just counted and they contain 24 currencies! And that's not counting all the pre-Euro ones I never got around to using - a couple of years ago I gave all of them to a charity that had some way of exchanging them.)

Today I thought I'd try a real macro shot for the first time in a while. (Close up shots I've posted recently have usually been done the lazy way, with the macro setting on my 70-300mm zoom.) I was struggling for inspiration for a good subject, then I had an idea: currency!

To me, the fascination of a macro shot comes from the way it makes you see something quite differently from how it appears to the naked eye. This is a detail from a 1000 yen note. I've never looked at one this close up before, so I've never noticed how the overall impression of its colour is actually built up from all these different shades; the hypnotic interweaving of the many patterns; the tiny "1000s" running through it; and how the black ink, with its own distinctive texture, stands proud of the surface of the paper.

This is so fascinating (to me! :), I could be about to embark on a 24-shot themed series!!

By sheer coincidence, while I was uploading this shot to the computer, I received a facebook friend request from a Japanese friend and former colleague I haven't seen for years! Tagawa-san, if you're reading this - I'll bring this note and put it towards the drinks next time I'm in town :)