[DavidUK]

Up until now I've been mostly a landscape photographer, snapping away when I've been out for the day..but after a month or two of my night class Im thinking of branching out into other areas, and still life quite interests me.

By that Im thinking nice close up shots of posed objects, is this what still life is?

Do you need a macro lense for this sort of work?

[Joe T]

Real close up stuff really requires a macro lens. The alternative is a set of extension tubes with something like a 50mm 1.8.

For a true macro lens with a good working distance, check out the sigma 105mm macro. I have one and its great.

[SammyC]

You only need a macro lens if you want to get very close to an object, say with inches of it. A macro lens is capable of focussing very close and can produce 1-1 images or even higher.

If its just some flowers on a table then no, but its the details of a coin then yes.