So I’m sitting here looking at a black widow on my porch and it’s a big fat fucker. I wanted to take a pic but I don’t want to get too close. Yet the image my camera picks up looks like I am trying to snap the pic from the opposite wall of the porch when I’m only about 2 feet from the spider. Why is that?
I assume you’re using a phone, and phone cameras are created to excel in the average situation. Photos of people, and photos of places people have been. So they use a 28mm(ish) lens because it’s nice and wide and fits everyone in the picture, and fits in the cool mountain range you visited last summer. It keeps most of the people happy most of the time.
Macro images aren’t needed most of the time. If you need a macro, you could use a camera with for example a Nikon AI-s 105mm f/2.5 lens, you’ll get insane macro shots of your giant spider with incredible amounts of detail. (like this)