Welcome to the second issue of Photo Journey. In this issue we are going to have a look at macro photography.


Macro photography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Macro photography refers to close-up photography; the classical definition that the image projected on the "film plane" (i.e film or a digital sensor)is the same size as the subject. On 35 mm film (for example), the lens must have the abilityto focus on an area at least as small as 24×36 mm, as this is the size of the image on the film. This is known as "life-size magnification" or simply 1:1.




In recent years, the term macro has been used in marketing material to mean being able to focus on a subject close enough so that when a regular 4×6 inch (102×152 mm) print is made, the image is life-size or larger. This requires a magnification ratio of only approximately 1:4, more easily attainable by lens makers.


Equipment



There are several kinds of equipment for making the image the required size. These include

* Using a special-purpose lens called a macro lens (some manufacturers call it a micro), having a long barrel for close focusing. A macro lens might be optimized to provide its best performance at a magnification of 1:1. Some macro lenses, like the Canon MP-E 65 mm f/2.8, can achieve even better magnification— up to 5:1 macro, bringing the structure of small insect eyes, snowflakes, and other minuscule but detailed objects into striking focus. However, it is more common for a photographer to use a "standard" ( 1:1 ) macro lens, like the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

* Placing an extension tube between the camera body and the lens. The tube has no glass in it; its sole purpose is to move the lens farther from the film or digital sensor. The farther the lens is from the film or sensor, the closer the focusing distance (and the greater the magnification) and the darker the image. Tubes of various lengths can be stacked together, allowing for increasing levels of magnification while simultaneously decreasing working distance. With tubes attached, the camera will often lose the ability to focus to infinity.



* Using a bellows attachment between the camera body and the lens to extend the lens to film plane distance. Similar to an extension tube, but adjustable.

* Placing an auxiliary close-up lens in front of the camera's taking lens. Inexpensive screw-in or slip-on attachments provide close focusing at very low cost. The quality is variable, with some two-element versions being excellent. This method works with cameras that have built-in lenses. These lenses add diopters to the optical power of the lens, decreasing the minimum focusing distance, and allowing the camera to get closer to the subject.

* Attaching a telephoto extender between the camera body and the lens. A 1.4× or 2× teleconverter gives a larger image, adding macro capabilities. As with an extension tube, less light will reach the film or sensor, and a longer exposure time will be needed. However, working distance remains the same as without the teleconverter.



* Using a smaller film or sensor. Placing a rollfilm adaptor on a 4×5 view camera can give a macro image. Likewise, using a digital camera with a cropped sensor will yield the appearance of more magnification. Enlarging a small portion of a 35 mm negative or slide also results in a larger image. Photographers might debate whether this is true macro photography, but semantics aside, it can result in a frame-filling photograph that is as large as the original subject.

* Reversing the lens using a "reversing ring". This special adapter attaches to the filter thread on the front of a lens and makes it possible to attach the lens in reverse. Excellent quality results up to 4x lifesize magnification using fairly cheap, "standard" (not specially designed for macro) lenses can be produced. For cameras with all-electronic communications between the lens and the camera body, such as Canon EOS, reversing rings are available which allow all camera functions, including open aperture metering, to be used. When used with extension tubes or bellows a relatively cheap but highly versatile macro system can be assembled.

* Reversing a lens of lesser focal length in front of a normally mounted lens using a very inexpensive "macro coupler," which uses two male filter threads to join lenses. This method allows most cameras to maintain the full function of electronic communication with the normally mounted lens for features such as open-aperture metering. Magnification ratio is calculated by dividing the focal length of the normally mounted lens by the focal length of the reversed lens (i.e., when a 50 mm lens is reverse mounted on a 200 mm lens a 4:1 magnification ratio is achieved). The use of automatic focus is not recommended due to the extra weight of the reverse-mounted lens. Attempted use of automatic focus with this technique could result in damage to the camera or lens. Working distance is significantly reduced as compared to the original lens.




Depth of field

Depth of field is an important consideration in macro photography. This makes it essential to focus critically on the most important part of the subject. Parts of the subject that are even a millimeter closer or farther might be noticeably blurry. Due to this, the use of a microscope stage is highly recommended for precise focus with large magnification such as photographing skin cells.

Lighting can be difficult. Some cameras can focus on subjects so close that they touch the front piece of glass in the lens. It's impossible to place a light between the camera and a subject that close, making this extreme close-up photography impractical. A normal-focal-length lens (50 mm on a 35 mm camera) can focus so close that lighting remains difficult. To get more distance between the camera and the subject, photographers use telephoto macro lenses. Focal lengths from about 100 to 200 mm are popular. This permits lighting.

Ring flashes, with flash tubes arranged in a circle around the front of the lens, can be helpful in lighting at close distances. More recently, ring lights have emerged, using white LEDs to provide a continuous light source for macro photography.






There are 106,443 results for macro on DeviantART. There are many many more that are not labeled macro that don't come up when you use search. If you are dedicated enough you could find so many more examples of macro.


Deviant art just released a new category! [link]

Can't wait to see what gets submitted in the next few days. Please try to remember to correctly categorize your art.




A few groups here deal specifically in Macro.

*macrophoto

=TasteOfLiquid

=h2o-macro

These are the only ones I know of right now. If there are more note me and I'll add them.




Some past articles on macro..

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Some excellent links to check out if you want to learn macro. They all offer different perspectives on macro. Some explain the lighting and DOF so you can better understand how to do a superb macro shot.

[link] [link] [link]
[link] [link] [link]
[link] [link] [link]
[link] [link] [link]


Tutorials










Some links to specific techniques.

Using and making a lightbox
[link]

Lighting for a macro shot
[link]

Bug macro. Who knew they were so hairy?
[link]

Making reflective water drops
[link]

Detail and in depth explanation of macro photography
[link]

A gallery of macro shots
[link] pics

Excellent source of tutorials and links for all aspects of photography!
[link]





Thanks for checking out this issue. I hope you have enjoyed the features and learned something along the way. Pass it around and fave it!

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Until next week....






** I'd like to thankall of those who allowed me to use their photos and tutorials **