Macro Photography Gallery - The Changes


The Macro Gallery has now its own Gallery Director, me, who will take care of this tiny and delicate gallery. Why did this gallery get it’s own GD ? Because it needs some love and some more attention and also a major clean-up.

What is new in the Macro Gallery ?

The Macro gallery will only be for real macro from now on. It did get a new description and hopefully anyone who submits there and who isn’t sure what macro is or if his/ her image belongs there, will read it .

The definition of macro is capturing an image of a subject the same size or larger than life size on the recording media, whether that be film or digital sensor size. For example if you photograph an insect that is 2 cm (3/4 inch) long, it's image will be 2 cm (3/4 inch)long on the film or digital sensor. The smaller the recording media the smaller the subject must be. Cropping an image does not make a close-up image a macro image.

* Nature : Example for Nature : a Rose bud could be put in the Macro gallery but a Rose Bush belongs in Animals/Plants/Nature -> Flowers/Plants gallery. Macro shots of water drops belong in macro > nature too, because water is an element and part of Nature.

* Human: Example for Human: A picture of one human eye could be put in Macro, but a close up of a face belongs in the People / Portrait gallery under Body Landscapes.

* Objects : Example for Objects : an image of a keyhole in a door could be in macro but a zoom in on a door as part of a building should go in Architecture. Close-ups of figurines or dolls are usually not macro and therefore belong in the Still Life gallery.

Minor change for the People/ portrait Gallery :

Since we have eliminated Close-ups from the Macro gallery we have made a new sub-category for close-ups of Body parts. From now on you can submit close-ups of people ( e.g. Close-ups that show both eyes of a person) under People/Portraits -> Body Landscapes.


Body landscapes are photographs of parts of the human body, this also includes close-ups of body parts. For example photographs of folded hands, close up of a face or a the human body from the neck to the knees. Body landscapes primarily focus on skin tones, muscle and body contours using well positioned lighting to enhance the detail turning the human form into abstract landscapes. Please only upload tasteful photos, anything considered pornographic or vulgar will be removed.

I tried to keep it as simple as possible but I would really like to add something about Macro photography here in the news.

What is Macro Photography and what do I need to take a Macro Photo ?


Real macro photography is where you are working around 1:1 ratio and closer thereby giving an image on film that is equal in size or larger than the subject being photographed. The range from life size on film (1:1) up to ten times (10:1 , or even bigger) enlargement on film is be the strict definition of macro photography.

Most lenses are not capable of getting you a clear macro shot because they are not able to get close enough to the subject. Zoom lenses ( on point and shoot cameras) are usually equipped with a “macro” setting where they may get close enough to get a 1:4 ratio ( that means the image on film is 1/4 the size of the subject) If your shot is crisp and clear you might be able to crop the subject , but I have to point out that when shooting at anything less than 1:1 ratio we are no longer talking macro.

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

* Using 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 can achieve even better magnification— e.g. 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. There are different categories of macro lenses, depending on the focal length:
o 50–60mm range typically used for product photography and small objects
o 90–105mm range the standard focal range used for insects, flowers, small objects
o 150–200mm range gives more working distance — typically used for insects and small animals

* 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, without reducing the minimum focussing distance. 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.

* 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 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). Working distance is significantly reduced as compared to the original lens.

You need to understand that in macro photography as the lens gets closer to the subject and the image gets larger on the film/ censor, the light that reaches the film / censor gets reduced. The depth of field gets very shallow and to avoid this, a very small apertures is needed which lessens the light to the film even more. This means hand held exposures are usually difficulty because of the longer exposure that is needed. A tripod and flash (or other light sources to get a better illumination) are highly recommended in most situations where you use macro photography.



See where I am heading to ? The macro community here on dA and elsewhere is a rather small but very dedicated community and they know their equipment and tools. You can’t blame them when they get upset over buildings, cars, dolls etc in the macro gallery,especially if the images are not macro and also out of focus.
And now you cannot blame me if I go dig through the macro gallery and move everything that doesn’t meet macro standards. The images that do not qualify will get moved to another gallery or to scraps ( then you can decide where you want to relocate your image, but do me the favor and don’t miscat it again). There is plenty of work for me to do and if anyone wants to do me a favor do the following :

If you see a miscat in the Macro Gallery, hit the “Report Violation” button under the deviation and report the miscat. You do not need to write a text but if you do its appreciated. In case you find a dA member who has multiple macro miscats in his/ her gallery, report only one miscat and write a short “ member has more than one macro miscat” in the description. You do not need to report all, one is enough but include the text.

Please do not contact the person who did miscat the image or leave any rude comments under the picture, no need to upset them. I know some people do not care where they submit, but there are those who just don’t understand the galleries or have no idea where to find the gallery description.


Also keep in mind, some people prefer to have their macro photos in other galleries, e.g. there is awesome macro photography under Animal/Plants/Nature -> Flowers & Plants, this doesn't mean its a miscat. It is up to the deviant if he wants his/her macro shot in macro or in another appropriate gallery.

And while you are browsing the wonderful world of macro and find an extraordinary piece that you feel needs a DD, don’t hesitate to send me a suggestion ( DD guidelines are in my journal).

am very proud to serve the macro community as a Gallery Director and I hope I can satisfy their needs and make their small but dedicated gallery a place full of beautiful macro images.

Wish me luck and thank you guys !

Now I leave you with some awesome macro photography , enjoy.

^hellfirediva