Part 6 – Macro Specifics

Here is the next instalment of my series of photography tutorials... If you like it please fav it!

Now, lots of people love a good macro, so I hope I don’t disappoint!

The equipment

1. Macro lens – The best thing to have for macro photography. It gives the best optical quality and allows a 1:1 reproduction ratio. The prime ones are the best to go for... However zoom ones are good too. A nice prime macro lens also makes for a good portrait lens too, so it does have more than one use.

2. Extension tubes – These are a cheaper alternative to a dedicated macro lens. They work well, and give good quality, but you need more light to use them, so a tripod is often needed.

3. Close up filters – You can get these in various strengths, each with a different magnification. They are technically the worst for image quality.

4. Lens babies – I don’t really know too much about these, so I won’t go into it in case I give you the wrong information... But they give you some different results from a normal lens and can be used in various types of photography.

Now if you’re using a compact camera, then put it in macro mode, or manually focus. Compact cameras can yield good results from close-up photography and if you’re new to photography I found macros are a good place to start. This is NOT because macro photography is easy, it’s just that your subject isn’t likely to be moving and you can take your time over composition, exposure and the rest...


What is macro and what’s not?

These are NOT macros:



These ARE macros:



You can still take a non-macro image with a macro lens... So it is a case of closeness to your subject and your reproduction ratio that makes a shot a macro.

You’ll get fantastic results shooting close-up or macro, but you still have to know which is which, as our poor GD’s don’t like it when you submit to the wrong category...




Macro

This is the specific section for shooting macro. Usually, your working distance is very small. At small distances, your DOF (Depth of Field) is really small. This means that for some shots you’ll need to stop down your lens quite a bit. As this will cut down the amount of light entering to your sensor, it is useful to use a tripod. You can use mirror lock-up and a remote release for ultimate stillness.

Your shot will have to be composed properly, and the focus point must be picked carefully as it will affect the outcome of where the viewer focuses on. Many artists use a water droplet to give a focus point to their image.

I often find that manually focusing for macros gives me the control I want.

Close-up

For close-up photography, keeping a shallow DOF is usual. This is because your working distance is further and therefore your DOF is larger. This often requires you to be at the most open aperture your lens can be.


Bokeh

This is essential to think about when capturing your image. You can either get smooth, creamy bokeh, or a rough bokeh with some detail still in it. So before you shoot, you have to bear in mind what you want, as it affects the whole look of the shot.

The most obvious and eye catching bokeh comes from water droplets or lights. Dew, or droplets with light behind them (combined with a shallow DOF) give that beautiful result.

Examples:




As this article shows, you can pretty much do what you want. To control your DOF, and get the results you want, you have to control your aperture. So Av mode is a good place to start for macros. I dunno if this is overly informative, but that's all I could think of. I've covered the other material in other sections (which can be found at the bottom of my journal.)