Macro Photography – Top Tips and Techniques

Apart from landscape photography I also have a passion for macro photography also. It is this kind of a varied topic and covers this kind of a wide range of topics that there will be one thing that will appeal to each and every photographer out there. The great thing about this topic is that it can be practised effortlessly indoors at home so you are not always relying on the climate as you are with landscape photography. I want to share with you some of the ideas I have realized through practice and trial and error so that you can keep away from some frustration and making the identical errors I did. I will very first briefly cover tools and then emphasis (excuse the pun!) on the different tactics that I use. Gear Shut up lenses – This is by far the most affordable alternative but also delivers the poorest optical quality. If you are uncertain about whether you will do macro photography on a standard basis then this is a great way of locating out. These lenses are usually extremely inexpensive at around £20.00 or $thirty.00 and typically come in sets of 3. They merely screw onto the finish of your lens like typical filters do and are like putting a magnifying glass in front of the lens. Extension tubes – A bit more costly for generic ones and a whole lot far more pricey for branded ones, and in some cases they can expense as a lot as a mid selection lens! These are basically tubes that sit in between the camera entire body and the lens growing the minimum focusing distance of your lens. Once more these also normally come in sets of 3 to allow you to pick the sum of magnification you are acquiring. The electrical contacts might also be current to enable the autofocus on your lens to even now operate, but in the vast majority of instances autofocus has a actually challenging time with macro topics so guide focusing is the favored option. There are two main positive aspects with extension tubes above near up lenses: 1. Optical high quality is solely down to the lens you are utilizing given that there are no lenses or glass in the extension tube. two. Enormous magnification can be attained, even a lot more so than with a committed macro lens. Dedicated Macro Lens – If you are significant about your macro photography then this is the way to go. A great devoted macro lens should give at least a 1:1 ratio meaning that objects will seem daily life size on the sensor, will focus down to only a number of centimeters and offer you exceptional optical good quality and quick apertures notably if it is a prime (fixed focal length) lens. Of course committed macro lenses are not only just for macro photography, they also make outstanding portrait lenses and good quick assortment telephoto lenses on the longer focal length ones. Remote release – For all the over strategies I would very recommend that you invest in some type of remote release, either cable or wireless. With the large magnifications your are shooting at pressing the shutter release button can be adequate to introduce camera shake and ruin the shot. A cable release can be bought for only a couple of lbs or dollars so there is truly no excuse for not obtaining 1! Focusing Due to the tiny distances involved and really narrow depth of discipline I would only suggest that you only ever use manual focusing. Autofocus can work to a degree but you will only get annoyed as the autofocus locks, unlocks, hunts, locks, unlocks, hunts…… you get the thought! Also due to the incredibly narrow depth of field at brief distances the autofocus might seem like it has locked the place you want it. It is not until you look at the picture on your laptop that you see that it truly locked slightly in front or behind the place you wanted it! If you are shooting outdoors and it is not too windy then I would recommend using a tripod and enabling dwell see on your camera. Live see is a true godsend for macro. It can be difficult to inform by way of the view finder alone if you are properly centered, so I generally enable reside view then zoom in, then readjust the target. It is amazing how a lot of times you think you have the focus spot on till you enable dwell view and zoom in only to see it is off somewhat! I would also suggest that you use mirror lockup to minimise any vibrations from the mirror swinging up out the way when you are in fact taking the shot. If you are shooting indoors and you are making use of a Canon camera then I hugely recommend you make use of the utility remote handle application that comes with it. This enables you to use the Pc or Mac display as reside see with genuine time aperture preview, zoom and shooting! An superb instrument for the macro or still existence photographer! Other camera companies also offer this function so check out yours for details. In situations where a tripod and/or dwell see is not suitable such as outside in much less than calm conditions and where you require to use greater shutter speeds, you can use the rocking strategy for focusing. This is accomplished by roughly setting the target manually then you rock backwards and forwards gently while looking via the see finder right up until you believe you have sharp focus. A great tip here is to place your camera in to large speed shooting mode then fire off a number of frames as you move backwards and forwards. A sort of rough a prepared focus bracketing! I use this approach frequently and it assures you get at least a single sharp picture from each and every burst of shots. Depth of Area The sum of depth of area available to you at shut focusing distances is very restricted compared to what you have with other kinds of photography. At quickly apertures of f2.eight you may possibly only have a couple of millimeters and even at f16 this might only extend to a centimeter or two dependent on how close you are and the level of magnification utilised. A word of warning here, do not be tempted to use apertures above f16 to extend the depth of area. Diffraction of light at modest apertures even now applies to macro photography as it does to landscape photography. Picture sharpness in macro photos is of upmost value, some say even much more so that in landscape photos so it is not well worth compromising your images in this way. Filters When it comes to filters for macro photography, apart from a skylight or UV filter which I preserve on all my lenses all the time for safety, the only filter I use regularly is a polarising filter. As in landscape photography these will deepen and saturate colours notably if you shoot outdoors on sunny says. They will also take away reflections from non-metallic surfaces so if you are shooting moist or dew covered objects or water droplets and you want to hold the reflections in these then do not use the polariser! You also need to keep in mind that using the polariser will also reduce your shutter pace by one particular or two stops so make sure its use is not producing your shutter speed as well low if you are shooting handheld. One particular last point – a polarising filter is the only filter that can not be simulated in Photoshop!