Having dabbled (quite extensively I might add) in the world of macro
photography for a few years now I have discovered (through trial and error and
also from talking to other photographers at a local camera club) a few tips and
tricks (6 to be precise) that has improved my macrophotography images, and I
thought I would share them to see if they are of any benefit to you.
1. Invest in
a macro lens
Whilst extension tubes, reversing rings and close up filters do allow
you to capture extreme close up photos of various subjects the image quality is
typically very poor or, at best, poor. Close up photos taken with these cheap
and cheerful “macro photography” (and I use that term lightly) products are
okay for personal use, posting as low resolution images to social media and the
like the image quality is not good enough for commercial use, or showcasing
your photography skills.
If you want to capture macro photos that are actually usable, and
macro photos you could potentially sell and generate an income with, you need
to invest in a specific macro lens. The long and short of it is – extension
tubes, reversing rings and close up filters are not suitable for
macrophotography and are a total waste of time and effort (in using them) and
also money (in buying them).
2. Use a
ring flash
There is always a loss of light when taking macro photos therefore
some kind of flash or sped light is essential. Speed lights are not suitable
for macro photography for a number of reasons, including:-
They are too powerful – even at the lowest setting. When used on camera they can’t properly illuminate the subject and
eradicate the shadow caused by the lens.
When used off camera they are fiddly and take a long time to set up. If you are serious about taking decent macro shots you need to invest
in a ring flash, and one that has TTL technology at that. A ring flash
eradicates all of the problems associated with speed lights and will result in
the best photos. There is no need to spend a fortune on a ring flash and I
would recommend staying away from the stupidly expensive Canon/Sigma/Nikon
units and buying a far more affordable Yongnuo ring flash instead.
3. Ditch the
tripod
If you are taking macro photos of insects, mini beasts and other
critters you will have more success and get a better hit rate if you ditch the
tripod. Tripods are cumbersome and will slow you down, and by the time you’re
all set up and good to go the subject would have scuttled away, crawled under a
rock or flown away. Rather than relying on a tripod it is best to practice your
hand holding technique and bumping the ISO to keep the shutter speeds up.
4. Focus
manually
The auto focus on modern day lenses is very good, however it does tend
to hunt around when light is restricted or the subjects constantly moves, and
both of these are very common when taking macro photos.
The best way to combat this is to use manual focus. Learning to focus
manually, and learning to do it quickly, takes time, effort and practice but it
is a skill that is well worth working on. If you want to capture the best macro
photos I suggest you learn to focus manually and then put it in to practice.
5. Don’t use
wide apertures
Depth of field is very narrow when taking macro and close up photos
and getting acceptable sharpness isn’t easy. Even though macro lenses have a
wide aperture of f2.8 you should never shoot at such a wide aperture when
taking macro and close up photos. Shooting wide is going to end up in blurry
macro photos that look an absolute mess.
When taking macro photos you need to shoot at apertures of f8 – f16,
which is typically in the lenses “sweet spot”. I wouldn’t never recommend
shooting narrower than f16 because diffraction starts to become an issue and
getting sharp shots is a difficult because the shutter speeds are going to be
pretty slow at narrow apertures in the reduced light.
6. Keep the
shutter speeds up
When taking macro and close up shots of moving subjects, such as
insects, mini beasts and other critters, it is important to keep the shutter
speed up, and there are two reasons for this. The first is to avoid camera
shake (in the absence of using a tripod) and the second is to freeze the action
and ensure subject movement doesn’t lead to a blurry photo.
In order to keep the shutter speeds you have to be happy pushing the
ISO, which on modern day dslr cameras is not such an issue. Modern day dslr
cameras are very good at dealing with digital noise and can shoot at pretty
high ISOs without being too badly affected by noise/grain. You need to know
your camera’s limitations and know how far you can push the ISO before noise
becomes an issue, and the only way to do this is to do some tests before you go
out shooting macro photos.
So there we have it, 6 quick and easy tips that will help you improve
your macro shots in 2017.
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