Thinking about macro or close up photography?

What would you need for this?  There are special macro and close up lenses, extension tubes and reverse lens that can be used for this type of photography.  Because macro and close up photography lends itself to shallow depths of field a tripod and manual focusing is recommended because you need the stability, precise focusing and sometimes a shutter speed that is slower than what you can hand hold in order for the image to be sharp.   Some photographers also use a macro flash when shooting this way as well as focus stacking; shooting multiple images that will be merged in editing for a greater depth of field.

You don’t need all of these things but I do recommend from having a tripod and a macro lens.  Will a macro lens limit you to just macro shots?  No, they can be used for regular photos as well.  I’ve used my Canon 100mm macro lens to take great portrait and urbex shots as well.  I didn’t bring my tripod with me or take multiple shots for stacking with this flower, instead I used the stone retaining wall in front of the flowers to steady myself to capture clear images.  Circumstances sometime dictate not being allowed to use a tripod and you have to use what you can.

When shooting macro and close up you can focus on just one part of your subject like the stamen of a flower and have it sharp letting the rest of the image blur or, as previously mentioned, you can use photo stacking if you want more depth of field in your image.  Another technique is to get as close as you can to your subject, take the shot and then later in editing crop it to show just the part you want to feature as I did.  My usual style when shooting macro is to draw your eye to a specific focal point which will be sharp leaving the rest of the image softly blurred.

Macro and close up may not be your kind of photography but I say give it a try.  There’s a whole new tiny world out there to explore and it’s beautiful.  Here is the full image of the flower with the reflective water drop that was featured  Wednesday.

 

Macro photography tips:

For flowers

For closeup and macro

Focus stacking

 

My lens:

Canon 100mm Macro full frame f/2.8