It's been long time with macro photography . Though i am not good at macro photography but things are clear for me in some cases . At first you really need to know which is Close up photography and which is macro photography . Firstly "Macro" means enlargement....Commonly magnifying something which is difficult to see in details .
In macro photography you don't have think about those typical "Compositions" . It's all about how you can show the detail of a subject and how can you represent it to the viewers . It doesn’t matter how close we get, if our subject appears less than life-size (1:1) in our sensor the resulting image will not be a macro photograph. It can be called a close up photograph. As most of us are practising with reverse macro , so i am sharing my views about it . So let's see which one is macro and which one is close up photo :
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First step : Preparing a revers lens :
First you will need a DSLR or any compact camera . It'll be better if you have a dslr . Choose any lens . It may be your kit lens or a prime lens . Prime lens is better for making reverse lens as it bring more light to the subject . You can buy a reverse ring for your lens or can make your own . Check this article for making a reverse mount yourself : http://diyphotography.net/diy_reverse_macro_ring .
Second step : Using external flash or popup flash :
The most important thing for macro is light . You can use your pop up flash as your light source . Make a diffuser for the flash for a soft accurate light on the subject .
Or you can use tissue paper for making diffuser . Just wrap up the pop up flash with white tissue paper and change the layer when you need different level of lights .
Important tricks :
The term life-size refers to the size of the subject itself that we are photographing and that must appear exactly the same size in our sensor or film too. It is also referred to 1:1 magnification where the first 1 is the length of the subject and the second 1 is the length of a film or sensor .
In macro photography you don't have think about those typical "Compositions" . It's all about how you can show the detail of a subject and how can you represent it to the viewers . It doesn’t matter how close we get, if our subject appears less than life-size (1:1) in our sensor the resulting image will not be a macro photograph. It can be called a close up photograph. As most of us are practising with reverse macro , so i am sharing my views about it . So let's see which one is macro and which one is close up photo :
1.
2.
First step : Preparing a revers lens :
First you will need a DSLR or any compact camera . It'll be better if you have a dslr . Choose any lens . It may be your kit lens or a prime lens . Prime lens is better for making reverse lens as it bring more light to the subject . You can buy a reverse ring for your lens or can make your own . Check this article for making a reverse mount yourself : http://diyphotography.net/diy_reverse_macro_ring .
Second step : Using external flash or popup flash :
The most important thing for macro is light . You can use your pop up flash as your light source . Make a diffuser for the flash for a soft accurate light on the subject .
Important tricks :
Try to capture photos with apperture higher then f/11-13 . It will create a huge impact on your dof . As you have to control the focus manually , You may use your live view for exact focusing . Try to maintain a shutter speed above 1/80 or 1/100 for a sharp image . Try to use short focal length for a huge magnification .
When you get more closer to the subject , the dof will gradually decrease . Try to use short focal length for a huge magnification . But in that case you will loose the dof .
Narrow apperture :
wide apperture :
Some things which you have to keep in mind :
- Never kill any insect while taking photos .
- Always keep a box or something like that to collect different type of subject or insects .
- Always take your gears with yourself for macro .
Watch the video of the best macro photographer of the world "Thomas Shahan " . The most interesting thing is that, he use a reverse 28 mm prime with his pentax dslr .
Check out some other brilliant macro photographers :
1. Thomas Shahan .
2. Raiyan Ahmed ( My mentor on macro photography :) )
3. Gustavo Mazzarollo .
