Macro or “Close Up” photography is an interesting process. It is also one that the point & shoot photographer usually has an advantage over the digital single lens reflex (DSLR) user. Most point & shoot cameras either have a built in macro mode or are designed so that they will focus within a couple of inches. A DSLR owner generally needs to purchase a macro lens. Even if your camera or lens does not do close focusing, there are a couple of alternatives that work with either system.
No matter what system you have, macro photography is an area worth exploring. A couple of useful links describing techniques are Macro Photography – Wikipedia, Bug Pictures by M. Plonsky, and Close Up Photography by Peter Bargh.
Hand held macro photography is possible, however the limited depth of field available when working close to your subject makes a tripod useful. The closer you plan to get the more necessary a steady camera platform becomes because the depth of field (the distance range between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in sharp focus) gets smaller at the subject moves closer to the lens. Along with the tripod, a remote shutter release is also useful. Although not necessary for all macro work, a flash system designed for close up photography is also useful.
As mentioned above, one of the difficulties that macro photography presents is the limited depth of field. At f:10 and about 8″ from this 1/4″ long bug sitting on an asparagus leaf, the depth of field is less than 1/2″ – the leaf spikes above & below it are out of focus.
The closer you are to your subject, the smaller the depth of field. You can stop down your lens (go to a smaller f stop such as f:22 or f:32) to increase your depth of field, but of course that cuts down the amount of light, forcing longer shutter speeds or higher ISO settings. A tripod will hold the camera steady, but if the wind is blowing your subject around or it is an insect, the long exposure may cause problems. These are always trade offs that the photographer needs to consider. One solution is to increase you light levels. Either work on bright, sunny days (you can add simple reflectors made of white matt board and/or diffusers made from thin foam packing material to eliminate harsh shadows). If you are shooting under poor lighting conditions, a ring or macro flash will help. If you are using your camera flash, make sure the lens body doesn’t block the light at the close distance you will probably be working with.
How you get close to your subject depends on your camera. If you have a permanently connected lens you are pretty much limited to an add-on close up lens. These look like filters and are placed in front of the camera’s lens. Like all attachments, there is a wide range of quality available, but the high quality versions provide excellent results. One of the best is the Canon 500D. It is designed to thread onto the front of a standard lens in sizes from 52mm to 77mm. Close up lenses are also available for many point & shoot cameras – do a search for the phrase “close up lens” & the model of your camera to see if one is available. Don’t forget to check your camera’s manual before spending the money for a close up lens – many point & shoot as well as some DSLR lenses can be set in a macro mode for close up work.
This is a macro shot with a point & shoot camera:
For DSLR users, there are a number of additional techniques. The best is to spend the money to purchase a dedicated macro lens for your camera. Macro lenses are designed for close up work. A true macro lens should provide close to a 1:1 ratio, that is an actual life size image on the sensor at its closest focus. They are often available in different focal lengths. The longer the focal length, the greater the working distance (front of lens to subject) for a the same size image. Of course this is relative – the working distance to produce a 1″ wide image with my Nikkor 55mm f: 3.5 micro (yes, Nikon calls them micro rather than macro) lens is about 4.5″ while my longer Nikkor 105mm lens working distance is around 7.5″ for the same 1″ wide image in the viewfinder. The advantage of the longer focal length is you end up a little further away; useful if you are photographing live insects, etc. Since the longest macro lens I know of is a 200mm, you are never going to get a long distance between you & your subject.
Although a dedicated macro lens may be the best solution, there are others. Edwin Leong describes some of the different methods of producing macros when describing why he chose a Canon 500D as a tool for macro photography: Camera Hobby website.
I’ll list some of the alternatives & provide some information about each method:
- Extension rings are designed to be placed between the camera & the lens. When you move the back of the lens further from the sensor you will be able to focus closer to the subject. Unfortunately, most of them will defeat many of the automatic functions of your camera, and you will no longer be able to focus at infinity, so you will need to remove the extension ring(s) before going back to normal shooting. Most manufacturers offer rings in different thicknesses – the thicker the ring, the closer you can focus. They can also be stacked.
As mentioned above, by adding extension rings you will be able to get focus to your subject, but your depth of field decreases. These two images of a Dahlia bud were shot with a 105mm macro lens. The first focusing as close as possible at f:10 with the lens alone. The second image is the same flower using an extension ring and the same lens (the EXIF data is wrong – since the extension shuts off the information from the lens to the camera, it thinks my manual 55mm lens is attached). Notice how small the depth of field is. Only one small part of the flower is in focus. There will also be a fall off on the amount of light reaching the sensor, so if you are manually setting exposure, be sure to check your histogram to assure correct exposure. - Bellows – If you really want to get close, a bellows is the solution. Again, it goes between the lens & the camera, and like the extension rings, you will no longer have autofocus or other automatic functions. Because the camera & lens mount parts of the bellows are fairly thick, the bellows only works for extreme close ups. An advantage over extension rings is you can change the amount of magnification by cranking the bellows in and out.
- Lens Reversing Adapter – Although they are difficult to find, these adapters are designed to go betwen the filter threads on the front of a lens & the camera mount. Obviously, you need to choose one that matches the diameter of the front of your lens, and they work best with 24mm – 60mm prime (non-zoom) lenses. Although he uses two lenses for the technique, a good explaination of why it works is on Stephen Elliot’s Reverse lens Macro Photography Tutorial. The method also works well with a single medium focal length lens. This is probably the least expensive technique for macro photography.
- One last tool – Although I have not used either of these, software exists (PC only) that combines multiple images to improve focus much like Photomatix does for exposure. Helicon Focus and Combine Z5 are two products that “layer” together the in-focus portions of multiple images to increase depth of field. A review comparing the products is at Digital Outback Photo.
A couple of tips no matter which technique you use:
- Try working early in the morning. The wind will generally be lighter & insects slower.
- If you are stopping down to increase depth of field, DSLR owners should make sure their sensor is clean – at small f: stops any sensor dust will show up. Use your editor’s cloning tool or healing brush to fix.
- When using small f: stops, be sure to review your image in the LCD or on a computer to see the actual depth of field to be sure it is what you expect. Most cameras focus with the aperture wide open – the stopped down image will have more depth of field.
- Shut off your autofocus , manually focus the camera & move the camera back & forth (on a tripod or not) to do your final focus.
- If possible, shoot perpendicular to your subject – more of it will be in focus.
So, the next time you are looking for something new to do with your camera, get close!
