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Macro Photography
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mASTER colour
Discover how to get impressive tones in your close-up shots
pUSH BOUNDARIES
Get up close and personal with insects for an other-worldly feel
Edit LIKE A PRo
Learn how to retouch and enhance macro images for the best results
CONTENTS CHAPTER 1
Techniques
14
Discover how to get started in the art of macro photography and learn the essential tricks and techniques Discover magical macro...............................................................16 Macro on a budget........................................................................30 Close up photography..................................................................40 Master creative macro.................................................................50 Edit your macro shots like a pro.................................................62
CHAPTER 2
Be inspired
72
Learn from the professionals. Take your photography to the next level with expert tips and advice
Hidden world.................................................................................. 74 Help me shoot a bug’s life............................................................82 David Maitland...............................................................................92 Meet your neighbours................................................................100 Master of macro...........................................................................112 Life in miniature.............................................................................118 Making a splash...........................................................................130
CHAPTER 3
Projects
142
Take things a bit further with our in-depth step-by-step projects for shooting up close Frozen flowers..............................................................................144 Creative macro photography...................................................150 Shoot black and white fine-art macro....................................156 Stack ‘em up.................................................................................162 Think inside the box....................................................................166
CHAPTER 4
Kit Zone
170
Discover the essential kit you need for the best macro photography possible Choose the best camera .......................................................... 172 Macro lenses................................................................................ 178 Camera remotes.........................................................................186 Ring lights......................................................................................188 Sensor cleaners...........................................................................190
FREE DOWNLOAD Online resources on page 194
6 Teach yourself macro photography
CONTENTS
International garden photographer of the year:
macro art
Be inspired by our favourite entries
Page 8
Teach yourself macro photography 7
Structure your image
Use texture and shape to arrange an image composition, creating levels and depth. This can be difficult in a compact environment, but perspective and creative focus can produce dimension © Mike Tully
Create dynamic compositions The macro world offers a wealth of creative photographic options – you just have to find them
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Choose a subject Pick a focal point for your shots, based on the surrounding environment. If you have a subject in mind, pick a spot that will contrast or complement it – previsualise how the final shot may look.
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Lower the camera level If shooting on a tripod, don’t extend the legs or open them into a low-level configuration. This will allow a less top-down viewpoint and will give your subject better context.
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Light your subject Experiment with multiple lighting variations. With leaves or winged animals, backlighting is an effective tool for accentuating fine internal structures and surface details.
26 Teach yourself macro photography
Shoot multiple angles Explore how visible detail alternates from a range of perspectives. Moving a few inches to the left or right can sometimes reveal images where the subject is better proportioned and posed.
Perfect lateral composition Creative subject placement is now needed within the frame. This can be done using the conventional rules of composition, or by according to subject size, shape or colour.
Use creative processing Once back in software, experiment with blurs and brushes for bokeh and colour effects. Here a coloured brush adds the impression of diffused highlights behind the subject.
techniques
Look beyond the obvious Make your macro shots about more than high magnification with these imaginative techniques Since macro photography is such a precise task, it is very easy to become so concerned with technical excellence that artistic opportunity is then overlooked. Focus, shutter speed and exposure are all vital, but should be seen as fundamental aspects on top of which a creative composition should be built. This restricted mindset is also partially due to the specific nature of the skills required for successful macro and the expected characteristics of the resulting images. There are far more artistic possibilities from macro subjects than the majority of photographers even attempt to explore – macro should be seen as a method of accessing challenging subjects, rather than being the subject of an image itself. The key ingredients in creative macro and close-up imagery can be broken down into a three-point system – colour, framing and focus. In this case focus refers to the depth of field, which can be used to direct
the attention of the viewer within the frame. Once the exposure has been calculated and the lens correctly focused, the photographer can concentrate on producing
“Compose your shot using the conventional ‘rules’, but adapt them for use in the macro world” a shot that complements the subject. Colour is often a key part of a macro image, as due to the restricted perspective it is one of the first things that viewers will
notice. Therefore you can use contrasts and complementary shades to produce depth and lead the eye into the frame. Background colour is a significant consideration for this reason, as it can make or break the impact of the main subject. Next, decide on the framing – compose your shot using the conventional ‘rules’, but adapt them for use in the macro world. Use natural frames created by peripheral detail such as stems, neighbouring leaves and so on, and make floral structures your leading lines and Golden Spiral template. Finally, select an aperture that generates DOF appropriate for your image. It may be technically correct to render your entire subject sharp, but it’s also desirable to use selective blurring for creative purposes. Focus half way into the image, rather than the conventional third, to place more of the foreground out of the plane of focus. This renders blurred petals a colourful ‘mist’.
After More than the ordinary
With a little extra time invested in finding the perfect angle and lighting combination, you can produce shots that go beyond the obvious and are artistic, not merely functional © Peter Fenech
Teach yourself macro photography 27
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx TECHNIQUES
Enhance fine detail with a sharpening method that focuses on all areas of images, including texture Image processing should always be a way of is the perfect amount of sharpening. Well enhancing images to make them look their done Adobe! best, rather than a process of fixing poor So with this in mind you may be thinking that shooting technique. But even with the there’s no need for additional sharpening sharpest lenses focused perfectly on the because it’s all been taken care of. But with subject, most if not all digital images can certain macro subjects and those shot at a benefit from sharpening. wide aperture and featuring a shallow depthIf you shoot in Raw and of-field, there is a specific sharpening technique that works well because process your files in Adobe Add of the indiscriminate way it Camera Raw or Lightroom, contrast applies sharpening across the an amount of sharpening with Curves whole image, picking up every is applied automatically. little detail. This can be adjusted or Left mouse click ¾ of the way up High Pass sharpening in even turned off, but for the Curve and drag up and to the short is brutal – you wouldn’t nine out of ten images this left. Next, click ¼ of the way up the Curve and drag down to the right slightly. Reduce opacity of the Adjustment layer if required.
66 Teach yourself macro XXXXXXXX photography
want to use it for portraiture because it would highlight every pore and blemish which may be far from ideal. But with macro photography, which is all about texture and fine detail, the fact that everything is sharpened works perfectly. Every single part of the subject that’s in focus will benefit from appearing sharper. The great thing, too, is that High Pass sharpening is incredibly easy. It’s one of those techniques that only takes a couple of applications to learn, and once you know how to apply it you’ll have a powerful editing tool in your arsenal. Let’s take a look at how it’s done…
CAPTURE LANDSCAPES XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX BY NIGHT TECHNIQUES
High Pass sharpening
Accentuate detail with a sharpening technique that could’ve been made for macro photography
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Ignore the camera Master the settings Check your image You have to override some of the Work with 15 to 30-second In the image review mode, zoom in Duplicate the background Applythe the High Pass filter Change normal rules when shooting night exposures, with the lens as wide as it will tothe checkBlending that you’ve gotmode the focus as Open your image in Photoshop and make sure the light meter Go to in Filter>Other>High Pass, and theKeep the aperture The image will now grey, so we need add sky. Ignore your go. Focus towhen infinity. sharp aslook possible. If you’re nottohappy the background layer is active. Press Ctrl+J to copy dialog opens, setto the Radius between towith the the layer. Click on the dropdown camera telling you yourbox shot is going large,toand bump5.0 up and the ISO totransparency 3200 final result, adjust the focus this background layer, which will now be active and 15.0 Pixels. The exact amountorrequired menu at the topslightly of the Layers panel that’s set to be overexposed. higher. depends on and reshoot. highlighted. This is the layer that the High Pass the resolution of your camera, but as a guide you’re Normal by default and select Overlay. You can leave sharpening will be applied to, and working on a aiming to clearly see the outline of the subject. In this Opacity at 100% for the full effect, or reduce it if you separate layer provides more control later if image the front of the fly is the clearer part because feel the sharpening is too strong. If you can see halos necessary and the ability to work non-destructively. it’s sharp and in focus, while its body is out of focus. around subject edges, reduce Opacity.
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Sharpening
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bEFORE
High Pass sharpening has helped to emphasise the detail in this shot of a jumping spider
CAPTURE LANDSCAPES BY NIGHT TECHNIQUES
© James Abbott
aFTER
© Wynand Uys
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Teach yourself macro photography 67 Teach yourselfXXXXXXX
Be inspired
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02 EYE OF RED-EYED TREE FROG
Taken in Costa Rica, this macro shot was taken as the frog sat in a lily above a pond
Lens
Canon MP-E 65mm f2.8 1-5x Macro Photo
Exposure
1/1000 sec, f11, ISO50
03 MOSS
Taken through a microscope at 40x magnification on the EOS 5D Mark II, this shows leaves of Selaginella or club moss
Lens
Olympus Microscope
Exposure
1/6 sec, ISO50
04 GECKO FOOT PADS
Taken through the glass on which a gecko was clinging and backlit with a ring flash
Lens
Olympus 80mm Macro
Exposure
1/125 sec, f16, Kodachrome 64 film
94 Teach yourself macro photography
was nature-related. I was always beachcombing or looking in rock pools. As a child I made a huge collection of seabird skulls that I found on the beach and took home. Luckily my parents were quite tolerant. Now, instead of collecting objects, I collect pictures of interesting creatures and suchlike. When did you first to develop an interest in photography? I was always interested in looking closely at things like the skulls or butterflies, and really focusing on details. That translated to taking pictures when I was a teenager. Later, when I was doing my PhD, I was quite passionate about photography, but not in any kind of aspirational sense. I wanted to use it
as a tool to do the research. But instead of making dry, normal science pictures, I wanted to do something more artistic with it, while at the same time illustrating the research. What was your first SLR? I had a Praktica LTL 35mm camera and I tried shooting close-ups using a standard 50mm lens with some extension tubes. I kept getting this horrible hot spot in the middle of the pictures, and in those early days I had no idea what that was all about. So even if I couldn’t actually do it, I was still interested in trying to get closer. Later, I had a Vivitar 90mm macro lens and I kept it permanently on the camera. I realized that what I saw through the lens, that crop, was what I saw with my mind’s eye and was the way I looked at the world.
Be inspired
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Were you inspired by any other photographers? Initially it was nature itself that took my eye, but once I tried to improve what I was doing, I started to look at photography books. I remember getting Ernst Haas’s book The Creation quite early on, and I found that very inspirational. Some of the pictures were very abstract and I loved that. I was also inspired by Frans Lanting. He was certainly one of the pioneers for combining graphic design and colour, and keeping things simple. What film did you use? I photographed exclusively on Kodachrome film. For me it was pure economy, it was the cheapest way to do lots of pictures without having any development costs. And it worked very
well. It was also great training because, on transparency film, it’s very important to get the exposure spot-on and make sure the lighting is right. Was it easy to change to digital? Yes, luckily I timed the transition perfectly. My first professional kit was an Olympus OM-4, which I chose because the OM system had spectacular macro lenses. Around 2002 I started using a Canon EOS-1V, but I kept watching the increasing quality of digital and reading camera reviews. Then, in 2003, I sold all my Olympus gear and bought a Canon EOS-1Ds. It was the best decision I ever made. I couldn’t tell the difference between hi-res scans of Kodachrome and the Raw digital files, so I wasn’t losing anything and I was gaining a lot.
What cameras do you use now? I use EOS 5D Mark IIs but I’ll be updating fairly soon. I’ve stuck with them for a long time because I’ve been doing a lot of microscopy and I haven’t needed any other fancy features. It does what I want it to do, but the drawback is that it’s not good at high ISO. For my pictures, I can’t go over ISO400 and ideally not above 200. That’s why I want to update, because the newer models have gone on leaps and bounds with high ISO quality.
“As a child I made a huge collection of skulls that I found on the beach.” Teach yourself macro photography 95
Be inspired
TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT Is our splash-shooter ready to capture timedefying stills? David sets up with reader Helen Starter settings Helen was used to shooting in Manual mode for splash images at home, but wasn’t familiar with high-speed flash lighting. At the start, the pair talked about DSLR settings. “When working in a studio, always shoot fully manual," David says. “The point is to be in full control. The shutter speed doesn’t need to be too high, as the high-speed flash will freeze movement. In terms of aperture, we don’t want to go past around f18, as that’s when the lens will start to lose clarity. We also want the ISO as low as possible.”
Linked up For this genre of photography, sharpness and detail are both incredibly important. David showed Helen how she could tether her DSLR to a computer, so that the pair would be able to view the images full-screen on the monitor as they were shooting.
Lens
Canon EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure
1/125 sec, f32, ISO100
Helen’s comment
On exposure “I have a light meter, but don’t use it very often,” David says. “I have a rough idea of the settings I need, already. I tend to take one shot, and then another shot, and refine the exposure as I go.” He went through the different settings available on his Broncolor lighting pack with Helen, and explained what shutter speed was best to use. “For the purposes of this demonstration, we want the lighting at a setting of around 1/7,000 sec to 1/10,000 sec. You can change the colour temperature of the Broncolor lighting and also add the option of shooting a sequence of shots.” 132 Teach yourself macro photography
“David showed me how to set up the lights one at a time so we could see the effect that each individual flash had on the bubbles. We used blue and red filters at the back, and green and yellow on each side. We used David’s Broncolor flash at 1/10,000 sec. Coordinating when to drop the water to make the bubbles and release the shutter was the main challenge as this involved great timing and patience.”
Top gear #1 Broncolor lighting pack David uses a Broncolor Scoro 3200 S Power Pack, which provides a maximum 1/10,000 sec flash duration and 10 frames per second with the power at full output. The pack also has three individually adjustable power outlets, which David had attached to his Broncolor Unilite flash heads.
Be inspired
EXPERT INSIGHT steps for Setting up
HOT SHOT #1
The first thing on a liquid shoot is to set up the tank or water container. “You can use a standard fish tank, but my tank is made from Pilkington Optiwhite glass. This is extra clear, low-iron glass with a very high light transmission, which improves the clarity of the shots.” The next thing was to set up the tripod and mount the camera. For more accurate autofocus, David set the tripod and DSLR face-on to the tank of water. This avoids the lens hunting or picking up reflections.
Pro Tip
Timed to perfection It’s a major challenge to get the timing of the shutter right as you drop items into the water. Too late, and you’ll miss the bubbles and splashes in the water. “It’s a game of practice and trial and error, especially if there’s shutter lag," David says. He taught Helen how to fire the shutter several times and become attuned to how long it took to fire by listening. When they got into the right rhythm, they were able to get a higher hit rate and capture the most dynamic splash effects every time.
Teach yourself macro photography 133
Projects
creative compositions 1
Turn on the lights. Mount your DSLR on a tripod and pop this tripod onto your tabletop above the lightbox. Level off the tripod head until your Canon is parallel with the table. You may need to lower the camera later on, so that you can get close enough to your leaf.
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Pop your leaf onto the lightbox under your lens. If you have one, use a macro lens to fill the frame with your subject. You can also attach a close-up filter. They either screw or clip onto the lens and enable it to focus more closely. Here, we used the Raynox DCR-250
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Set Manual mode. When photographing close up the depth of field is shallow, so opt for f11 to maximize this. Choose ISO100 and adjust your shutter speed to reach the correct exposure. Because we were shooting in a dark room, ours was over a second long. .
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The shutter speed reading we achieved with a narrow aperture and low ISO (on a gloomy day) was very slow. So, to avoid camera shake when pressing the shutter button, we engaged the 2-sec self-timer. Alternatively, you could use a remote release, if you have one.
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Turn off autofocus and engage Live View. Zoom in with the + button and manually adjust the focus ring on the lens to ensure you have crisp focus on the leaf. When you’re happy, take your shot. You can also experiment with white balance while you have Live View engaged.
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There are a few simple tweaks you can make in Adobe Camera Raw to enhance the intricate patterns of your leaf. Take the Blacks down, but bump up the Clarity levels, as this will really bring out the veins in the leaf. Give the Saturation a boost for a punchier green tone
168 Teach yourself macro photography
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PROJECTS
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Flip it over A tripod that holds the camera upside down is best to get really close in for a top-down view. Some tripods also have centre columns that fold sideways, which will do a good job as well. The model we used was the Vanguard 204AB.
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Teach yourself macro photography 169
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