Mustard’s MASTERCLASS In this instalment, Alex Mustard focuses his attention on macro, explaining what elements are required to create a truly memorable close-up image Photographs courtesy of Alex Mustard / www.amustard.com
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ew underwater photographers are usually pushed towards macro as the easiest place to start with our hobby. While it is true that automatic settings and nonmoving subjects can make basic macro photography point-and-shoot simple, creating really powerful underwater macro imagery will challenge you throughout your lifetime as a diver. This is a type of photography that tests both our diving skills and our photographic ones. A successful macro photograph starts with a subject and the hunt fuels many people’s addiction to this genre of shooting. While many folks are obsessed with the rarity of a species, I really don’t mind what I shoot. But I put as much energy into finding subjects that are particularly co-operative and conveniently posed. Many macro destinations encourage visitors to create critter wish lists, but I think these are counterproductive for quality imagery. A focus on species turns underwater photographers into stamp collectors, bringing home hundreds of shots of different critters, but almost all are simply recordstyle photos. Also, when diving is focused on finding ever-rarer beasties, there is always the temptation of another subject distracting you from making the most of what you’ve got. Subject selected, we now need to focus and frame it, a challenge that gets increasingly tougher the smaller our star. Everyone always asks me what autofocus mode is best, but high-quality diving skills are the most-fundamental step as these ensure the camera is stationary, which makes life much easier for every AF-mode and our compositions. An unstable camera must constantly re-focus both for any movements in the subject and the camera. Conditions are also crucial. If we are expecting strong currents or swell, it might be better to defer the macro lens until a later dive. In supermacro shooting, it is common for photographers to steady themselves. Importantly, this does not mean lying all over the environment, all that is needed is the lightest touch with a muck stick or two
finger hold onto the sand or bare rock, not delicate marine life. Where a lot of photographers go wrong is that they think their whole body needs to be anchored down. In fact, only the camera needs to be absolutely stationary and we can achieve this easily with just a two-fingertip hold. My favoured modes for macro are using a single AF point, which I can move around the frame over the point of the subject (such as an eye) that I want precisely focused. For free-swimming fish I usually use an intelligent dynamic point focus that will track subject movement, once it has locked on. My current cameras doesn’t have eye-tracking focus, but I suspect I will make use of this feature, which is reportedly excellent on the latest mirrorless bodies. I also always use a continuously focusing mode, which keeps the camera focusing to compensate for any motion I create while hovering. A popular feature tucked away in the menus of most cameras is an option to decouple the AF activation from the shutter release and asign it another button. This means when you press the shutter the camera will not focus. Instead we assign the focusing to a button that falls beneath the right thumb lever on your housing. This allows you to focus and to not focus when you want to, which lets us finetine the focus and composition with small movements of the camera. This is my preferred method for supermacro shooting. Perhaps the biggest trap in macro photography is thinking that’s the job done. After all, we’ve found the subject and focused it, surely now is the time to click? No, we must also consider our background. Our aim is to create a background that shows the subject off to the maximum. There are many options for macro backgrounds, but you won’t go wrong with any of the big three: black, blue or blurred. Black backgrounds are the most eye-catching and are particularly effective with colourful and complicated subjects. They require a fast shutterspeed and a low ISO to exclude ambient light and turn it black. The easiest way to get a black
