Macro

A presentation for Kelso Camera Club

by Norman Dodds

What is macro?

• From Makros – a Greek word meaning large, long

• Macro is the term used to describe photographs where the subject is

recorded as life size or up to 10 times bigger than life size.

• Close-up is where the subject is recorded between one tenth of its

actual size to life size.

• Macro and close-up are often used interchangeably!

What do you need for macro photography?

• A camera which can focus close to the subject –

many compacts have a macro setting

• A reversing ring – allows you to fit your lens the wrong way round!

• A close-up lens – an advantage of this it doesn’t reduce light.

A disadvantage is that it will reduce sharpness.

• Extension tubes – these are fitted between the camera body

and the lens. No reduction in sharpness but they will reduce light!

• A dedicated macro lens!

Macro lenses

• Macro lenses generally come in several ranges

50-60 mm

90-105 mm

150-180 mm

• The advantage of the bigger focal lengths

is that you can be further away from your subject.

• The disadvantage is that they usually cost more!

Taking macro photographs

• Subject

• Focussing

• Lighting

• Exposure

• Movement

Subject

• Almost anything small!!

• Flowers, insects, household objects are all popular subjects

• Arrange your ‘set’. At close range everything is magnified so don’t

be afraid to remove that nasty bit of grass or anything else that

shouldn’t be there!

• Create a background – even a piece of material behind your subject

can make a huge difference

Focussing

• By definition you will be very close to your subject so

depth of field will be very small

• A TRIPOD IS ESSENTIAL!!

• There are 3 ways to focus:

Using TTL automatic focussing

Using manual focussing

Using live view focussing (if your camera allows this)

Lighting

• Daylight

• Artificial light – torches, table lamps

• Off camera flash

• Ring flash – the ideal solution – but expensive!

• BEWARE OF NASTY SHADOWS!!

• Use reflective, absorbent or translucent materials

out of shot to add, reduce or diffuse light

Exposure – ISO, shutter speed, aperture

• ISO – 100 ISO is ideal but you may need to increase this if light is low

• Shutter speed – if your subject is completely still and you are using a

tripod, then shutter speed can be anything you like! You may wish to

increase this if your subject is moving.

• Aperture – depth of field is very limited so this suggests a small

aperture. However image quality will be reduced at very small

apertures. Somewhere between f11 and f16 is generally an

acceptable compromise.

• EXPERIMENT! (Check your histogram!)

Shooting with Photoshop in mind

• Make a composite image:

Set up your shot using a tripod

Take two or more shots of the same subject

Change the point of focus with each shot

Use Photoshop to merge the images

• This technique is called Focus Stacking

Focus Stacking

Questions?