Macro Photography
Macro photography is the art of photographing small objects like flowers and bugs. Here are some tips for fantastic macro photography.
Start to train your eye to see macro opportunities. You’ll be surprised at the objects you’ll want to capture : Stamps, Paper Clips, Coins, Pins etc. Some of the best subjects are provided by Nature - Flowers, Plants, Bugs and Leaves.
- Try getting in really close to everyday objects such as the wood grain of a table, the veins of leaves, the texture of gravel or the worn look of a slippery slide.
- Use a flash if there isn’t much light - but be careful because at this close range the flash could over expose the subject and image. A ‘Ring Flash’ unit can help. This clips onto the front of the lens and can give a softer effect.
- If your camera has trouble focussing at close range, try moving away a little and use the optical zoom to incease your magnification.
- Try purchasing a ‘close up lens’ that attaches to the end of your camera’s filter thread. This is a great alternative if your camera doesn’t have an inbuilt macro, but does have a thread to attach filters.
- Use a small white card to fill any shadows in the image. Shadows can be a problem if you are shooting in bright sunlight, or using an overhead lamp. Any single light source will cause shadows.
- Increase your ISO setting so you can use faster shutter speeds. This will ensure your images will be as sharp and clear as possible. Don’t increase your ISO too far as you’ll get a very ‘noisy’ image.
- Use a tripod as much as possible to eliminate camera shake and to be sure your camera’s focus is right.
- Don’t use the optical viewfinder. Because of ‘parallax’, the image you see in the optical viewfinder will not be the same as what the camera sees… Particularly for macro shots.
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David, Thank you for all the tips on taking photographs, they are GREAT!! I recently took a photograpy of a Honey Bee on a purple cone flower with all the pollin on the bees legs and wings. I entered it in our local community fair and took a first place with it. I was really surprised when I found out it won .
October 8, 2006 @ 5:08 am
Yes close-ups are the best and most amazing…….
October 11, 2006 @ 2:53 am
i shot a quincera saturday and all the close ups sold are selling the most
October 22, 2006 @ 9:26 am
Great Tips I love them all
October 23, 2006 @ 9:33 am
Hello David,
Thanks for your tips. They honest, straightforward and helpful. You probably are like this yourself. Thanks again!
October 26, 2006 @ 7:31 am
David thank you so much for all the photography tips.
You RULE!
October 29, 2006 @ 5:15 am
David thanks for your tips, they’ve really helped me know my digital camera better than before, you’re a star.
TX
November 10, 2006 @ 4:15 pm
Another good tip is to use the ‘timer,’ if you have one, for 5 secs after focusing. It cuts down on the shakes that can be a problem when you get in close. Thanks!
November 13, 2006 @ 2:45 am
Very good information.
Many thanks,’
Gene
November 13, 2006 @ 11:29 pm
you are a big help. Awesome man. Thanks a lot.
November 14, 2006 @ 2:11 pm
realy good tips,,, and it helped me lot to enjoy photography as hobby,,
Thanks
November 29, 2006 @ 3:46 am
Thank your for all secrets.I became better photographer.Best wishes.
December 3, 2006 @ 5:39 am
bravo…
amazing…your tips was helpfull..
now i can reach my dream..
best regard for u n all frieands…
(^_-)
December 4, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
Great Tips thank you
December 10, 2006 @ 2:52 am
Hi Dave, great tips.Like to show how its helped.Where do I send a few?
December 11, 2006 @ 3:24 pm
Dave, thank you for your excellent tips and your time. Very useful specially these macro tips. I have some problems to get a good one with my Lumix FZ7. TK again
January 6, 2007 @ 8:39 am
thanks for the tips on micro photos. me and my brother just went out to the baypass to take some photos .some of them were micro.i put my iso on 1600 and they came out great.i also have 10 x micro filter.i can get really close.
January 9, 2007 @ 9:24 am
Thanks for the tips mate.
cheers k0ol r0o:D
January 10, 2007 @ 4:14 pm
thanks david for giving me more tips i learn from u
January 10, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
Thanks Sir,
you’re the best teacher ever seen.
your lessons are doing its best like…
you.
Thanks again
Abdul
January 12, 2007 @ 3:48 am
tips are condensed and very much useful for amateurs.
Thanks & Regards,
Shankar
January 18, 2007 @ 9:05 pm
what is ‘parallax’ and why does this effect what is seen in the view finder? Thank you for all of your great tips.
February 28, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
i really appreciate all of your useful tips, thank you, kathy,,
March 25, 2007 @ 6:48 am
Can ya give me a clue as to how the settings for saturation, sharpness. contrast, and noise affect the photo. Seems like when I set some of them to high I get problems with color abberations in some of my photos. When to use and when not would help.
April 4, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
Increase your ISO setting so you can use faster shutter speeds. This will ensure your images will be as sharp and clear as possible. Don’t increase your ISO too far as you’ll get a very ‘noisy’ image.
No..I’ll never increase..
April 5, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Dear David,
I am a beginner in digital camera and live in Jakarta, Indonesia. I am very grateful to you for helpful photography tips from you. Regards
April 9, 2007 @ 10:01 am
The Macro Tips are some of my favorites. I was having problems taking a closeup of some mini daffodils. I will go home and try again. Thanks a bunch.
April 11, 2007 @ 2:20 am
Because of the limited depth of field when in macro mode, I would advise that you pay attention to the aperture used. If your camera allows it, try changing aperture to see its effects on your picture.
April 13, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
Wonderful information.Thanks a lot for helping me to improve my skills.
April 17, 2007 @ 5:11 am
At first, when David started sending his emails, I found I knew a lot of the things he was saying.This was GREAT because he’s given me confidence to take more risks. And more latterly, he’s given some worthwhile tips and hints. Thanks David.
April 17, 2007 @ 7:04 pm
i have this canon psa 540 n it got 5 cm macro
just love it
thanks for the tip
April 20, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
I have a macro lens and a ring. When I use the ring light everything gets washed out. What to do, what to do? Thanks, Marlene
April 22, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
what does use a white card mean……..i’m stupid
April 25, 2007 @ 10:24 am
semua problem saya tentang kamera digital telah selesai. thanx David
April 25, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
David; I have been faithfully reading & enjoying your photography. As I recently started to do photography full-time, you have given me valuable tips, as well as increased my confidence. I have shared your emails & tips with many, many friends ! Sincerely, Dominique in Leduc, AB, Canada
April 27, 2007 @ 1:40 am
Kate,
Using a white card means get an index card or a blank sheet of paper and reflect the light off of it to fill in the shadows.
May 1, 2007 @ 4:35 pm
Thanks again for Kindly Sharing your tips with us, Much appreciated.
May 7, 2007 @ 2:12 am
Great tips! On reading every tip, I always feel- “of course, it has to be this way!” Keep it up, David!
May 28, 2007 @ 11:02 am
Thank you kindly for this!:)
I have a question, i have a DSC-W7, a simple camera, and i want a GOOD macro lens for it, what do you recommend? (i can get adapters for 52mm and 37mm lenses) Is there a site where you buy your lenses or such?
Thank you.
May 29, 2007 @ 6:46 am
David thanks soooooooooooooooooooooo
much for the tips!!! they have helped me so much!
They are literally amazing!
June 8, 2007 @ 6:41 am
Thanks a lott.. i owe u..
June 28, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Just a little detail correction, if you’re using a DSLR the viewfinder has to be used, and actually won’t cause any parallax errors as you are seeing through the lens as reflected by the internal mirror. Obviously not the same as a point and shoot.
July 3, 2007 @ 11:38 am
David many thanks for your tips. I am
an amateur when it comes to photography but because your tips I am beginning to appreciate my photos.
July 6, 2007 @ 8:16 pm
Thanks a million, David, perhaps one for each of your invaluable tips! Just two questions : a - how to avoid reflection of flashlight when shooting against a mirror/polished surface and
b - some pictures convey much more if shot in black & white, I suppose. How to capture moods in b&w in digital cameras? Would the option available be convert coloured pictures into b&w using software?
July 12, 2007 @ 3:01 am
Close-up photography of flowers and insects is tricky. Whenever I do without using a tri-pod, I turn the super macro feature, spot focus and stabilizer on (to avoid camera shake, brace both my elbows to my sides tight (to press gently on the shutter button half way to lock the focus and exposure, take a deep breath, exhale slowly and press the shutter to take the final shot.
July 18, 2007 @ 12:31 am
i cant afford to buy extra lens such as macro. can i use magnifying lens instead? is this a silly question?
July 18, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
Thanks for all of the tips etc. having taken photos on film for a great deal of my life I changed to digital and have learned a lot from your series. I particularly enjoy your taped interviews.
Thanks again for a great series.
Terrence in Sunny South Africa.
September 7, 2007 @ 5:37 am
parallax- The distance between the optical view finder and the lens of the camera, as others have stated, using an SLR will not have this problem, but don’t let that stop you it just means you have to do things a bit different which is why you here.
October 27, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Thanks for your hard work in supplying us with these valuable tips David
October 27, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
Hey macro is just amazing although I shot using a cybershot it did it automatically and I loved the picture. It was an old mail box.
November 8, 2007 @ 7:37 pm
Thanks again David for all those wonderful tips you are sharing with us. I love to take photos of flowers and use my macro lens frequently.I didn’t
realize you should increase your ISO to
get better shots. Thanks. Keep the tips coming.
November 17, 2007 @ 9:00 am
Thanks David, just what i need.
regards wim
November 20, 2007 @ 5:34 am
Hello David,
High apprciate and many thanks for all the photography tips…
Rgds/Arie
December 19, 2007 @ 5:35 pm
Thank you very much for all your tips it came in very handy since I’m a beginner that wants to learn as much as possible.
Thanks
December 31, 2007 @ 4:18 am
Hi Dave,
Thank you so much for your tips, it is really a big help. It aslo challange you to look diferently at things and to give your best at all times!
Thanks again,
Marosane
February 1, 2008 @ 4:19 pm
amazing tips.. thanks alot..
February 5, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
ha….my fav tips.love in macro shooting.start to save some money for macro lens….Thanx again David for the tips!
February 27, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
Dear On. Peterson,
you are very “bravo”. (Photo-secrets)
Molte grazie e tanti saluti
da Firenze(Florence-Italy)
Tiziana Magnelli
P.S. May i buy (comprare)
your book? Where, in Florence??
March 28, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
Good advice on the close-up shooting. I personally love this type of photography….
April 5, 2008 @ 1:58 am
thanx David,
a great tips…
April 5, 2008 @ 7:36 pm
Hi, David
I have a great need of macro shooting in my profession. Thanks to your tips you’ve solve my problem with close-up shooting.
May 18, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
great tips,thank you
July 18, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
David, Thank you very much! I’ve got an answer with my questions each time you sent me e-course.Again, Merci beaucoup!
July 20, 2008 @ 1:20 am
hi david,
thank you again for the tips,keep going send…it really helps me a lot…thanks..
jaime
July 26, 2008 @ 4:33 pm