Macro Photography, or close-up photography, is all about getting real close to your subjects and capturing the intricate details associated with them. Technically speaking, when the image projected on the film plane (a film in case of film cameras, and a digital sensor surface in case of digital cameras) is nearly of the same size as the object being clicked, it is called macro photography. The most common macro photos that you would come across would be of flowers, insects and liquids.
Clicked by Aditya Rao, Photoholics; check more of his work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/adityadigaddi/
Most digital cameras of today have a macro mode, designated by a small flower, which when selected tells the camera that you wish to focus on an object closer to your lens than normal. The minimum focusing distance depends on the camera that you are using – you should check up the manual of your camera to find out what this minimum is. With this information provided, a camera also makes sure that it chooses an f-number which will keep the object in focus and the background blurred.
While clicking macros, use of a tripod is a must. This is because the size of the object is extremely small and the magnification at which you work is high, so even the slightest movement in the subject or the camera will leave a blurred effect on the image. To avoid this sturdy tripod can be used along with a cable release shutter button to release the shutter so as to avoid a cam shake due to the hand movement while pressing the shutter. Another alternative is to use the self timer mode to eliminate any human interference.
Clicked by Adarsh, Photoholics
Moreover, when clicking macros the control on depth of field (dof) is limited. Usually, a normal 50mm standard lens which supports macro, coupled with a macro filter will give you a dof of only a few millimeters even if you use high f-numbers. Then again if you use high f-numbers the exposure time for the film needs to be increased, again because of which a small vibration in the object might get registered. So, the whole art is to establish a well-judged compromise between the two. Actually, even increasing the f-number doesn’t help much with the dof, especially if you are working at high magnification.
So, to get the subject in proper focus, the subject plane can be matched with the focal plane of the camera which will be parallel to the plane of the film or the sensors for a DSLR. This can be done by changing the line of view of the camera to get the major part of the subject in plane with the focal plane. If the composition cannot be altered, ‘Focus Stacking’ can be used.
Focus Stacking – In this technique, a number of shots with the same framing and exposure(if desired), but focused at different planes in the subject, are taken and then they are merged on a Stacking Software to create the final image with the required depth of field.
For clicking in macro mode you need lenses of short focal length if you need higher magnification. As for the lenses used in macro photography, there are quite a few options in the market ranging from 28-80 mm to 70-300 mm zoom lenses which support macro up to 1:2 or 1:3 magnification ratios. A standard 50 mm lens works best but the only limitation is that the magnification ratio for the prime macro fast lenses is 1:1. Apart from this extension rings and bellows are very commonly used by photographers inclined towards macro photography. Bellows are generally more advisable because the magnification factor for an extension ring cannot be varied as opposed to bellows. Bellows and extension rings basically increase the distance between the lens and the film which helps increase the magnification ratio. [A standard 50mm lens coupled with a combination of extension rings of say 12mm, 20mm and 36mm can result in a magnification factor of around 1.5].
Bellows and extension rings also help improve the effective f-number, because the aperture size is constant and the focal length is effectively increased. The factor by which f-number changes is M+1, where M is the magnification. [Say for a magnification of 3:1 the f-number will get improved by four stops for a standard 50mm lens].
Except for this ‘reverse lenses’ are also highly popular while clicking macro. The lenses are normally designed to produce an image of an object which is at a far greater distance from the lens (object distance) as compared to the distance between the lens and the film (image distance). Thus, if the lens is reversed the distance of focal plane of the object from the lens is reduced by exactly the same factor as it was increased when the lens was mounted in its original position. This helps to focus on objects which are very close to the lens. For this purpose adapters are available which help mount the lens in the reverse position. [Read more on reverse lenses at http://stephenelliot.com/2007/05/15/reverse-lens-macro-photography-tutorial].
Clicked by Abhinav Toshniwal, Photoholics; check more of his work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tullu/
Moreover, the depth of field of the produced image does not follow the ‘rule of thirds’ [to be explained in further posts] as it does in normal range clicking. While clicking macro the ratio of the space in focus behind and in front of the hyper focal plane is essentially 1:1.
All this said, the real essence of macro clicking is in the details. When clicking shots this close to the subject it’s really easy to enhance the leading lines and curves in the subject. Specially while clicking flowers the rule of the ‘Golden Spiral’ comes in handy. To begin with macro photography flowers are the most intriguing subject mainly because the technique can be easily applied and the results produced are brilliant.
Posted by Adarsh, Photoholics.
P.S.: First assignment on macro photography! Please send your best macro work to mail.photoholics@gmail.com. Best photos will be on display in the gallery.
