Close-Up/Macro Photography

Presented by Rick Klingensmith and Alan Jones at the March 2009 meeting of the Mid Michigan Photography Club. Mike Collins provided additional material for the presentation.

This article has been adapted from Rick and Alan's original PowerPoint presentation or get it in PDF format.

Close-Ups of Dragonflies with a SLR and a Point-and-Shoot Camera

Nikon D40, 105 mm Macro lens, and a 1.4X teleconverter

Canon PowerShot S5 IS using 12X telephoto zoom lens

Factors Involved in Making Good Close-up Images

• Control working distance – don’t get so close that you have a negative effect on your subject
• Control the background – don’t want a distracting background
• Control the focus – use focus to both isolate the subject while keeping it tack sharp

Know the Close-Focusing Range for Your Camera or Lens

• In close-up/macro photography the lens is often placed in front of the subject at or near its minimum close-focusing distance
• Check your camera’s manual to determine the focusing range for your point-and-shoot camera. You may be able to get within a few inches or as far away as 1 to 2 feet and still have the subject in focus.
• Check your lens or lens manual to determine a lens’ focal range if you have a SLR camera. For example the minimum close-focusing distance for a Nikon 105mm Macro lens is 1 foot.

Shooting Close-ups with a Point-and-Shoot Camera

Macro/Super Macro Settings

• Most cameras have macro setting (flower icon)
1. Focusing distance for a Canon PowerShot S5 IS camera lens is 3.9 inches – 1.6 feet
2. Hard to keep background out of focus
• Some have a super macro setting (flower/S icon)
1. For the Canon PowerShot S5 the focusing distance is 0 – 3.9 inches
2. Ignore this mode – extremely short working distance

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Columbine

Shooting Close-ups at Maximum Telephoto

• Zoom in on subject to maximum telephoto (3 feet from lens to subject)
• Check focus based on the camera’s visual focus indicator
• Adjust focus by moving tripod or zoom lens
• Use large aperture (f/3.5) to blur background
• Steady camera with a tripod, bean bag, etc.
• Use timer to take picture

Purple Cornflower

Obedient Plant

Yellow Lady’s Slipper

Some Approaches to Close-up Photography with SLR Cameras

• Close-up lenses
• Extension tubes
• Teleconverters or tele-extenders
• Macro lenses

Filter-like Close-up/Supplementary/Diopter lenses

• Looks like a filter; act like a magnifying glass
• Lens strength measured in diopter powers +1, +2, +3 etc.
• Stackable but usually not more than two
• Optical quality differs widely
• Single-element close-up diopters often of low quality
• Two-element close-up diopters offer high quality
• Example of quality two-element close-up lenses

Canon	Diopter	Use with lenses with focal lengths of
250D	+4	30 – 135mm
500D	+2	70 – 300mm

• Available in different filter sizes, use step-up rings
• Disadvantage – on short focal length lenses (50mm or less) may not have sufficient working distance

Extension Tubes

A way to make lenses focus closer

• Hollow tubes that fit between the camera body and the lens
• Can be used with almost any lens in your arsenal
• Often come in sets of three – lengths of 12mm, 20mm, 36mm; they're stackable
• They reduce the amount of light reaching the image sensor
• Most allow auto-metering and auto-aperture control; a few (Canon,Kenko) allow auto-focusing
• They have a narrow close-focusing zone; you can’t focus to infinity
• Can combine with teleconverters

Teleconverters/Tele-extenders

• An auxiliary lens that fits between the camera body and the lens
• They increase focal length (magnification) without affecting shooting distance
• Common sizes – 1.4X, 1.7X, and 2X
• With a 1.4X extender, a 100mm f/4 lens becomes a 140mm f/5.6 lens
• They only work with certain lenses; may loose autofocus
• They reduce the amount of light reaching the image sensor – 1.4X extender by one stop, 2X by two stops
• Loose sharpness and lens speed as the level of magnification increases

True Macro Lenses

• Especially made for close-up photography
• Provide sharp images at close-up ranges
• They’re convenient – don’t have to use diopters or extension tubes
• Three main fixed focal lengths available – 50mm, 100mm, 200mm
• Affordable but generally more expensive than a standard lens
• Can be use for portraits and other types of photography

Shoot on a Tripod

• The key to tack-sharp images
• Get tripods that are a joy to use
• Sturdy enough to support your equipment
• Legs that can spread out
• Designed to accommodate a short center post
• Heads that are easy to adjust and sturdy enough to support your equipment
• Pan/tilt heads – 3-way tilt/pan
• Ball heads – single adjust to control ball and a second control for panning.
• Quick release plates and L-brackets

Shooting Tip

Keep the focusing plane parallel to the camera’s back (sensor).

Light Modifiers

• Diffusion Disks
• Reflectors from cardboard to multidisks
• Fill-Flash
• Most pop-up flashes are inadequate for close-up work
• Need off-camera fill flash for best results

Effects of Flash

Natural Light

With Fill Flash

Useful Accessories and Camera Features for Close-up Photography

• Variable angle LCD display or right-angle viewers
• Self-timer, remote shutter release, or cable release
• Selectable spot auto focus-point (AF) adjustment
• Depth-of-field preview
• Macro rail/focusing rail
• Clamps and plamps

Position AF Point on a bloom

Auto-focus (AF) point centered on the front bloom

AF point centered on the second bloom

Useful Reference Guides

• John Shaw’s “Nature Photography Field Guide”
• Digital Nature Photography – The Art and The Science” by John and Barbara Gerlach
• “The Digital Photography Book” by Scott Kelby
• Strobist.blogspot.com

Exercise

Pick a 10 to 20 square foot area and start photographing

Try:

• Different angles
• Get closer or further from the subject
• Look for insects to include
• Change apertures to make more or less of the subject to appear in focus