The love of Macro

I started exploring macro a few years ago after getting my first SLR camera. Up until then I’d always used wet film cameras, and experimentation was kept to a minimum due to the cost of developing films.

One afternoon shortly after getting the SLR I spotted some dragonflies mating on my patio, I took some nice shots but was frustrated at not being able to get close enough with the 18/55mm lens that came with the camera. I then invested in a cheap 10x-magnifying adapter and was instantly hooked, the adaptor was fun but limiting because you can only achieve pictures with very shallow depth of feel (dof). I knew I had to get a real macro lens, and was delighted when my boyfriend gave me one for my birthday (EF-S macro 600 f/2.8). I absolutely loved it and it soon became the lens I use for most of my portraits as well as my macro photography.

As time has gone on my love of macro has turned into a bit of an obsession. I’m always on the look out, eager to experiment new macro techniques. Rainy days are great for macro work, recently it had been raining all day when I noticed some rolled up garden wire on our patio table it was covered in drops of rain, I knew the minute I saw it that there was a picture to be taken. I knelt down so I was looking up at the drops, from below they had good back light making the drops bright and the wire dark I selected the drop right in middle to be my focal point, I wanted to keep the swoop of the wire and the drops nice and sharp but with a shallow enough depth of field to blur everything else and achieve the bokeh affect on the drops on the other sections of wire, I ended up with half a dozen good images.

See image 1
•F/6.3•1/15sec•ISO-640. (The Rain Keeps Falling)

Now for a few tips on achieving great macro photography

PERSPECTIVE
Anyone with a macro lens can take a sharp close up image of an insect witch will be a interesting picture, but will it be a picture that people want to look at time and time again? To achieve something spectacular always look at the scene from every angle before shooting, you might find, and I usually do, that when you change your perspective you start to get great images.

See image 2 and 3
2 •F/5.6•1/100sec•ISO-100 (Lady on the Run)
3•F/5.6•1/640sec•ISO-100 (spring bells)

BACKGROUND
The background of a macro image is as important as the foreground,
I knew the drops on the roll of garden wire wood make a good background, having previously used it, so on a dull rainy day I took the same roll inside and put it on the table in front of the window and placed this little flower amongst it, I focused on the flower then while looking at the background adjusted my angle until I was happy that the background worked well, a slight refocus on the flower and the result was image 3, I used the natural light from the window to light this image.

See image 4
F/5.6•1/20sec•ISO-640 (tangled blossom)

For more tips on background see my previous blog in search of the perfect bokeh http://www​.perlyj.co​m/blog/sea​rch-perfec​t-bokeh

FOCUS
Focus focus and focus again. You must have a clear sharp focal point to get a good image. Always refocus after every shot just to be on the safe side.

see image 5
•F/0•1/30sec•ISO-400 (future dandelions )

TRIPOD
Use a tripod when you can, but don’t let a good image get away because you don’t have one with you. I took image 5 hand held at 10pm iso 1250, I wouldn’t usually use such a high iso for macro work but I think I got away with it this time.

see image 6
•50mm•F/2.8•1/6sec•ISO-1250 (under the cherry moon )