Understanding Closeup Photography and Macro Mode

link back to main page

This video is the best tutorial ever on how to use a digital camera for closeup photos in macro mode. 

Link to the add-on lens mentioned in the video: Little BigShot



Using Macro Mode for Closeup Photos with a Compact Point and Shoot Camera.

Compact cameras have two basic shooting modes; normal and macro.  In normal shooting mode, your camera will not focus closer than about 2 feet from your subject. If you wish to shoot closer, you switch the camera to macro mode (the tulip or flower icon). This allows your camera to focus closer than 2 feet, and as close as one or two inches.

However, you can not use zoom while in macro mode. If you do, the camera will refuse to focus. So zoom all the way out before setting to macro mode.

Disable your flash. Flash seriously overexposes macro subjects. Cover the flash with black electrical tape if you have a camera which does not permit the flash to be turned off.  

If shooting macros indoor and the lighting is too low, add a lamp and position it to the side and slightly behind the camera.  If shooting outside and the sun is blazing on your subject, use your body to cast a shadow.  In any situation you can make adjustments to the camera's exposure value (EV) to compensate for lighting which is either too weak or too strong.  A link will be added here when the post on lighting is published.

Macro images have a shallow depth of field (DOF). So if your camera is at an angle to your subject, part of the subject will be in focus and other parts will drift out of focus. The closer the camera is to the subject, the more shallow the dof. For best focus, have your camera perpendicular to the part of your subject you wish to highlight. 

To learn more about Depth of Field:  Understanding DOF

The closer you are to your subject, the more sensitive the camera is to shake, which can result in blurriness. You can eliminate camera shake by stabilizing the camera on a tripod or stack of books, but you will eventually learn that macro photography does not easily lend itself to tripods.  Hand held macros are superior in many cases, and it takes practice to become proficient at it.  Here are some tips for minimizing camera shake in hand held macros:

   a) Turn on image stabilization if your camera has it

   b) Set ISO to 200 or 400.  Higher ISO = faster shutter speed.

   c) Pressing the shutter button can cause camera shake, so practice pressing gingerly.

A link will be added here when the post on macro focus techniques is published.

Composing your image does not always mean getting the camera as close as possible to your subject for the highest magnification.  Sometimes, the best composition is one which presents the subject with the highest degree of artistry and visual appeal, and that might mean that the subject is presented with some of its surroundings. So as you get into macro photography, experiment often with various angles and distances from the subject, and then look at your work to see which is most appealing.  A link will be added here when the composition post is published.

Lastly, I'd like to address bokeh in macro photography.  When your camera has the subject in focus, the background objects will be out of focus.  This out of focus condition is known as bokeh.  As you experiment with macro photography, notice how the appearance of the bokeh changes as the camera is closer and further to the background objects.  Bokeh can be used to make a macro image visually exciting, and the best way to understand it is to experiment with it.  A link will be added here when the bokeh post is published.

And this concludes the primer on macro photography.  Time to grab your camera and have some fun creating macro images.

link back to main page