One of the things that makes photography so fascinating for both the shooter and the viewer is the variety of perspectives. Through camera angles, lens choice, and countless other variables, we can use perspective to achieve evocative and fascinating displays of even mundane, everyday subjects.
It is precisely this – giving the every day a new spin – that has lured me and so many other shutterbugs towards macro photography. In this field, working distances are perpetually low, lenses tack-sharp, and beauty seeps out of every corner of the frame.
If you’re now wondering how you can achieve these impressive visuals, you’re in the right place.
In this guide, I will aim to acquaint you with all the basic features of macro photography. That is to say, we will establish what macro photography is and is not, as well as what kind of equipment and prerequisite skills you’ll need in order to succeed in this genre.
Finally, I will further prep you with a series of helpful techniques, tips, and tricks that will help you master this challenging photographic style more easily. Without further ado, let’s get right to it!
Contents
What is Macro Photography?
Before we delve right into the meat of things, we need to have a good idea of what to aim for. I have noticed that plenty of young photographers express an interest in macro photography without first gaining a deep understanding of what exactly that term means.
Let’s start with something straight out of the dictionary first.
Macro photography is a type of close up photography focusing on small subjects that employs a high magnification ratio to reproduce those subjects at life size or larger.
Now, what does this mean?
In plain English, this is another way of saying that macro photography is all about enlargement, or magnification. When you shoot macro, you want to bring out the best details in your subject by literally inflating their appearance within the frame. The bigger your subject is in print relative to its real-life size, the more detail your macro photograph displays.
I will go more into how that works and how to achieve a great-looking macro photograph later on. But for now, what you need to remember is that macro photography is all about magnification!
Camera Settings for Macro Photography
It should be no surprise knowing that your choice of camera settings has a great effect on how your macro photographs may turn out. Just like in any other discipline, you need to be aware of your camera’s tricks and your subject’s needs in order to create a flattering shot.
We will discuss individual issues such as macro lenses and lighting further down below. For now, let’s home in on the essentials – exposure settings and how they relate to macro photography.
Basic Exposure Settings
If you’ve already spent some time behind the viewfinder, you know very well how deceiving the simplicity of a good exposure can be. “Not too bright, not too dark” is not exactly a cakewalk most of the time, especially for a beginner.
The good news is that macro photography is not going to force you to reinvent the wheel.
Guidelines such as the “one over focal length” paradigm for determining shutter speed hold true as you’d expect. The tricky thing with macro shots is rather the way your shooting environment can pin you down and force you to be a bit creative with your settings.
When I shoot macro, my subjects are generally very small and often rather mobile. Hence, it’s a good idea to keep my shutter speeds high. At the same time though, a lot of macro shots take place outdoors, in unpredictable lighting. Opening up the aperture to compensate for this, in turn, does not work as easily as it might in other situations.
This is mostly because of the working distance. When your subject is especially close to your lens, a wide-open aperture can create extremely thin depth of field to the point of making it hard to focus!
In practice, then, most of what I do comes down to compromises and improvisation.
Composing macro photos involves a very very fine balance between a high shutter speed, small aperture, and moderately high ISO to match. But do watch out for extremes, because any one of these settings can throw off the whole equation!
Manual Focus or Autofocus?
There are plenty of heated disagreements on the subject of focusing in macro photography.
Some shooters are full-manual purists, choosing to eschew all automatic aids. Knowing this approach full well from my own photography, I can attest to its effectiveness. Manual focus can be a great idea since it gives you maximum control over depth of field. On the other hand, this approach may give you trouble with fast-moving subjects.
When the action picks up, most of you will see no choice but to employ some kind of autofocus. The question is, which to choose?
To go over all the autofocus modes available on modern mirrorless cameras and DSLRs in this guide would be far too exhaustive. This is further underlined by the fact that Canon cameras, for instance, may use different modes than Nikon products.
Instead, let’s cut to the chase and let me tell you what kinds of setups most macro photographers tend to find the most useful.
In short, you will want to use some kind of continuous autofocus (AF-C) for cases where subject movement is too unpredictable for any kind of manual focus. Unlike single-servo AF, the standard on most cameras, AF-C continues to track and focus on your subject until you release the shutter.
AF Area Modes
Furthermore, you may want to play with your AF Area modes to suit the subject, or rather the space the subject takes up in the frame.
The long and short of it is that a large AF Area trades precision and speed for versatility. The inverse is true for a small AF Area, giving you fast and sharp focus at the loss of flexibility should your subject move very suddenly.
Various adaptive modes also exist, trying to bridge the gap between these two settings. For example, Nikon cameras offer “Group-Area AF”, which gives you a large AF area of variable size that can track more than one subject at once. Very nifty for certain situations!
The bottom line: scour your camera’s menus for the most suitable mode for your needs.
Essential Gear for Macro Photography
Because of the emphasis on tiny subjects, depth of field, and extreme perspectives, macro photography can be very demanding on gear. With that said, it’s definitely possible to take great macro photos even with minimal equipment.
If you’ve been taking pictures for a while already, chances are you have the minimum gear all ticked off already!
Still, plenty of you will consider upgrading a little for the sake of macro photography, and that’s just as well. Let’s talk about everything you need to know when it comes to gear, from macro lenses to accessories!
Best Cameras for Macro Photography
You might have heard the saying, ‘The best camera is the one you have with you‘. Well, if there’s any circumstance where that’s definitely true, it’s in macro photography!
There isn’t really such a thing as a ‘macro photography camera’, but if your current body is getting long in the tooth and you’ve been on the lookout for an upgrade either way, you have some options.
Mirrorless cameras have been gaining in popularity in the field due to their ability to smartly preview focus and depth of field in the viewfinder at higher accuracy than DSLRs.
The high-megapixel stacked sensors of the best mirrorless cameras today are also very advantageous for this genre, as they provide higher resolving power for fine details.
Nowadays, more and more photographers are also rediscovering the joy of analog media, and macro photography is no exception to this trend.
While 35mm offers great portability and ease of handheld shooting, experienced macro photographers also find great appeal in medium format film. The bigger negative area allows for impressive large-scale prints and oodles of fine detail – superior to even the best consumer-grade digital camera sensor of today.
Stabilization
The humble tripod may not be one of the most glamorous things to treat a bad case of GAS.
But macro photos, often composed at a high focal length and extreme perspectives, are a ripe environment for camera shake. A solid pair of legs to stabilize your camera on therefore becomes essential in a lot of situations.
Of course, depending on light conditions and the availability of optical image stabilization (OIS), you might find some success shooting macro photography handheld as well.
Do You Need a Dedicated Macro Lens?
Now, for the elephant in the room. Should or shouldn’t you shoot macro photography with a macro lens?
Simply put, you have two options. One is modifying your existing gear to be more potent in macro photography.
This is usually not quite as simple as sticking a magnifying glass in front of your lens – but it can be!
One of the simplest upgrades you can get is the so-called close-up filter. This is essentially not much more than a loupe that screws into your filter ring and physically magnifies the image your lens produces. Extension tubes operate similarly while somewhat mitigating the optical flaws that many associate with (cheap) filters. They do cost more upfront, but not nearly as much as a brand-new lens would.
On the other hand, you could of course invest in a macro lens to save yourself a lot of potential hassle and ungainly combos of mismatched add-on components.
The advantages of a good macro lens are near-unrivaled sharpness at a close working distance while also supporting high magnification and depth of field right out of the box. What’s more, since magnification is not directly related to focal lengths, some of the best macro lenses can even be quite lightweight and compact!
In the end, of course, the choice is yours and will largely depend on your shooting style, your budget, and other factors. Think it over and decide on what’s best for you right now, as opposed to what you may think you may need later down the road. There’s always time to upgrade later!
Lighting for Macro Photography
Another huge question, and a very personal one, is on the subject of lighting. Plenty of the best macro photographers out there refuse to use anything but natural ambient light for the bulk of their work. Since most macro photography happens outdoors, you would think this would not pose a major technical challenge.
For the most part, you would be right – though in some circumstances, ambient light itself may not offer a high enough exposure value. Remember, macro photography often involves high shutter speed (to combat blur) and small apertures (for depth of field)!
To mitigate this, some of you may want to employ some amount of artificial light as well. In that case, there are a few specialist options available.
Ring Lights
The most widely-used of these is the ring light. You may recognize ring lights in principle if you have experience in studio portraiture. The macro counterpart works basically the same way, just miniaturized.
As the name implies, this little gadget casts a bright light in a ring or circle around your lens. This provides even and bright illumination without – in theory – looking too artificial or obvious.
In practice, many macro photographers have trouble getting shots with a ring light to look right. It’s definitely a tool that comes with its own learning curve.
But on the upside, ring lights are some of the cheapest macro photography accessories you can find!
Using Flash
Beyond ring lights, there is also, of course, the option of shooting with flash. In macro photography though, you will need to make some adjustments.
Because your subjects are not just small, but in the case of common insects for example also skittish in nature, harsh, strong flash will not be very useful.
Not only is it worth dialing down your flash power, but you may also want to use some diffusers to further soften the flash when it fires. This way, you can achieve gentle, smooth, but effective illumination at any time of day.
There is also the option of the ring flash, which, as the name implies, tries to combine the advantages of the ring light with the power output of a traditional flash. Just like the ring light though, it remains a bit of an acquired taste.
Ideas for Choosing the Right Subject for Macro Photography
If you have not really dabbled in any kind of macro photography before, you may not be sure what kind of subjects may suit you right away. Thankfully, macro photography offers a real wealth of possibilities here.
Besides the subjects I have discussed below, we have an exclusive article featuring many different ideas and examples of macro subjects.
Photographing Insects
Many of you might associate macro shots with close up photography of insects and other small animals, and it is true that this forms a great stream within the discipline.
Not only are these creatures most of us encounter almost every day, even without noticing it much. But when viewed from up close, they can also be quite colorful and impressive to the eye.
What’s more, because most of the most common subjects at this scale – think butterflies, bees, various kinds of beetles and grasshoppers and such – move about a lot during the day, we usually don’t get the opportunity to sit down and examine them for more than a few moments.
With a macro shot, you can turn all that on its head. Offering a peek into the lives of these animals can be fascinating for both the viewer and the photographer whilst also offering a fair bit of a technical challenge.
That’s not just in tracking the aforementioned fast movement without losing sharpness, but also for example, in rendering their brilliant colors accurately at high magnification with the right lighting and color balance settings!
Architecture and Machinery
The living world is not all that interests the macro photographer. Indeed, fascinating compositions can spring out of the places we inhabit and the machines and tools we interact with on a given day.
From the arrangement of a messy desk to the contours of an old car, or from peeling paint on neglected walls to guitar strings – everything around you offers tons of opportunities for interesting macro compositions.
Just keep an eye out and try to think small – if the subjects are interesting to you, the ideas will flow as a result.
Macro Food Photography
Aside from the occasional Instagram snap, photographing food is something most of us only ever really do in a commercial context, in advertising for instance. I know that that describes almost the entirety of my experience in this field!
But with a bit of creativity, you can put a highly engaging macro spin on the idea.
Plenty of the things in our pantries – especially fresh foods such as fruit and vegetables – feature vibrant colors and intricate patterns that look only more fascinating at higher magnification.
Why not try it out? You may be surprised at how interesting a humble kitchen counter can suddenly seem!
Flowers and the Natural World
If there is one perennial macro photography subject, it is the world of nature. We already talked about insects and other small critters, but flowers, trees, and other flora are really the bread and butter of most every macro photographer out there.
The reasons are pretty straightforward. Flowers are everywhere, come in literally millions of varieties, and each and everyone is uniquely beautiful. They are a real test for your compositional skills, too!
Quick Tips and Techniques
Rule number one: Don’t try to accurately pose fragile subjects by hand!
Since we have the basics out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the most common pitfalls and issues that beginning macro photography enthusiasts face and how to take care of them.
1. Keeping Camera Shake Under Control
One very common problem that macro photographers often have in the early stages is blurry photos.
This is largely due to something I mentioned earlier: the combination of a very short working distance and unpredictable lighting conditions.
Your best bet in keeping camera shake and blur at bay in macro photography would be to both use a tripod and to keep your shutter speed as high as you can given local lighting conditions. It is especially the former that usually trips up beginners.
You wouldn’t expect the need for a tripod if already shooting at a fast shutter speed and framing a stationary subject. But with that short working distance on your macro lens, the rules of blur and shake apply quite differently from what you may expect! With that in mind, it’s usually better to stay on the safe side of things and grab a tripod.
2. Maximizing Depth of Field
Perhaps you are one of those people who believes strongly in the power of bokeh to add a touch of something special to every frame. Well, are you in for a surprise!
Working at such close range means that depth of field will be much thinner in macro photography, all else being equal. That way, you may run into the problem of too much bokeh! When your DOF just vanishes, it can be nearly impossible to focus properly. Thankfully, there’s a trick you can use.
Even when your aperture is already at its minimum opening, you can still squeeze out some more depth of field by utilizing focus stacking.
Essentially, focus stacking means taking a few macro images in rapid sequence at different focus settings. Superimposed, the exposures (usually between two and five) give you a boundless depth of field at every distance that you could never get in one shot alone!
In macro photography, where a difference in depth can mean the difference between being able to see your subject clearly or not at all, this can be a lifesaver.
3. Composition
If you want to get off to a running start with macro photography, you really should study some composition.
I would especially suggest drilling the basics. For one, hone the rule of thirds, which can especially come in handy in this genre. Leading lines can also be a real ace up your sleeve, so use them with discretion!
Especially as a beginner, I also recommend practicing the parallel shot. This is a composition technique often used for macro images where you position yourself such that you have a clean view of their profile. This way, it is easier to focus and to compose for fine details and contrast. Later on, when you feel more confident in your skills, you may try more complex angles and viewpoints.
A Macro Photography Education on the Go
There are many areas of macro photography that I decidedly didn’t cover in this guide. These range from technical issues – focus breathing when using zoom macro lenses, for example – to more creative matters.
In any case, it was my intention here to give you a broad overview of the basics, and only the basics, so that you may find the curiosity and intent to explore the rest of what macro photography has to offer you yourself.
A thousand books won’t teach you what you could learn in one productive day of shooting, so take my word for it – go out and try some macro shots!
Take Away
- Like any other photographic discipline, macro photography is as much an art form as it is a skill that can be studied and learned, preferably in the field. As we have seen today, there is a lot that goes into a successful macro shot, from fine composition to exacting control over focus, well-set-up lighting, and deep knowledge of your gear. While this may seem daunting, in truth none of these strengths are impossible to acquire through diligent practice. Learning to hone your skills in macro photography should therefore be less about making a conscious effort to take better shots right away, and more about inspiring yourself to take the kinds of images that will serve as rewarding lessons for your future self.
