Larger than life photos of small insects or objects never fail to fascinate us. They are not only fascinating to the viewers but rewarding to the photographers who have the patience and skill to capture such small subjects and reveal crisp details otherwise difficult to see with our naked eyes. The genre of photography that deals with such kind of photographs is known as macro photography. Macro photography is photography that captures images at 1x magnification and above. It also refers to a finished photograph of a subject at greater than life size. Life size photograph is written as 1:1 and anything above that, say, twice the size of life size is written 1:2. This ratio is in relation to the photograph’s film plane size or image sensor plane.
More Photos by sarasij chakraborty / Fotosocial
Macro photography is not a difficult art to master. All you need is the right gear and basic knowledge on how to go about it. Without proper equipment, even with the best of knowledge the chore cannot be accomplished. Here are a few things that will enlighten you on this genre of photography.
The subjects
Macro photography requires a careful selection of your subjects since you want to have impressive images at the end of the day. Your subject should be ones that can have a reproduction ration of 1:1 and at times up to 1:4. If you capture your friend’s face, that is not macro photography but close up photography. Insects have always been the best subjects since people can easily tell how a real life image sizes up with what they can see in the finished image. It will be great if you can get insects or small lizards; though there are a million other small subjects you can photograph including flowers, pins, marbles etc.
More Photos by sarasij chakraborty / Fotosocial
Lenses
For those who want to do serious macro photography, there are special macro lenses available for the purpose. These lenses are also called ‘Makro’ or ‘Micro’ depending on the maker. However, one can also use 90-105mm lenses for macro photography though other lenses especially prime lenses can be used for various subjects of macro photography.
If you have a lens that has Continuously Variable Focal Length, you can capture almost all macro subjects. But if your lens ranges from 45–65 mm, you can take small objects cautiously and the lens will be good for product photography. Small objects, insects and flowers are well taken with a lens that ranges from 90 to105 mm. You can do the same with a 150–200 mm lens though you may need to create more working distance in order to get proper depth of field and sharpness. Often times, extension tubes or bellows are used to move the lens farther away from the film plane. In so doing, you increasing magnification and get more room to focus.
Lighting
Lighting is often a challenge in macro photography. This is because the distance between the camera and the subject is often very small to include proper lighting set up. This close proximity can also result in unwanted camera shadows falling on your subjects, thereby ruining your shot. Shooting outdoors may not be that hard since natural light can be utilized. However, you need to select the best time of the day for your shot. For indoor and low light situations, photographers often use ring flashes which are attached to flash tubes mounted around the lens. Ring lights have also been invented and these ones provide continuous lighting during the shot. If you don’t have these, you can use your inbuilt camera flash but try using cello tape or tissue paper on the flash to filter out the light to avoid ‘burning’ your subject.
Final word
Since many cameras come with a 50mm lens, photographers have often used reverse lens technique in capturing macro photographs. This is where you remove the lens and hold it on the reverse as you take the photo. This technique works well but it’s very tedious. And just like most genres of photography, you should care for rule of thirds, use of tripod among other basics of photography.
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