Up close and personal light

Take control of the light in your macro photos to expand depth of field and give maximum sharpness

Macro photography is a challenging activity, particularly the battle with limited depth of field (DOF). How you overcome the DOF problem depends on your subjects. For static subjects, you can use focus stacking to increase the depth of field. But for shooting moving subjects, focus stacking doesn’t work.

You need to carefully consider and plan the background, particularly for natural macro subjects. Using available light makes the background the same brightness as your main subject, which might not sufficiently separate them. A small reflector is good to start with – you can use it to redirect light onto your main subject. Using flashgun light brings new challenges. The light needs to be close to the subject, yet not get in the way of the camera.

The ringflash is a specialist flash that fits around the lens and provides a characteristic flat light. A welcome benefit is that the short flash duration provides additional sharpness to moving subjects. Canon’s macro ring flash MR-14EX II fits directly on most macro lenses to provide light right on your subject. With a guide number of 14m at ISO100, this is enough power to light a subject at 0.5m with an aperture of f/22. Select ISO200 for extra light, and faster recycling. For moving subjects, my advice is that you try E-TTL automatic flash exposure.

I used an EOS 7D Mark II with the EF 100mm f/2.8l Macro IS USM lens to photograph the butterfly. The APS-C crop allowed me to work a little further away from the butterflies, which has the benefit of increasing depth of field.

If space allows and the subjects you are shooting are easy to handle, then regular studio flash lighting equipment can be used. You might add a gobo or mask over any softbox to disguise the straight edges of your lights as these are visible in the eyes of the subject. For the picture of the frog, the studio flashes were fitted with a softbox modified with a ragged edge made from a length of torn cardboard.

Butterflies flying free in a butterfly house, were tracked with AI Servo focus, and a ring flash used to light them, and freeze movement Ask Brian! Confused by your Canon DSLR? Email EOSSOS@ futurenet.com

This frog was photographed in a specialist macro studio with studio flashes fitted with softboxes and a huge light for the water