Learnings
Close-ups and Macro in Rains – It is macro season and Uncle Ronnie shares the secrets to perfect photos
The rainy season, for many, is a time to stay at home. For others, it is a time to frolic and enjoy getting wet in the rains. For many photographers, the rains bring out their very best; they enjoy nature at her fullest; they come out of their comfort zones to capture a different world. The rains remind me of a quote by an unknown author: “Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain”. For several rain-loving photographers, venturing out to difficult-to-reach locations in inclement weather is a challenge they love. Others, who, for whatever reason, cannot manage such outings, there is macro and closeup photography that can be enjoyed almost anywhere. This is a short write-up that does not go into the nitty-gritty of how to go about shooting close-ups and macro; it is more of a lure for newcomers to get into this fascinating genre of macro and close-up photography.
One of the advantages with macro photography is that you don’t need too much of gear. All you need is a camera with a macro lens. If you don’t have a macro lens, you could opt for close-up filters on your existing lens or extension tubes between the camera body and the lens or just by reversing your ‘normal’ 50 mm lens using a lens-reversal ring.
But first, let us understand what ‘close-up’ photography is and what ‘macro’ photography is. Simply put, close-up photography is taking the shots from a close distance to the subject, so that the image on the sensor is reasonably large in size. This helps us to see more details on the subject as when compared to seeing the same subject at a greater distance. At a technical level, close-up photography covers from about 1:20 magnification to under 1:1 (life size).
‘Macro photography’ relates to capturing subjects that provide a much greater magnification than what ‘closeup’ provides. Technically speaking, for a photo to be considered as ‘macro’, the magnification ratio should be 1:1 or larger – up to 25:1.
In case you would like to know, from about 25x to 100x is considered as ‘Photomacrography’. Magnifications beyond what photomacrography can provide comes under the banner of Microscope photography.