Macro close-ups
Flowers aren’t the only things that come to life in Spring – bugs and butterflies are on the macro shooter’s wish-list
using a macro lens to get up close with insects, mushrooms and other wonderful subjects opens up a whole new world
of creative opportunities. The term ‘macro’ is loosely applied to all sorts of lenses that can focus a little bit closer than normal, but strictly speaking it’s a lens that can reproduce the subject at life size or larger on the sensor. This means being able to get close enough to something as small as, say, a bee and fill the frame with it.
01 Above and beyond
When shooting bugs and other wildlife, it’s too easy to get wrapped up in what your subject is doing without paying attention to what’s going on in the background. Usually, the only way to change the background is to change your position. Often just getting lower or shooting from a different direction can make the difference. Shoot using a long focal length and mid-range aperture to blur your backgrounds. Also look for contrasting textures and colours to lift your subjects from their surroundings.
02 Switch to Manual
Macro lenses have a wide maximum aperture (usually around f/2.8), and can capture a shallow depth of field. Focus is critical at high magnification and owing to the shallow depth of field at wide apertures, it’s often best to switch to manual focus. You’ll also need to be rigorous with your technique – lock down the tripod head, lock up the mirror and use a remote shutter release.
03 Light it up
Backlighting can be very effective when shooting subjects that lack colour, like fungi, as it provides a rim light that outlines the subject to make it stand out. If you’re using the sun as your light source, you need it to be low enough in the sky to backlight your subjects. Or you could use off-camera flash, which can be positioned anywhere around the subject, so you’re not limited to a specific time of day. Shooting macro subjects using an offcamera flash from the front can help pick out texture and colour, whilst placing it towards the side helps emphasize form. You could try using a ring flash to get shadow-free shots with added impact.