Click on the praying mantis to see this fantastic shot in full.
Using a tripod and setting manual focus are essential for getting pin-sharp macro photography. Here we explain these and other ways to set up your camera to shoot close-ups.
The majority of photos we take are at eye-level. But often you can find amazing subjects to photograph – or even familiar subjects seen from a new angle – by getting down on the ground with your camera. Below we’ve offered our best tips for how to make shooting at ground level easier and more comfortable by explaining how to set up a camera for use at low vantage points.
Click on the picture to see this image in full.
This great macro photograph of a glasswing butterfly is sharply in focus.
Off-camera flash is a great way to create a backlight effect that can boost your still life photography. It’s an easy technique to master, and can add real depth and character to still lifes.
The trick is to create a lovely light rim around your subject, which will show off its shape and edge detail – the prickles of our thistle look great when they’re lit from behind.
Creating a deep depth of field when you’re shooting macro subjects is nearly impossible, even when using small apertures such as f/22. This can be frustrating if you want your subject to appear completely sharp from front to back. There is, however, a cunning solution to this problem. By using a combination of camera technique and careful photo editing you can expand the depth of field and get super-sharp results every time.
The shallow depth of field in this pretty image is spot on, which means that this little beauty is our photo of the day.
With spring in full bloom and summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time of year to start paying closer attention to the smaller world around us. While big vistas and landscape photography are popular subjects in the summer months, it’s also a great time to hone your macro photography skills.
For the latest infographic in our ongoing photography cheat sheet series, we’ve turned our cameras downward to the garden and forest floor to help you learn how to capture smaller subjects more effectively. For our macro photography cheat sheet we’ve produced four handy flow charts that take you step by step through some of the common areas of macro photography where people get tripped up.
‘Summer Delight’ by Maz features a cabbage white butterfly resting on a Scabiosa flower. The shallow depth of field creates a nice bokeh.
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