If
you are interested in doing really close up photography, or macro photography,
of things like beautiful flowers, interesting insects or any other object that
you want to get extremely close to, you will need the assistance of a macro
lens. These lenses are extremely specialized and designed only for very close
up photography. These types of lenses are often used for marketing, nature
shots, science shots as well as medical photography. Most of the macro lenses
will have a 1-1 framing ration, this means, that everything that is the frame
is its actual size. The most common subjects found in these kinds of shots are
generally creatures or some sort of objects that are very visually interesting
or intriguing and are usually overlooked if viewing them with the naked eye.
Using this kind of lens will take practice but, if you try to follow the few
rules listed below, it should help you develop your own technique. You should
choose a macro lens that is going to fit your personal photography needs. Just
like any lens, the macro lens comes in a variety of different focal lengths.
Those lenses that are 50 mm
and 60 mm
with fixed focal lengths will capture much wider angles than those that are 100 mm or 300 mm. If you are in need
of highly controlled situations like a food item or product photography then a
wide macro lens is going to do the job. The longer macro lenses are far better
for the less controlled shots where you need to keep some distance.
For
instance, if you are shooting close ups of small creatures such as birds or
insects would be best taken with the longer lenses so the creatures don't react
to you being there or leave because you are too close to them. You can attach
your macro lens by simply matching the red dot that is on your lens with the
red dot you will find on the mounting plate of your cameras body. Then just
turn the lens to the right until it clicks. This lets you know that the macro
lens is mounted on your camera. Figure out what you want your subject matter to
be. You then should find yourself a good vantage point to take a shot of the
subject while considering the background at the same time. A simple background
is going to be the best for most macro photography because it doesn't draw the
attention away from your subject matter. The most common backgrounds used in
studio type macro photography are black, grey and white and blurred grass and
blue skies work extremely well for your outside nature shots. Another good
thing to do is to try and fill the frame to simplify the macro shots. How you
do this is try and get as close as you possibly can to your subject so that the
subject actually dominates the frame. Then make sure to check all the corners
before you take the shot to ensure that the subject is taking up most of the
frame. It's probably a good idea to use a tripod when you are going to be shooting
in one area for an extended amount of time. When you use a tripod, it will
decrease the chance that you will get a blurry shot and it will also keep you
from having to adjust the focus as often. In order to perfect you skill at
macro photography you really need to practice often and do the same types of
shots over and over again until you really get the hang of doing it. It will
take you a lot of experimenting and trial and error but eventually you will end
up with some outstanding macro images.
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