Reflectors are often used in natural light portrait photography, where they can act as an additional light source. But they can be used for much more than that. In this article we'll look at what reflectors are, some of the different types, and the various ways they can help you get better photos.
Summer can be a bit of a paradox in terms of its suitability for photography. In one aspect it's great for photography - it's nice weather for going out, there's often lots happening to photograph, and there's plenty of light.
On the other hand, the sun spends a lot of the day high up in the sky, creating harsh lighting and strong shadows. The light is very contrasty and capturing an image with detail in both the shadows and highlights can be nigh-on impossible.
In this article I want to look at how you can deal with the problems of photographing in the summer. I'll also look at some of the good points of summer photography compared to other times of the year.
Fungi don't seem to be as popular a subject as flowers. Maybe it's that they're not so easy to find, or that many of them are quite dull in coloration compared to flowers. Or maybe it's that photographing them often involves getting down in the dirt.
The fact is that fungi do actually make great subjects for photos, and I want to share a few tips on photographing them in this article.
Mushroom Mosaic by Red~Star (off & on--taking care of Jasmine) on flickr (licensed CC-BY-SA)
Insects and other creepy-crawlies such as spiders make great subjects for macro photography. When we normally see a fly buzzing around, it just looks like a black blob. But on the macro level it looks very different.
Horsefly portrait by Gilles San Martin on flickr (licensed CC-BY-SA)
Many creatures can have an almost otherworldly look about them when captured up close. In a sense, they are of another world - the macro world.
In this article we'll look at some tips on getting close to insects (and other invertebrates) without scaring them away, finding them, and how to photograph them.
Read the rest of this entry »Plants and flowers are one of the most popular subjects for macro photography. They are naturally appealing the eye, and can be found easily. Even in winter you can still buy cut flowers to practise your photography skills on indoors.
Rose 7623 by Kain Kalju on flickr (licensed CC-BY)
In the last couple of articles we've looked at lighting for macro and close-up photos, and the different flash configurations available. In this article I want to look at a couple of problems you are likely to come up against when using flash to light your macro photos. These issues with are black or dark backgrounds, and harsh lighting.
Focusing for macro and close-up photography is usually best done manually. At close-focus distances lenses can sometimes find it hard to lock focus. If a lens racks the focus out to infinity and then back again before it finally focuses on the subject, this can take some time. It may not even be able to find focus on the subject, and leave you with an unfocused image in the viewfinder.
DSC_1355 by Ben Fredericson (xjrlokix) on flickr (licensed CC-BY) - photo taken using manual focus
When you take a photo of a landscape, it's not too difficult to get everything from a few feet in front of you all the way to the horizon in focus. But as you get closer to your subject and the magnification level increases, the depth of field (amount of the image in focus) rapidly drops off.
In macro and close-up photography, depth of field is so narrow it is usually measured in millimeters. So taking photos where more than just a thin sliver of the image is in focus can be tricky.
The depth of field in this image covers just a small part of the butterfly's mustache
Diopter or close-up lenses are a good way to add macro / close-up ability to your current photography gear. They work by screwing or clipping on to the front of your camera's lens, and decrease the minimum focusing distance. This allows you to move your camera closer to the subject, and achieve higher magnification photos.
Livin' on the edge by Fountain_Head on flickr (licensed CC-BY)
These close-up lenses work with all cameras where the lens has a filter thread. So they will work with virtually all interchangeable lens camera lenses, and most bridge and advanced compact cameras that have built-in lenses. With some cameras that have an integrated lens, you may need to purchase an accessory tube that attaches to the lens to provide a filter thread that the close-up lens can then be screwed into.
Read the rest of this entry »Continuing our look at different methods for capturing macro and close-up photographs, in this article I want to look at extension tubes and bellows. Both of these methods are only applicable for cameras with interchangeable lenses, as they sit between the lens and the camera.
They both work the same way, by extending the lens away from the camera body, the minimum focusing distance of the lens decreases. You can then get closer to your subject, and get some great macro photos.
Emerge by aussiegall on flickr (licensed CC-BY)
