The Ultimate Guide to Macro Photography
Macro photography is all about making small items look larger than life. Anything from insects, flowers, and plants can become the focus of your photos.
Let’s dive into everything you need to know about macro photography!
What Is Macro Photography?
Macro photography is a challenging type of photography to pursue.
You have to work with very shallow depths of field and long shutter speeds. You will also find yourself working in tight spaces.
Your attention to detail needs to be very high, and you have to have an endless supply of patience.
Not to mention that your subjects might try to fly or slither away!
Our guide has all the information to help you start photographing the little things. It will help you improve your skills if you’re already familiar with macro, too.
Although some people see these as being the same thing, or at least similar, there is a difference. Macro photography is capturing something small and making it look larger than life.
Close-up photography is getting closer to a specific subject. These can be flowers – using them to fill the frame. This article goes into great depth on this subject.
Understanding Depth of Field
Depth of field is one of the most important areas of photography. Don’t overlook it as it will affect the type of camera you choose (crop vs. full frame) and the lenses you choose.
At it’s most basic, the depth of field is the amount of any scene you place in focus. This is something that is set by the aperture.
But, distance and focal length also play important parts. Read here to understand the basics and more advanced ideas on using depth of field in photography.
To be successful in macro photography, you need to have some sort of inspiration. Figuring out everything yourself, including style, is a hard task for beginners.
So why not gather motivation by looking at the images of some of the masters in this genre?
We’ve collected some of our favourite macro artists in this list. You can follow them and keep being inspired constantly.
When it comes to macro, the camera equipment you need can be quite different from other fields. The setup you’d use to photograph landscapes, people, streets, or even the stars wouldn’t work here.
The majority of macro photographers use a DSLR, and this is also the most versatile camera. Mirrorless cameras are also possible. There are even specific point and shoot models for macro photography.
We will concentrate on DSLRs, but also touch on other possibilities.
When it comes to macro photography, the importance falls on the lens, rather than the camera itself. This does not mean that the camera you use is not important.
The camera can, in fact, your choice of lens. Even so, it is possible to shoot a macro photograph on a point-and-shoot camera with a fixed lens.
But only as long as it can produce a minimum of 1:1 life-size ratio of the subject. This is what makes an image a macro photography image, rather than a close-up.
This extensive review article runs through the most common camera types. DSLRs, mirror less and point-and-shoot are all possible for photographing this macro world.
