Macro Photography
Macro photography is basically getting in close to your subject matter especially if that subject matter is small a classic example would be a butterfly on a leaf shot with a standard lens you would get a great shot of the branch that the leaf was on but a rather small butterfly on that leaf.
So how do we get in close ? If you have a compact camera these do often have a macro mode which to be fair are very reasonable this will allow the camera to be moved in much closer to the subject and subject still be in focus. What is actually happening is that the the focal point of the lens is being moved by extending the optics in the lens further forwards.
For those with a camera with interchangeable lens you have more choice in creating your close up image but this will depend on what lenses you have available to you to do this. Most medium length zooms have some macro ability allowing you to both zoom in on a subject and also get fairly close to it, however these still limiting, if you are serious about macro photography the next addition to your kit would in my mind be either a dedicated prime macro lens or a extension tube to mount your existing lens on to. The extension tube is going to be the most economic option and this will allow you to get in much closer with your existing lenses as it will move the focal point of the lens by setting further from the camera. 
You may wish to switch off auto focus and manually focus your lens.In fact I wouldn't even use auto focus with this type of work focus becomes very critical and the camera often does know what you are focusing on and "hunts" back and to trying to find something for you which can be distracting. There are a couple of other options that you can use one is a bellows type tube which allows you to control the focal point of your lens even ore than an extension tube there is also a devise that allows you to mount standard lens backwards to also create a similar optical effect.
My examples have been taken with either a dedicated 100 mm macro lens or with a combination of extension tube and also x1.7 converter to make my prime 80 mm lens into a 135 mm lens with an extension tube allowing it to work up close in macro which is probably my favourable option. If you are buying a dedicated macro lens then I would recommend a 100mm as this causes some compression of the the image and generally blurs out the background (but choosing anuatral background is also beneficial). You can get even longer macro lens such as 180 mm but these tend to be more expensive. It really depends on how close you want to work to the subject butterflies for instance fly off if you get too close so a longer lens prevents you needing to invade their space.
Some things you do need to know about macro photography focusing is critical therefore manual focusing is more preferable. From my previous Blog on depth of field (DOF) you should understand the principles this is critical with macro work as the DOF is drastically reduced at F16 your background could well be out of focus but so could some of your subject so focus where is most important and then increase the aperture till as much of the subject that you want in focus appears sharp. There is a DOF preview button on some cameras to allow you to see this before pressing the shutter. The other thing is everything has to be very still a tripod is a must in my mind but that will only keep the camera still not the subject if it is very windy they may find you are simply not successful as your subject is being blown around too much. Often macro shots are better in a controlled environment and for some subjects you my find it best to shoot in a shelter spot or even fasten then down as long as this is not in shot.Labels: marc byram photo photography tips macro extension tube lens camera advise how to
