Macro-photography quick tips

Just thought I'd share some of the things I've learned about macro photography (especially insects) with dSLR cameras since taking it up in November 2007. This post will just be some quick tips and common settings and techniques I use. I intend to do some more in-depth and specialised posts later and will link them from here.

If you have anything to add, disagree with me, or have questions/answers that you don't think I've covered, please let me know so I can improve this post.

Macro photography is not like other styles of photography. You are working extremely close to the subject (couple of hundred millimetres or less) and depth of field is very, very narrow because of this (in the order of millimetres or less than a millimetre). This adds a whole new dimension to your technique and gear.

Camera Settings

I always shoot in full Manual mode. Take control of your camera. If you shoot in one of the automatic modes, or even Av or Tv priorities, you are assuming that your camera will get the exposure right. It doesn't always. Shoot in full Manual and you will get much more consistency and control of your exposures. I apply this philosophy to all of my photography, not just macro.

Aperture

Because you are working so close to the subject, depth of field is extremely narrow. We're talking less than a millimetre even if your aperture is f/8 to f/11. That's hard to focus hand-held on a living bug walking over a plant stem that is blowing in the breeze.

Close the aperture down to f/8 to f/16 to give a depth of field to something a little more workable. I usually have aperture set to f/11. At min working distance this might give depth of field enough to get at least the head/eyes in focus.

Try to refrain from using apertures smaller than f/16 as diffraction softening can come into play. That's where the image loses its sharpness.

Shutter Speed

Keep it reasonably fast. For my camera and flash, 1/200s is the fastest shutter speed possible that can sync with the flash. This maximum speed is a function of your flash and camera and it varies from model and manufacturer. It may be 1/200s to 1/250s or thereabouts. But the idea is that you want to stop the motion of moving bugs on swaying branches etc, while at the same time you want it slow enough to get some ambient background light.

ISO

You don't want noise or grain in your photos, so keep ISO at or below about 400. This will vary from camera to camera. Some might go up to ISO 800 without showing too much noise.

Flash

I almost always use flash. At the sort of apertures and shutter speeds mentioned below, you'll struggle without adding some light to the scene. You could up the ISO, but that can make the shots noisier/grainier and so penalise your final image quality.

For similar reasons to the above, I am shooting pretty much full Manual flash now also. You can use E-TTL flash very successfully, but I like the control and consistency of light with manual flash. Additionally, with E-TTL flash there is a pre-flash before your shot is taken, and sometimes this can startle your subject before you actually get the shot. There is no pre-flash with manual flash so if the insect gets startled, it's after you've already got your shot.

With subjects so close, built-in flashes will probably give a shadow due to the end of the lens. Additionally, the lighting and shadows from un-diffused flash is very harsh. Diffusers soften the highlights and shadows nicely.

Focusing

As I've mentioned several times above, your depth of field is very narrow. Put your lens on manual focus. Macro lenses are typically very slow to autofocus and the bug has moved by the time the AF has finished hunting.

Find the rough focus by manually adjusting it, the physically move yourself backwards and forwards until the subject is in focus and shoot quick. I usually move forwards until the head or eyes are just leaving the depth of field, then move back half that distance to get most of the interesting part in focus. Insects, as with human portraits, look better if the focus is on the eyes.

It sounds tricky but just takes a little practice.

More detail on:

* Choosing a macro lens

Other Tips

Other things I'd like to discuss/share later are listed below. This is kind of like a "to do" list:
* diffusers
* extension
tubes
* teleconvertors
* focus stacking (with lrenfuse, zerene stacker, combinezm)
* post-processing
* when to best shoot
* hunting bugs
* composition
* lighting
* diffraction softening
* holding
* stalking
* good links
* beanpole
* monitor calibration
* white balance
* close-up filters
* bellows
* reversing lenses
* ring flashes, brackets, twinlight
* pre-flash ETTL and manual flash benefits
* working distance and flash diffusion considerations
* field curvature
* holding the leaf