Macro Photography - Seven Secrets for Stunning Macro Shots

Just some pointers to make sure that your macro shots stand out of the crowd. It is a common misconception that macro photography is something extremely tough and requires sound technical knowledge; in truth macro photography is actually quite simple and enables you to transform ordinary subjects into captivating themes. All it takes is a little understanding of the techniques, a will to experiment and needless to say … a lot of patience.

1. Steady your shot

Macro Photography - Seven Secrets for Stunning Macro Shots

One important skill to acquire while attempting macro photography is to steady your shot. Camera shake is the most common reason for blurry images and it is more so in case of macro photography. As we move closer and closer to our subject we have a very shallow depth of field and in order to get our frame in focus we will need to use very small aperture settings which results in slow shutter speeds and finally camera shake. So learn to minimize camera shake, use tripods, clamps, bean bags, cable release, wireless trigger and whatever equipment that helps you minimize it. If you are shooting with a DSLR, use the mirror lock up function to further reduce shake.

2. Use Manual Focus instead of Auto Focus

In macro photography, your camera’s auto focus feature is not of much help, most of the time it won’t be able to attain pin sharp focus, or even if it does it would have chosen the wrong area. The whole process is a hassle. So shift your lens to manual focus mode. It allows you to focus precisely over the right area of your subject; and with a little practice you will find that it is way quicker than auto focus.

One tip while attempting manual focus is to set your lens to its minimum focusing distance and move back and forth to attain focus.

3. Learn to use Portable Lights and Diffusers

Lighting your subject is one of the hardest elements of macro photography. It is quite a challenge to light up small subject in a way that highlights its features and bring out the contours and other details. So the ability to control light is very critical. You may use off camera flashes or strobes to light up your subject, fill in flash to help lighten shadow areas, diffusers to soften harsh light (direct sunlight) etc in order to light up your subject.

4. Bring out the Details in your subject

Always use the lowest ISO setting possible with the available lighting options. Shoot in RAW mode if your camera supports it. You may be able to recover some details from shadows or highlights during post processing your images. Focus carefully on the right elements in the frame to bring out its details.

5. Avoid Background Clutter

Make your subject stand out, keep your composition as simple as possible, do not cram a lot of things into one frame. If the background of the subject does not please you and if you cannot move your subject; choose shallow depth of field to blur out background so that your subject stands out. Avoid background colours that are too similar or too contrasting to the main subject.

6. Work on a Series

Macro photography works well when there is a story to be told, so try to shoot a series of images on related themes, like activity in an ants nest, patterns on the wings of various insects etc. The overall feel of the theme is what captures the interest of the viewer and even images that are not very appealing by itself looks good when it is viewed as part of a series.

7. Observe and Learn

Always keep your eyes and ears open to what is happening around you. Observe the behavior of your subject. Get to know the subject well it will enable you to anticipate the subject’s movements and behavior and lets you better compose your frames. Identify and Isolate the most interesting aspect of your subject and try to highlight it.

Lastly the real secret of great macro shots is the patience and diligence shown by the photographer. Work on it and you will realize the effect it has on the quality of your macro shots.

School of Digital Photography