Closer, closer, ouch! That’s too close.

• Ever wondered how to make a macro photo?
• Ever wondered how they manage to take that beautiful photo of the scary insect?
• Ever wondered how to get close enough?

So did I, and therefore I started a quest to discover the wonders of close-up photography.

And my journey is still going on. So for the time being you shouldn’t expect too much. But I just wanted to share the things that I have encountered.

before you start trying to make macro or close-up photographs I think you should understand what the theory behind it is.

The definition of close-up photography is that the image projected on the “film plane” (i.e film or a digital sensor) is close to the same size as the subject. In the last few years they have used the term ‘Macro’ for lenses that make it possible to show your subject in real size on the actual print, this only requires a magnification of 1:4. Most most lenses at the moment are able to get a magnification of 1:2. A real macro lens will get you a magnification of 1:1, which matches the definition of macro.

When you have an all-round lens that has a macro setting you will be able to get close to your subject but the performance will be less. This means that the focus quality will be less then when you use a ‘real’ macro lens.

Macro lenses come in different focal length. The longer the lens the further you can be from your subject while you still get the required magnification. So if you are only shooting stills you will more then happy with a short focal length. If you are trying to shoot a live object like insects it might be handy to use a longer focal length, so you can maintain more distance to your subject. But you have to understand that a longer lens is also more expensive.

to be continued…..

Tags: insects, macro, magnification, photographs