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10 macro photography tips for beginners

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1. Lens

There are several good lens options for macro photography. You could use extension tubes combined with a normal lens, which gives you some magnification. Or even better, you could reverse a normal lens, which combined with extension tubes gives even more magnification. The most convenient and flexible option though, especially for a beginner within macro photography, is to get a dedicated macro lens.

The most popular models come in focal lengths between 90-105 mm, and have 1:1 magnification. There are also shorter focal lengths such as 50 or 60 mm, but these have shorter working distances, which means you have to get very close to your subject, risking to scare it away. 1:1 magnification means that when you focus as closely as possible, your subject is as big on the sensor as it is in real life. So if you have a full frame sensor of 36×24 mm, it means that any insect you want to shoot that is 36 mm long, just about fits in your picture.

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This artist photographs surreal “landscapes” from human skin and paint

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“Beauty is everywhere.” This is how Russian-born artist Ruslan Khasanov describes the motto that drives his creative work. In his latest video, he found beauty in bodily landscapes. He turns human skin into landscapes using nothing but some paint and a macro lens. It feels like you’re watching satellite shots of another world, so similar, yet so different from ours.

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A lightweight set-up for wide angle macro to give you more depth of field

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I like experimenting with different setups, especially for wide angle close-ups. Last year, I took my wife’s Sony A7 for a couple of field trips and paired it with the Voigtländer Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 with extension tubes for some wide angle macro photography, and the results were pretty cool! Compared to my usual DSLR setup, the lens was much smaller, allowing me to approach subjects from more compelling angles.

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A review of the Olympus STF-8 twin macro flash system for Micro Four Thirds

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Last year, Olympus Singapore loaned me a pre-launch unit of their new STF-8 Twin Macro Flash, together with their OMD-EM1 Mk1 and M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro for a test-run in the field. I’ve had the set for about a week — it was easy to use and the results were pretty good, although it took some time for me to get used to focusing using the LCD.

This review is grossly overdue, but I’m posting it because I had been receiving questions on macro photography performance on micro four-third systems. This not a technical review. Instead, I will explain its pros and cons, as well as simple steps to maximise its capabilities.

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Take your studio outside with this field macro photography guide

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The world of macro photograph is one that can absorb a photographer completely. You start off simple, perhaps with a reversing ring photographing small things around the house. Then you find a bug or two, buy a macro ringflash. Perhaps a speedlight or two, small reflectors and maybe even a softbox. But there’s only so much you can shoot at home on the kitchen table.

Getting out on location to shoot macro can be great fun. But the issues dealing with tripods or hand holding available light shots can be a pain. The typical go-to is the ringflash mentioned earlier. But there are some tricks to taking your tabletop studio out on location. In this pair of videso, Paul Morgan from Wex walks us through his mobile macro studio, and how he uses it on location.

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How to do macro photography on a budget and with a kit lens

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If you’d like to explore macro photography and you’re not willing to invest thousands of dollars in professional macro lenses, photographer Adam Kappa has quite an affordable solution. He shares the setup he uses for macro photography which all of us can use with minimum investment. It involves a kit lens, a cheap external flash, macro tubes and a DIY diffuser. So, with less than $100 of additional gear and some DIY magic, he achieves really great results. Take a look.

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This photographer uses sequin dresses to make wedding ring photos pop

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Weddings happen in a whole variety of different locations. Not all of them are as pretty as others. Sure, it’s nice to be shooting in a glorious venue, but sometimes you’re stuck in a boring grey room. This can make things tricky for shooting detail shots like the wedding rings. But there are ways to get pretty fantastic ring shots, even in the dullest of environments.

Texas based wedding photographer Ammar Selo has solved the problem of dull venues by bringing his own set and props. With them, he can create beautifully coloured backgrounds, and a much more pleasing result. When we saw his work come past our screens, DIYP decided to get in touch with Ammar to find out how he does it.

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This stunning video captures all four seasons through microscopes and macro lenses

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The team at Beauty of Science see the world a little differently to most of us. While we’re far too busy looking with our eyes, they’re seeing through microscopes and macro lenses. So many things happen on the small scale that we simply can’t see. Things we’d never even know about unless we went specifically looking for them, or somebody showed us to them.

And showing them to us is exactly where Beauty of Science excel. To round off their 2016 they’ve released the short film, Seasons – In a Small World. It shows incredible beauty found in the extremely small. Sights we’d not otherwise be able to see, and as the name suggests, it covers the four seasons found throughout the year. The colours, pace, timing, and action goes extremely well, set to the Strauss’ The Blue Danube.

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