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macro photography

Fairy-like Danube mayflies win Close-up Photographer of the Year’s “Minimal” challenge

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Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) has displayed magnificent photos over the last few years. But other than the main contest, it has special annual challenges, each featuring a different topic.

This year, CUPOTY challenged the photographers to answer the topic Minimal. This year’s winner is Hungarian photographer Ferenc Kocsis for his dreamy image of Danube mayflies in flight. Their “dance” is a very special event, possible to capture in a very short time span. And with his winning photo, Ferenc captured the magic of this unique phenomenon.

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How I created the ultimate camera mount for my DIY live streams

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As a model maker, I’ve recently started live-streaming my work to connect with my audience and share my creative process. However, capturing the right angle can be challenging, especially when using a full-fledged DSLR with a tele macro lens. There’s not a lot of room on a craft bench for a camera. Also, positions with a clear line of sight to the actual work are tricky to find.

In this post, I’ll describe how I made a low-profile stand for my camera. A stand that holds my camera stable and fits the standard module size of a HobbyZone craft workstation. If you are familiar with the Platypod system, this is somewhat of a similar concept.

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This Arduino-powered DIY macro rail helps you shoot perfect stacked macro shots every time

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If there’s one essential item for macro photography, aside from a macro lens (or extension tubes), it’s a macro focusing rail. We’ve featured a few focusing rails here on DIYP before, like the NiSi NM-180 (review here), as well as some other DIY solutions. This one, from Curious Scientist, is an ongoing project based around an Arduino Nano that uses a stepper motor to move your camera along a rail in fine increments.

I say it’s an ongoing project because since releasing his first video on his motorised macro rail slider only a month ago, he’s already posted an update showing almost a complete redesign of the staging platform on which you mount the camera. Depending on your camera and needs, either design might work very well for you, so I’ve included his videos below for both of them.

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The Microcosmos of Winter: How I shot ice crystals in sub-zero temperatures with an extreme macro lens

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In the “Microcosmos of Winter,” I wanted to show never-seen-before footage of a soap bubble that starts to freeze. I previously tried to film this two years ago with my Sony 90 1:1 and Raynox DRC-250, which only allowed me to shoot at about 2X magnification. However, the weather in Germany at that time was simply too warm for it to work.

Two years later, and with suitable cold conditions of -10°C, I was ready to try again. This time, I was armed with my Laowa 25mm, which has a 5:1 magnification, allowing me to shoot extreme macro detail.

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The LEDCard is a pocket-sized DIY macro ringlight for your smartphone

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This looks like a fun little project for the electronics-inclined. It’s called the LEDCard, and it’s a credit card-sized macro ring light for your phone that wraps around your smartphone camera’s lens. And if you don’t have a smartphone capable of macro-focusing, don’t worry! LEDCard’s creator, MisterHW, has thought of you, too, with a recess to insert a moulded acrylic lens to help you focus closer.

The whole thing lives on a single PCB and uses rechargeable LIR2430 Lithium-Ion cells, which charge up over USB. Upon charging, the LEDCard requires no wires or cables. It’s turned on or off by the simple push of a button, and an LM3410 LED driver IC lights up all of the SMD LEDs, illuminating the view around your lens for close-up subjects.

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Five tips for shooting macro snow photography to take your snowflake photos to the next level

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For the northern hemisphere (sorry, Australia!), it’s winter right now. That means lots of snow for some of us, a little bit of snow for more of us and sadly, none for a few of us. Every year at this time, though, one of the most popular subjects for photographers becomes the snow itself. Either it’s snow covering a landscape or some local landmark, or for those of us with a macro lens, it’s the snowflakes themselves.

Whatever situation we find ourselves in, though, whether the snow’s in our backyard or we have to travel a little bit to get to it, snow can be a very enticing subject to shoot with a macro lens. And in this video, photographer Micael Widell offers us his five top tips for shooting snowflake macro photography, including a couple you might not have even considered.

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How to build long-working-distance macro lens rigs with your DSLR or mirrorless camera

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Long Distance Working Objectives (LDW) are specially designed lenses intended to provide high-resolution imaging and a greater working distance when compared to conventional lenses.

The benefit to using these in a macro or micro range is that the configuration provides more room to illuminate the subject and also to image at a more convenient distance for focus stacking techniques.

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This captivating macro video shows the exciting process of chemical reactions

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When you think about it, we’re surrounded by all sorts of chemical reactions, both in the outside world and inside our own bodies. And have you ever wondered what they looked up close?

Scott Portingale has, and he’s turned his curiosity into captivating, gorgeous videos. In his latest work titled Chemical Somnia, he captures the exciting process of various chemical reactions, in both still and video format.

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Picture of salamanders consumed by carnivorous plant wins 2022 Close-Up Photographer of the Year

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Close-Up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) is one of those contests I always look forward to. To start off the new year with lots of inspiring images, the competition has shared its winners and runner-ups, and they’re absolutely stunning.

Canadian photographer Samantha Stephens is the overall winner of this year’s contest, and her striking image shows something you don’t see every day: a pair of salamanders being consumed by a carnivorous pitcher plant. As always, there are plenty more of great photos among the category winners, so let’s dive in and check them out.

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These mesmerizing extreme macro images of eyes are like windows to other worlds

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They almost look like aerial photographs of glacial meltwater flowing into Icelandic lakes. But these are no fluvial waters. These are extreme macro close-ups of the human eye, taken by portrait photographer Markus Hofstätter.

The abstract nature and varied colors and textures are all part of the beauty of these images. Markus has been fascinated by eyes for many years but devised a method to capture even more close-up images. Markus tells DIYP that he started this project around 4 years ago and is finally ready to unveil it.

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