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Eight of the most common macro photography mistakes and how to avoid them

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Macro can be a tricky subject, especially if you want to be able to do it well. Chances are, most of us who’ve tried to have a go at macro have made some or all of mistakes at some point. Some of us spot them as soon as we’ve made them and figure out how to work around them. But those mistakes are not always so obvious.

I’ve certainly made a few macro mistakes over the years, where images haven’t turned out exactly the way I wanted, but wasn’t sure why. In this video, macro photographer Micael Widell shows us the eight most common beginner mistakes he sees in macro photography and how you can avoid them.

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This is how Canon’s Spherical Aberration dial works on the new RF 100mm f/2.8 macro

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Last week, Canon rehoused a couple of its old EF lenses into RF cases, but also released something brand new. A macro lens that wasn’t just an old design with an EF to RF adapter bolted on the end, but a whole new design. That lens is the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM and it brings with it a new and very unique feature – Spherical Aberration Control.

It’s a ring just behind the focus ring that lets you adjust how the out of focus areas of the scene are rendered within your shot. But what does that mean in the real world? How does it make them look? Well, this video from Canon Europe answers that with some examples from pro macro photographer, Oliver Wright, who’s been using it with the Canon EOS R5.

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How to take creative macro photos in your kitchen sink

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Here comes a quick, easy tip on something you can try in your kitchen with a macro lens.

Yesterday as I was doing the dishes, the water stream hit an egg cup and bounced up in a concentrated jet, splashing water up all over me. We have all been there, and we all hate when it happens. But this time, the macro photography lover in me noticed that the structure of the jet that splashed up from the egg cup actually looked pretty interesting!

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This trippy macro timelapse turns shriveling of plants into art

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Motion designer Christian Stangl has shown us some incredible videos shot in space. This time, he chose quite the opposite of the vast universe and filmed a timelapse from up close. Using macro lenses or a microscope, he shot an incredible timelapse named Dry Out, showing various plants shriveling as they dry out.

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I turned a 610mm World War II spy lens into a 10ft long large format macro camera

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You didn’t ask to learn about bellows extension factors but we’re going to cover it with the most absurd camera that you may ever see!

Built from over two sheets of plywood, scraps of 2x6s, old drywall screws, and the cheapest 610mm lens that I could find on eBay, literally every expense was spared. I would be surprised if I spent more than $200 out of pocket to create this 10′ behemoth.

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Just how good are cheap extension tubes and do they really compare to an expensive dedicated macro lens?

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Macro photography is some of the most fun you can have with a camera. But good macro lenses can be very expensive. There are other things we can do, however, to get macro-like images with our regular lenses, though, without actually having to buy a macro lens. There are close-up filters, reversing rings and extension tubes, for example.

But the latter of those three options, extension tubes, is generally thought to give the best results. But how do they really compare to a true macro lens? In this video, Karl Taylor takes a look at true macro lenses vs extension tubes on both Sony full-frame and Hasselblad medium format systems to see how the two techniques stack up against each other.

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Here are seven macro photography ideas you can shoot at home and on a budget

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When the weather is bad or you’re in a lockdown, taking some shots at home is one of the best ways to spend time. And there can never be enough ideas to spark some inspiration if you ask me. So, Spencer Cox has created a video to show you seven low-budget ideas for macro photos you can shoot at home right now. He also shares a bunch of useful tips for getting the best results, which will be especially useful if you’re new to this genre of photography.

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Here are 13 close-up photography ideas to shoot when you’re bored at home

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Judging from the current situation, we’ll face another round of lockdowns soon. Winter is also closer than it seems here in the Northern hemisphere, so all in all- I guess we’ll be at home a lot more. And in case you get bored, you can always spend some quality time with your camera. In this video, Run N Gun will show you ten ideas for shooting close-up and macro photos around the house, and I’ll jump in with three of my own.

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Six macro photography ideas that you’ve (probably) never tried before

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A few days ago, we spoke about five reasons to use vintage macro lenses. And if you don’t know where to start shooting, here are some pretty cool ideas. In this video, COOPH gives you six macro photography ideas that you have probably never seen or tried before. Let’s see what they’ve got for us and get inspired.

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