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If you’re stuck at home with nothing to do, try working on your macro photography

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It’s a strange time. Spring is here and it’s starting to warm back up outside after the winter chill, but no matter where we are in the world, we’re still mostly stuck indoors. For photographers, this can be frustrating. We’ve spent the last few months just itching to get back outside, and now we can’t. What can we do?

Joe Edelman has been thinking about this and over the past few days, he’s been doing a series of videos with photography challenges to try when stuck at home. Naturally, it’s a multi-part series, because we’re going to be here for a while. This one covers some pretty interesting creative macro tips for you to have a go at.

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Adapting industrial lenses for extreme macro photography

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If you ever visited some industrial surplus shops, very often you would see some cameras and lenses used in industrial automation. But you probably do not know that these lenses can have very high optical performance and features we want: high resolving power, large image circle, low distortion, and often very long working distance compared to some of the other lenses we use.

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This photographer 3D printed his own “photo sniper” grip for his macro photography setup

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A few months ago, photographer Nick Sherlock shared with us his epic 3D printed 300mm long extension tube. Then he needed something to hold this beast and provide him with more stability, and he once again put his 3D printer to work. Inspired by the legendary Zenit Fotosniper, Nick designed and printed his own rifle-style grip. It doesn’t only look cool, but it gives him way more stability when using his macro setup.

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Adaptalux expands its macro lighting range with new Xenon Flash Arm units

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Adaptalux was launched through Kickstarter back in 2015, just creeping past its £100,000 goal. It was a new way to light macro easily with flexible magnetic arms and LED lights that you could get in close to your subject from all angles. LEDs aren’t typically all that bright, though, even when very close. So now, Adaptalux has announced new xenon flash lighting arms, compatible with the existing system.

They’ve taken to Kickstarter again to launch the new flash units. They’re backwards compatible with the previous modular “pods”, retain the same flexible functionality as the LED heads, and they can be controlled via a mobile app for Android or iOS.

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This photographer designed and 3D printed a massive 300mm extension tube for super macro magnification

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3D printing has come such a long way in the last few years. As developments in printer design and software have progressed, it’s become a lot easier to make some pretty accurate prints. One photographer, though, Nick Sherlock, decided to test the limits of his 3D printer to make a 300mm long extension tube allowing him to extend the magnification of his Sigma 180mm f/3.5 APO Macro DG HSM lens.

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This macro timelapse shows the unexpected beauty of pills dissolving in water

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When you shoot macro photo and video, you can find beauty even in the most unexpected places. Visual art director Ben Ouaniche decided to look for it in a range of pills dissolving in water. So, he took his camera, submerged a range of pills in water, and created a timelapse that will keep you staring at it from the beginning to the end.

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This stunning macro footage shows 11 elements that make up your body

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Beauty of Science has presented us with some amazing video before. To celebrate The International Year of the Periodic Table, the team has created a fantastic video which celebrates human life. We’ve all mainly been made of 11 chemical elements, and this video shows these elements from up close in a beautiful series of macro video clips.

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The LAOWA 100 mm F2.8 2:1 macro is so strong, it could compete with a microscope

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What if you had a lens so strong, it could compete with a microscope?

The Laowa 100 mil F2.8 CA-Dreamer is a 2 to 1 macro lens which is quite an interesting option. It is a manual lens, with a portrait-friendly 100 millimeters.

It’s built kinda weird, with the front element moving inside the lens barrel. It’s the first I’ve seen this weird lens design. More on that later. It is also a macro lens with an amazing two to one magnification ratio. That is a LOT. The “standard” Canon 100mm 2.8, which is considered a great macro lens, “only” boasts a one to one ratio, so the Laowa provides twice as much magnification. But how close is 2:1?

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Shooting water droplet refractions for magical macro photos

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Like tiny crystal balls, water droplets can add a magical element to macro photographs. There are a number of moving parts to consider, but the basic concept is simple: a spherical droplet can act like a lens, refracting light from whatever is behind it.

Getting good droplets can be problematic, as most surfaces will cause water to spread out rather than to bead up nicely. Using just plain water (no glycerine or other additives), one of the easiest foreground objects to use is a dandelion seed:

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Here are some macro photography ideas you can shoot at home right now

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Just because you might know your own home like the back of your hand, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing exciting left to shoot there. If you’re not convinced, this video from COOPH will change your mind.

Your home is full of photographic opportunities you can grab on a rainy day or when you simply feel like playing with a camera. And best of all – you can try them out straight away. Check out the ideas in the video below, and I’ll give you a few suggestions of my own, too.

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