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How to easily convert your kit lens into a macro lens

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Are you looking for an affordable but also electronic macro lens? Or maybe you have an old kit lens, that’s just sitting around, collecting dust since your last upgrade?

Well, then read on, because in this article I am going to share one cool hack that will allow you too transform almost any kit or standard zoom lens into a capable macro lens!

And I am not talking about reversing the lens or mounting it on extension tubes, we’re actually going to convert the lens for good. And it’s incredibly simple.

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Birefringence: How to photograph rainbow colors at home

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What does “Cross Polarization” mean?

Cross polarization is a technique that allows us to virtually eliminate specular highlights from images by using polarized light, but it also holds a lot of creative potential, as it can be used to bring out eye-catching rainbow gradients in subjects such as plastics, ice and certain crystals.

In the industry this technique is used e.g. to locate areas of stress in plastic, but it also holds a lot of potential for interesting macro images:

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What is cross polarization and how you can use it in your photography

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Cross polarization is a technique that uses two polarizing filters – one on the light source and on e on the camera lens – to get rid of unwanted specular reflections.

The following slideshow illustrates the effect at varying degrees, depending on the orientation of the filters with respect to each other.

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Here’s the complete macro setup for photographing your own eye

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The World of Macro Photography is full of fascinating subjects, but eyes and irises have got to be among the most mesmerizing ones.
And as with most captivating subjects, capturing it can be quite a challenge. In this article, I will share tips, tricks, and all the know-how you’ll need to create photographs, just like the one above, yourself.

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Pros and cons of teleconverters for macro photography

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What are teleconverters and how do they work?

Tele-converters are handy lens add-ons that multiply the focal length of the lens they are attached to. They can be mounted in between the camera body and lens (typically a telephoto lens) and increase the focal length of the lens which they are attached to.

By how much is dependent on their power, which is stated as a factor. E.g. a 1.4x teleconverter multiplies the original focal length of a lens by 1.4. As a result a 100mm lens would turn into a 140mm lens, a 200mm lens would turn into a 280mm lens, and so on. Most common are 1.4x or 2x converters, but occasionally converters as strong as 3x can be found as well.

Why am I telling you this in a macro blog? Well, the beauty of these converters is that their power not only applies to the focal length of regular lenses, but to the magnification ratio of macro lenses just as well!

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Everything you need to know for filming and photographing soap bubbles

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There are certain subjects in the macro world, which are so fascinating and absorbing that almost every macro photographer will point a camera at them at some point. And no matter how many photos you take or see of these subjects, their charm does not seem to wear off. Just think of snowflakes, the compound eyes of insects or the refractive nature of water droplets. Or, of course, the psychedelic colour plays of soap film: [Read More…]

Refractions 101: Follow this guide to take stunning refraction photos

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Refraction photography is an exciting subject that enjoys increasing popularity amongst photographers. You have probably seen refraction photos before, where an out-of-focus background appears sharply defined inside a crystal ball or a dew drop for example. In today’s post we will examine this phenomenon and learn how to take stunning photos, taking advantage of this fascinating effect.

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How I built my own DIY wide-angle macro lens

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The wide-angle paradox

As we know, wide angle lenses show a larger field of view and therefore make things appear smaller and appear further away than they are. Which contradicts the concept of macro photography, where we want our subject to be projected onto the sensor at a magnification ratio of at least 1.0x. So how can we combine a wide angle perspective and macro macro-capabilities?

The concept of wide-angle macro photography is not exactly new and there are other photographers out there, who built their own super-wide macro lenses. There even are a couple lenses on the market that provide 1.0x at a15mm focal length, but I much rather an interesting DIY project than spending 500$ on a niche lens.

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