Macro Photography Equipment Tips

What is macro photography? Macro photography is the art of taking close-ups of small things and the subjects tend to become larger than life. Sometimes you need dedicated macro photography techniques. It is the opposite of micro photography and often the subjects are things like a water droplet on the petal of a flower or a line of ladybirds as they go about their daily business.

What Camera to use for Macro Photography

You can get great results with just an ordinary point and shoot digital camera, but the serious macro photographer will want a single-lens reflex camera. You can attach special-purpose macro lenses and the viewfinder shows you what the end result will be on the sensor.

What is a Macro Lens?

It is easier to find a good quality single focus lens for macro photography than it is to find a good quality telephoto zoom lens. The best types of macro lenses have a ranging length of between 50 mm and 200 mm, and will focus continuously from infinity to 1:1.

A macro lens helical has floating elements to change the optical design to give good quality results in close-up macro photography. This is why you get beautiful, sharp images that are focused at all distances in macro photography photos.

So how do you choose a lens for macro photography? The same way you would choose a telephoto lens. You choose a macro lens to suit the purpose you want to use it for. For example, you may want to photograph that incredible butterfly perched on the edge of a pale pink rose petal early in the morning so you will need a 200 mm lens if you are going to capture it before it flies away. If your purpose is to compress the facial features of your subject then you will probably use a 105 mm lens over a short wide angle one.

Macro Photography Lighting

A handheld flash is handy for lighting your subjects and is powerful when used a few inches from the subject. Try using it on one side of the subject while someone holds up a white piece of paper on the other side as a reflector. This will give a harsh, stark effect.

For softer light, experiment with other material to diffuse the light from the flash, for example, colored gels.

If you have a fascination for capturing close-ups of small things then get out and experiment with different techniques for taking macro photographs, and see what amazing results you can get.

Note: Here’s a link to an article for improving your macro photography techniques.