Ten Tips for Better Close-Ups
By Jeff Bryson
29 November 2007
Technically, macro is when the subject is larger on the media (negative or sensor) than it is in real life, so I'll use the term close up.
1. Above all, start off using your tripod. This will avoid camera shake.
2. Use a cable release or remote triggering device. If you don't have one, you can use the timer on your camera, but this will preclude the next tip.
3. Use mirror lock-up. With mirror-lock up the shutter release must be pressed once to move the mirror up, and a second time to capture the image. This takes away the vibration of the mirror movement when the image is actually captured.
4. Use a fixed focal length lens. A zoom lens will slide if you are shooting down, and it is hard to get a good focus. If you are using extension tubes (see the next tip) zooming throws the image out of focus.
5. Use extension tubes. Don't think you have to buy an expensive macro lens. I use Canon's thrifty fifty and their 85mm 1.8 lens with generic extension tubes. Don't be shy about using more than one tube together. Many lenses will say they are macro lenses, but in actuality you can't get closer than 1 1/2 feet and still have focus.
6. Be patient with the wind. The pine needle image was taken after five minutes. Even the slightest wind will throw your subject out of focus or out of the frame. I used my 12 inch reflector disk as a wind screen when the wind slowed down enough.
7. Use aperture priority set to f/9.0. Depth of field will be very shallow. A higher f-stop does not give greater sharpness, and takes away shutter speed. A lower f-stop takes away sharpness. Raise the ISO rating on the camera until you get 1/60 sutter speed. Don't expect a great depth-of-field. Choose one interesting point to focus on and be content with that. If the subject is relatively flat in 3-D, you may get great sharpness in 2-D. Most close-up subjects are not so flat. The butterfly image is an example of a relatively flat subject.
8. Expect to crop. The butterfly image could not be cropped for the JPG web site because of the parameters for uploads. The original image was cropped and printed at 8x10 with the butterfly filling the entire image area.
9. Once you've mastered close-up with the tripod, cabell release and mirror lock-up, put these aside and shoot handheld. The bee and butterly images were shot handheld. I did not want to put the bee in the freezer so it couldn't move (that, to me is cruel). Instead, I stood at the Rose of Sharon tree for an hour and followed the bee from flower to flower. When shooting handheld, raise the ISO rating until you get f/9.0 at 1/100 using aperture priority.
10. Take numerous images. Ansel Adams once said that any good photographer had 10,000 bad negatives under his belt. Since he was referring to large-format images, we can safely say that a D-SLR or 35mm photographer isn't good until they have 30,000 images under their belt. It takes 3 times as many bad images to get one good close-up than in other types of photography.
The butterfly image was taken with the Canon 5D and 24-105mm IS lens. The other images were taken with the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, using extension tubes, and either the thrifty fifty or the 85mm 1.8 lens.
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