Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones from 50mmframework.com and this is episode 55 of the Photography Q&A podcast.
This week's photographer I’m going to tell you about later, specializes in macro photography, which is good because the question this week is …
What is macro photography?
Well, it is taking photographs of small objects and making them larger than life-size in the photo. The small objects could be insects, plants, in fact, anything that can’t be seen in detail with the naked eye.
Up until a week ago I have looked at macro photographs and been amazed at the detail but didn’t think about trying it myself. Then last week I was struck by the macro photography bug.
I was on youtube and a video was suggested called “Macro Photography for Beginners”. I guess it struck a chord because I watched it. In fact, I watched it a couple of times.
What hooked me was how easy it is to get started.
Let’s take a look at your options when you are starting out.
My first thought was that you have to use a macro lens, and some of them are not cheap. The major brands like Canon, Nikon, etc are very expensive at over $1000 and offer a 1:1 reproduction ratio. 1:1 ratio produces a life-size image of the subject, think of it as 1x magnification.
This is a great starting place and you will get lots of detail in your images, but you will need to look for a different setup if you want to get even closer.
To get more detail you need more magnification. There are lenses that offer 2x and up to 5x magnification. The images taken at 5x are incredible but the depth of field is microscopic and doesn’t appeal to me, but you might love it.
My favorite is the 2x and in particular the Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro lens. I’ve already put this on my Christmas list, so if you were wondering what to get me, I’m just saying. It sells for under $500. There are other lenses available, but I’ve only been looking into this for a week, so I’ll report back when I have more info.
With a 2x lens your subject is going to be twice as big in the photograph compared to a 1x lens. If your subject is a fly, you will be able to see the individual hairs on its body and the segments of the eyes at 2x magnification.
Instead of buying a new lens, you can go the route I took. I did consider buying a close-up filter that goes on the front of your lens, but as none of the experts mentioned that option I decided against it.
The option I chose was extension tubes. These mount between the camera body and the lens to give higher magnification.
They are inexpensive, I paid $30 CDN for a set of three. They are 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm in length. There are no lens elements in them they are just tubes. I will say I wish I had paid a little more and got some that were a bit sturdier. I can feel my lens flex when mounted to them, so I handle everything very carefully when shooting.
Last night I spent a few hours checking out people's DIY macro lens projects. One of them costs under $250 and involved reversing a Canon 40mm lens together with an extension tube, reverse adapter, and a step-up ring. It worked well but DIY lenses aren’t everybody's cup of tea.
You can take macro photos using the available light, but you really need a flash to get good results.
I use an on-camera flash with a sto-fen diffuser pointed straight at the subject at 1/16 power. I have ordered a new diffuser that gives a bigger softer light. It slides onto the lens and stands up in front of the flash like the front panel of a softbox. I’ll report back when I get it.
Macro is unlike any type of photography I have done. Everything is set to manual, the lens, flash, and camera. Plus I have been using live view instead of the viewfinder. I don’t even use the focus ring on the lens to focus, I just move the camera in and out until I see the subject in focus.
So the settings to use are ISO 100, aperture at f/8, and shutter speed at 1/200. The flash is in manual setting mode at 1/16 power. If you are shooting on a sunny day try to put yourself between the sun and the subject.
My setup is a 50mm lens with 31mm + 13mm extension tubes. I’m going to be experimenting with all three tubes mounted together to give 1.47x magnification. The more extension you use the closer to the subject you have to be. With 31 & 13mm, your lens has to be 2 or 3 inches from the subject, which isn’t easy with insects.
I have to say I am totally obsessed with macro. Within one hour of receiving my extension tubes I was getting images I was excited about. I haven’t been this buzzed about my photography since I got my first film camera when I was a kid.
So now I want to introduce you to the photographer that produced the video that got me started. His name is Micael Widell and he lives in Sweden. His photos are incredibly detailed and he knows what he’s talking about when trying out equipment. I’ll put a link in the show notes for his youtube channel. Check him out.
OK, that’s it for this episode.
Have a great week, bye for now.