Macro Photography For Beginners

Macro Photography Website

2011-05-17T18:36:00.004+01:00

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners

I was in the middle of writing a new post about using filters in macro photography, when I just decided that this blog had run its course. I've looked through some of my earlier posts and discovered that times have changed and techniques have moved on. I still use the same camera, same lens, ring flash and a reinforced benbo tripod for my macro photography. I am still experimenting with wind breaks for wildflower shots and weird flash brackets for insect shots.

I have some exciting news about the development of this website. I have registered the dot com version of this website and taken out a hosting account. I am currently writing new content for t he webpages of the dot com website. In other words you can find me and my new blog at http://www.macrophotographyforbeginners.com [looks great without the blogspot suffix doesn't it]

Not that I have anything against the Blogger/Blogsot format, it is a good place to begin but in hindsight it might have been better to go with a dot com from the outset. I'm looking forward to writing the new content and helping more beginners get themselves on the road to sharp high quality macro photographs. I plan to write with more freedom, less search engine orientated material, just concentrating making my new site a good experience for the reader.

This website has done quite well over the years and I'm looking forward to expanding the content to an even bigger audience. I never imagined that so many people would be interested in my simple guide to macro photography.

By all means, come along. Do drop in...but be aware that I have not even begun writing the content. The link below is really just to get the ball rolling. Get my new site into the index and give my new site a shot in the arm, so to speak. Echo and the Bunnymen sang "Nothing Lasts Forever" and with this sentiment I write the final words to be posted on this blog [or are they, perhaps not if some deviant macro fiend leaves a comment - will it get throught the spam filter?]

The new website can be found at macro photography for beginners and is currently under construction. I've posted the link really to help get my new site indexed in google - if you do visit, there is very little to see. I've posted my logo ladybug just so you recognise it!

[link to new site removed 23/06/2011 due to server problems - my new site has gone into hiding!]

Thanks to all my readers, followers [all eight of you], and commentors.

The End

What is a reversing ring and how do you use it?

2010-07-29T08:31:00.002+01:00

Welcome to Macro Photography for beginners. Since the early days of writing this website you may have noticed that certain areas of macro photography and camera equipment have been neglected. There are several reasons for this, In most cases this is just because I've not got around to these ones yet, but mainly I have tried to concentrate on the equipment, software and techniques best suited to the absolute beginner to macro photography - from the point of view that this person may have very little experience of cameras or photography. Although macro photography can be difficult [or a bit of a challenge as we prefer to describe it!] it is a skill that is worthwhile learning. It is surprising how often close-up and macro photography can be useful during everyday life as well as dedicated work or projects. I once used macro photography to prove that a computer's optical CD drive scratched my disks in a legal dispute. If it was not for the digital images my case would have been very difficult to prove. In fact, I am convinced that without the photographs the dispute would not have been settled without going to court. I've also found macro photography useful for taking images of electrical circuits or components when wiring or soldering devices together. These are just a couple of recent examples but with some thought I'm sure I could think of several more. It is not accidental that I have neglected to write about reversing rings [also called reversing adapters, reversal rings and reversal mount amongst many other things] on this website in my previous macro photography posts. The fact is, I’m not really a big supporter of this type of device for beginners but accept that reversing rings and bellows should be covered in more detail to enlighten and inform beginners of the many benefits and pitfalls of their use in macro photography. I have therefore decided to write this post for those who are interested in some of the more obscure methods of macro photography. In this post we will look at the good old fashioned reversing ring and bellows whilst investigating some of the ways in which they can be used. At this point I would like to provide a big word warning and would advise readers to place their medication and a stealthy dictionary in a handy position.

Finding the right reversing ring for your camera
A reversing ring is an adapter that (as the name suggests) allows a camera lens to be attached to the camera in reverse i.e. the wrong way round. When the lens is reversed it can focus very closely. One of the main benefits of using a reversing ring is that you can connect any brand of lens to your camera provided that it has the correct size of filter thread. It is also an opportunity to use or recycle a lens that no longer works properly due to mechanical failure, for example if the electronic motor has developed a fault and will no longer auto-focus. This creates an opportunity to use a very high quality camera lens that would be otherwise gather dust in the junk drawer.

When selecting a revering ring or adapter you need to search by camera brand name, for example Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Konica, etc. In addition you will also have to determine the filter thread size of the lens to be reversed this is often displayed on the lens barrel. The most common thread sizes are 52mm 55mm, 62mm, 67mm and 72mm. Reversing rings are not the best selling photography products and stock levels will often be quite low. Problems of low stock are more prevalent with the most obscure filter thread sizes and with the lesser known camera brands. To further complicate matters it may be possible or necessary to use a reduction ring. This is an additional adapter ring used to reduce a large diameter filter thread to a smaller diameter filter thread. This can be incorporated if there is no reversal ring in the correct thread size for your particular choice of lens. A reduction ring can also be used to increase the distance between the lens elements and the cameras digital sensor. This allows the lens to focus closer to the subject and is effectively the same as using an extension tube.

Now, before we all get over-excited and decide that there is no need to spend good money on a proper macro lens, when we can just reverse a kit lens instead, for a fraction of the cost, there are (as always) some negative aspects to consider. The reversing ring is a device that worked better with old fashioned SLR film cameras than modern SLR digital cameras. The most obvious downside is that you lose auto-focus (obviously – because the lens contacts are facing outwards) and will need to set the aperture in advance, which is easier with older lenses that have an aperture ring. The lens contacts are vulnerable to being damaged whilst the lens is reversed and may need to be protected. This can be achieved by making a protective cover from a spare rear (screw-on) lens cover.

Although the low cost of buying a reversing may seem somewhat appealing to beginners of macro photography, they are of limited use on a digital SLR camera. In addition, it is worth considering that there may be further costs involved in getting the lens to work in reverse. It is widely accepted that not all lenses work in reverse [they were never designed to work this way]. Most camera lenses that can be reversed provide a fairly poor alternative to a high quality macro lens. There are plenty of rational reasons why a beginner to macro photography should avoid making or buying a lens reversing ring or adapter. If the main points above are not enough how about the fact that you could cause irreversible damage to the camera and/or lens. This can happen if the reversing ring breaks or too much weight is attached to the camera. In addition, this damage is classed as misuse and will not be covered by the manufacturer's warranty for the camera or the lens. In the unlikely event that you manage to successfully reverse a lens on a digital SLR and manage to get good results, you will be faced with further tribulations. The camera metering system relies on its ability to communicate with the lens. This is an important factor when setting the flash for macro photography.

Bellows
The name bellows has been borrowed from those medieval devices once used to pump air into fires to intensify the level of heat. The same technology also filtered down into musical instruments such as organs, concertinas and accordions. So you may be forgiven if the term bellows conjures up strange medieval images of a smithy hammering a red hot horseshoe on an anvil. In photography the bellows obviously have the same corrugated appearance but their use is purely optical rather than pneumatic. In photography bellows is the term used to describe an expandable tube that allows the lens to be moved nearer or further away from the focal plane (digital sensor or film). Spend time reading macro photography books or internet forum posts and you will often find references to the strange and wondrous bellows. If you think digital macro photography is difficult spare some sympathetic thought for previous generations of dedicated macro photographers. There are still many photographers who use bellows and they can be used with digital cameras. The main benefit of using a bellows is that you can obtain very high levels of magnification. In addition, bellows are not expensive to buy in comparison to high quality macro lenses.

Reversing a lens on another lens by using a coupling ring
If you feel like throwing convention out of the window completely how about reversing one lens on the end of another lens? Although it initially sounds utterly preposterous, in principle it is not much different to using a set of bellows. This works by mounting the first lens (for example a 300mm telephoto lens) conventionally to the camera, then mount the second lens (for example a 28mm lens) using a coupling ring adapter. The coupling ring screws into the filter threads of both lenses.

Reversing the lens on the bellows
Using a lens with the bellows is likely to cause several types of image distortion. You may or may not have suffered from some of these photographic problems in the past. Lens errors are usually unwanted effects or distortions of the image. An aberration, according to the dictionary, is the failure of light rays to converge in one focus because of a defect in a lens. Now I'm going to use some words that are usually only reserved for camera lens reviews in glossy photography magazines. Common problems associated with using bellows include colour fringes (a type of image distortion known as chromatic aberration or achromatism). Coma aberration is the blurring of objects at the edge of the field of view. Vignetting is a reduction of brightness our saturation at the periphery (edges) in comparison to the centre of the image. Un-sharpness [which sometimes referred to as softness] and is the description of an image or part of it that is not in sharp focus.
So the problems of using these antiquated devices or a combination of them with digital technology will often outweigh any financial benefit. The main complaint against using bellows for macro photography is that they are often regarded as being too delicate. It is widely accepted that this type of photography is not best suited to nature photography. The over-fiddly set-up is one of the main reasons that bellows are ill-suited to active or moving subjects. To operate bellows successfully with a digital SLR camera it is likely that some additional components will be required. A remote switch (also known as a cable release) and a sturdy tripod are a useful combination for reducing camera shake. Configurations of equipment obviously vary depending on the brand & model of camera, lens and bellows used. However, it is highly likely that you will require some extension tubes to gain optimum results from the bellows. It is definitely surprising to learn that a bellows system method is still a very popular method of macro photography. This is most likely to be due to the high magnification involved. This is varies depending on the setup used but is often x3 to x18 [or above]. In many cases this can be achieved with very little financial outlay.

Macro Photography for Beginners
Firstly it’s good to be back writing about macro photography again, and I’ve enjoyed delving into the subject of reversing rings and bellows. It is my opinion that beginners to macro photography would be better suited to a digital SLR camera with dedicated macro lens. Most of the impressive digital macro photography that you see will be taken in this way. The easiest and most popular way of getting closer is to add a set of extension tubes. I’m not completely opposed to using bellows or reversing rings. I’ve seen some outstanding photography taken with this type of equipment. I just don’t think they are the best way for beginners to get involved in macro photography. Although there are always a few exceptions, perhaps if you are interested in learning about or experimenting with the Scheimpflug principle, bellows might be a better option.

If you take swift look at the popular Canon MP-E 65mm f2.8 1-5x Macro Lens, you can see by its shape, that it is designed on the principle of reversing a standard lens. It also has no auto-focus which makes it even more similar to a reversed lens. If reversing a lens on a digital SLR worked as efficiently as it did with film cameras and lenses with aperture rings, I would have been first in line to buy one when I first took up macro photography.

Marvin Africa

Writer and Macro Photographer

Macro Photography and Lighting Kits

2010-01-28T16:40:00.008Z

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners

In this post I will be writing mostly about the differences of using continuous lighting and strobe lighting kits for macro photography. In previous posts on this blog the articles have mainly been directed towards outdoor macro photography. Indoor close up and macro photography is often referred to as still life or simply studio photography. It is an important discipline with regard to product photography and for keeping records of collections. It can be achieved on a shoe string (little expense) but generally good photography studio lighting kits are expensive. This can be a limiting factor for the budding beginner to macro photography. There are different ways to achieve good macro results in a studio. A choice has to be made between working with continuous light or with a flash studio lighting kit.

The first thing to do is to figure out the differences between working with continuous lights and a strobe (or flash) photography kit. In the beginning most photographers experiment with DIY studio lights often built from materials found around the home. DIY studio lights obviously vary in quality and capabilities depending on their construction. There are plenty of websites that will provide details of how to build DIY studio lights for macro photography. The most commonly discussed method in the UK is to use two or 500w Halogen site lamps. This probably is one of the cheapest and safest ways to experiment with DIY studio lights. Please don't attempt to build elaborate lighting inventions that are unsafe or likely to be dangerous. In addition please note that this type of studio lighting (halogen site lamps) will get very hot. Another reason to consider buying a proper photography light kit instead of DIY studio lights is the thorny issue of colour temperature.

What are Redhead lighting Kits?
Redhead is a type of lighting that is used by professional studio photographers. Originally introduced by a company called IANIRO. The term redhead has now become a generic term for all the similar or cloned lighting kits that have suddenly appeared on the market. The original redhead lamps were actually closer to orange in colour. These 1000w lights gained popularity due to their innovative open face (bowl shaped) design. This made the lights easier to accessorise by easily adding various types of filters over the open face of the lamps. The IANIRO redhead lighting kits are expensive and not really designed for the beginner to studio photography. There are several decent replica lighting kits available like the De Sisti Cosmobeam 1000w open-face lighting kits. (the ones I looked at did not even include the bulbs!) In fact De Sisti Cosmobeams can be bought individually. Whichever way you look at it, redhead light kits are expensive studio lights and not really the best option for the smaller macro photography set up. Arri Lighting kits, are another popular barn door, open faced redhead, individual stand lights that fall into the same category, but interestingly their light heads are blue. (spawning the confusing new search term of bluehead lighting).
There are lots of manufactures of photo lighting kits but they are mainly designed for lighting portrait photography (or similar which equates to large areas). Where a typical set-up may use up to four or more lights to get the most out of the subject. De Sisti, Arri, IANIRO and other brands allow you to buy individual lights and build your own bespoke kits. In most cases a single barn door, open face light and stand would cost more than a complete basic macro photography studio lighting kit. In other words, unless you are actually building a full size photography studio these lights (which are excellent) are not the best option for lighting macro subjects. Instead we need to turn our attention towards strobe lighting kits or less expensive brands of continuous lighting. When discussing photography the word strobe is interchangeable with the word flash. New and improved innovations in continuous lighting and studio flash kits are always being brought to the market.

Interfit Lighting Kits
Interfit are a manufacturer known for their range of affordable studio flash kits. They also make lighting specifically for use with light tents. This is continuous lighting is ideal for indoor close up and macro photography. Interfit cool-lites provide daylight balanced illumination (5200k). The great thing about these light is that they output soft uniform diffused light. When used with a light tent or light pod they are ideal for all types of still life photography including close up and macro work. The lighting can bought as a kit and also each individual product can be bought separately. Interfit take this a stage further with Super Cool-lite 5, which are also daylight balanced fluorescent lamps but more powerful. Super Cool-lite 5 are equivalent to 500w of tungsten lighting (per head). These can be obtain separately or as a twin head kit. Cost-wise we are still in the ballpark of a single high specification redhead light. The difference being that you get everything else thrown in inclusive of the all important bulbs! It is my opinion that a beginner to macro photography would be perfectly content with the interfit cool-lite 5 twin lighting kit and a light pod. However, Interfit also make a more powerful Cool-lite 9 which is equivalent to 1000w (per head) of tungsten lighting. Please note that these more powerful lights are intended for lighting larger spaces. I only mention them for those who are looking for dual purpose lights or to accommodate any geeks that may be passing by. Interfit's newest addition is the Cool-lite 655 which obviously provide even more powerful lighting equivalent to 1320w (per head) of tungsten lighting. I would imagine that these are more suited to lighting larger areas that a small macro photography light pod or light tent. As an added point of interest, this type of lighting (all these afore mentioned) can also be used for video making. If you often dabble in film making these type of Interfit studio lighting can be used for good affect in your video scenes. In addition if you have the time or opportunity I recommend taking a look at the range of flash accessories called Interfit Strobies.

Elinchrom
Elinchrom, creative image lighting technology based at Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Elinchrom are known for producing some of the best studio lighting kit. They specialize in flash units rather than continuous lighting. Their extensive range of products is primarily directed towards the professional photographer. Products include compact flash units BX 500 RI and BX 250 RI, RX 300, RX 600, RX 1200 WS compacts. They also manufacture a range of prosumer products aimed at the Hoi polloi. This range contains two flash lighting units, the D-lite 2 and D-lite 4. They may not be the least expensive but they are possibly the most aesthetic. If you are in the market for studio flash lighting then Elinchrom is certainly something worth considering.

Bowens
Bowen are one of the most recognisable names when it comes to studio lighting kits. Their continuous lighting products are divided into three distinctive categories of Studiolite, Unilite, and Trilite. Bowen provide the perfect lighting kit for macro photography with the Unilite Table-top Studio Set. The kit contains two Unilites, light stands and a Cocoon light pod. The Cocoon is a variation between a light pod and a light tent. It made of four translucent diffuser panels that simply zip together. This is one of the most cost effective entry level lighting solutions for beginners to still life macro photography. Bowens also manufacture an extensive range of compact flash heads to cater for all tastes. This range is also divided into three categories of Gemini, Gemini R and Gemini Pro. They can be purchased as monolights, lighting kits or travelpak kits.

Kaiser Photography Light Kits
Kaiser Fototechnik takes a different approach to macro photography lighting than most of the other companies in this field. They manufacture a unique range of products that include some quite unconventional lighting kits. Instead of the usual light pod lit uniformly from both sides, they have created a range of Shooting Tables. These are open-topped surfaces that can be lit in various ways. This type of product seems naturally more suited to product photography. They also sell light boxes such as the Pro-lite Basic 2. Light boxes provide an evenly lit white surface encased in a metal housing. Kaiser are certainly an innovative company making some quite remarkable photography products. It is unfortunate that they have such a weak web presence. In comparison to most of their competitors Kaiser are almost invisible on the internet. It would be a wise decision for Kaiser to build a more up-to-date website and generally improve their marketing strategy. Whilst digital photography continues to grow in popularity demand for lighting equipment is going to be high. If you have had problems tracking them down here is the link to their website: Kaiser Fototechnik

Lastolite
If the name Lastolite seems familiar, it is most likely because they were the company who original manufacturer of the collapsible reflector. The company has evolved since those days and now specialized in all types of backgrounds and lighting control for the photographic and video industries. Their range of continuous lighting kit extends to two options. The RayD8 c3200 and the RayD8 c5600. Lastolite also manufacture a range of flash/strobe studio lighting kits with the brand name Lumen8. These kits are available in 200w and 400w variations. There is a small amount of information about these products on Lastolite's website. However, they also provide the option to download a comprehensive brochure. The range of light tents called Cubelite may be of particular interest.

Microsync Digital
Microsync manufacture wireless radio sync systems. These are used to fire the studio strobe lights in synchronisation with the camera shutter release. Microsync claims to manufacture the smallest and smartest way to fire strobes (and/or and SLR). Wireless radio sync systems work by fitting a transmitter to the camera's universal hot shoe. Connect the receiver into strobe unit's sync input to complete the system setup. To fire the strobes and the camera shutter in synchronisation it is possible to use a second transmitter (connected to the camera) and receiver. The transmitters and receivers must be set to different channels.

Macro Photography for Beginners
I hope that this article about photography and lighting has been insightful. The major decision has to be whether to use strobe studio or continuous studio lighting effects. When using strobe lighting you have to use a trial and error method. A light meter can be a useful device for setting up your studio lighting. Gossen are a company that make an impressive range of light meter products. Any good brand of light meter will be a useful acquisition for studio photography. Continuous studio lighting is the simplest of the two lighting effects because it provides a what you see is what you get scenario. If you don't need to light a large area you can survive with less powerful lighting. It is important to ensure that the lighting is daylight balanced. If the lighting is not daylight balanced you may encounter some colour temperature problems. The use of filters, gels, grey cards (for setting a custom white balance) and a light meter can help resolve some of these colour temperature problems. It is probably cheaper and easier to just get daylight balanced bulbs in the first place! There can also be problems with some types of lighting creating a lot of excessive heat. This becomes a more significant predicament if you are photographing heat sensitive subjects, for example, certain types of food. To summarise then, from the point of view of a beginner to macro photography. Take a look at all the studio lighting kits available by all the best known brands. Read about photography and lighting until your face is glowing like an incandescent light bulb. Decide whether you want to use continuous or strobe lighting (or perhaps use both if you prefer). Buy a decent studio lighting kit with daylight balanced bulbs or buy the individual components for a bespoke kit (if you are confident about getting it right). Use a good quality light tent or light pod for the best macro photography results.

Marvin Africa

Read next post about Reversing Rings and Bellows

Macro Tripod Problems

2010-01-13T13:55:00.026Z

Welcome to Macro Photography for beginners. It’s been quite a long time since my last post about the differences between EF and EFs lenses. It does however share the similar traits of being written long ago and then being resurected from an old hard drive. The key element that stands out above all else in macro photography is the inventiveness of the photographers involved. A keenness to experiment is vitally important to obtain the unusual and interesting viewpoint or individual effects that will make your work stand out. This is why it annoys me (only slightly) when I see forum threads or blog comments that ask what settings should I use for macro? or what aperture and shutter speed for macro? and which ISO speed for macro? These settings cannot be pre-defined in advance otherwise camera settings would be simply standardised to reflect the simplicity required for each photographic situation. It is the fundamental aspect of the art of photography to be able to set the camera up manually. Although this can be complicated initially, it boils down to two main objectives.

1.A sharp image with good composition
2.Correct exposure (which is subjective and marginal adjustments can be made later to RAW files)

In addition to point 2 under-exposed RAW files can be converted to TIFF another lossless (though not always) format and then altered using Photoshop levels, often without any loss of detail. Although this is not the recommended method to aim for, it gets the job done and all is fair in love and war (as they say). To obtain sharp images with good composition comes from practice and using high quality equipment (which does not necessarily mean the most expensive). Anyone who wishes to use the same or similar set-up as myself will require the following (as of 2009 season onwards)

Camera Canon 300D/Rebel XT/Kiss
Lens Sigma 150mm APO
Teleconverter Kenko 1.4x DG Tele-plus 300
Flash Sigma EM140DG Ring Flash
Tripod Benbo Trekker Mark II (Modified) [considering replacing this with Gitzo Explorer for 2010]
Tripod Head Manfrotto 460mg 3 Way
Micro Rail Manfrotto 454 Micro Positioning Plate
Remote Switch Canon RS60E3

The tripod that I use is not really sufficient for the amount of weight involved. I’m currently using a Benbo Trekker 2 tripod which has been significantly modified to take the weight of my camera, lens, flash, tripod head and micro positioning plate. The alteration was quite simple and took place when the original components broke. This damage occurred when the tripod was free standing without the camera or any other weight/load. The problem occurred when the spring-loaded control knob for the swivel head came apart. It is made up of a bolt that is pre-moulded into a plastic housing. This is the part that you turn to tighten or slacken the swivel joint. I tried to contact the manufacturers of the tripod for advice but Paterson Photographic ignored all my emails. I did some research into the current status of the company and found that they had gone into hibernation. Customer service is important in my opinion and this lack of courtesy and professionalism by Paterson Photographic will effect my future decisions when buying photographic equipment in the future.

If you are using lighter equipment for macro photography the Benbo trekker 2 is not a bad option for a tripod. I would still recommend this type of tripod for beginners because of the overall design and price. Uni-loc tripods have a reputation of being of a better build quality. To use a head with 3/8 connection you will need to add 1/4 to 3/8 thread adapter.

*Kaiser 1/4 to 3/8 thread adapter. This allows the 460mg to connect to the Benbo Trekker tripod. This is not required on my modified trekker because I used a 3/8 connector to connect the head directly to the tripod. I have also used a bolt to strengthen the joint between the modified camera mount and the aluminium tube of the centre column. Removing the swivel joint has undoubtedly added extra strength to the tripod. There are still some limitations though, for example it would not be wise to swing the camera to the extreme left or right.

Image 1: Broken Benbo Tripod – Boingggg

Modified Benbo Trekker
I modified the tripod by cutting the swivel joint off with a hacksaw and then cleaned up the rough cut with a sand-paper block. Drilled a pilot hole through the centre, this is a small hole for the larger drill bit to follow. I used a 3/8” threaded screw (I happened to have a spare one, but you can buy them from camera stores) to attach the Manfrotto 460mg tripod head to the modified camera mount with the addition of a large rubber washer. (found in my garden shed!) The whole assembly was then fitted back onto the aluminium tubing of the centre column. An additional modification was made to ensure that that the camera mount could not rotate. This was a simple task of drilling another pilot hole through the mount and the centre column. A larger counter bore was added to the plastic camera mount. An M5 bolt and flanged hex nut (these are naturally inverted – in other words they go in upside down). Once tightened the Benbo tripod modification was complete. I tested the tripod with camera, lens, flash and micro positioning plate and it worked. I’m confident that my camera and equipment is secure on the tripod but still somewhat disappointed with the outcome. The tripod has lost some functionality which formerly allowed the camera to get very close to the ground. I am now unable to get extreme close up shots of wild flowers due to the length of the centre column. I am left with two options…

1.Cut the centre column shorter with my hacksaw
2.Buy a new tripod

Option 1. I have nothing to lose by cutting the centre column shorter. Also gives me the chance to remove the ugly superfluous hook off the other end at the same time. [it is done]

Option 2. This is the expensive option and although not totally out of the question, I decided to try and get through the rest of the season with the Benbo.

I decided to shorten the centre column of my tripod by cutting it in half. This allows the camera to be set up closer to the ground. I am now starting to find the Benbo more frustrating to use then in previous seasons. I suspect that this is because I am no longer a complete beginner in macro photography. When I set-up my camera now precision and speed are my main concerns. The modification of the centre column was surprisingly quick and easy. The aluminium tubing is easy to cut through with a hacksaw. I used a file to clean up the saw cut thereby removing any sharp edges. I sense that this is the last season that the Benbo will be used for my main tripod support. I am now disillusioned by its performance in the field after several years of good service. It may just be that as each season passes I become grumpier and more demanding. I don’t really know what it is but when it comes to macro, tripod options are limited.

My research reveals that the man who invented the Benbo tripods is also responsible for the Uni-loc tripods. In fact if internet forums are to be believed the Uni-loc tripods are more advanced and of a higher quality. I can not verify this but it certainly would not come as a surprise. Manfrotto make popular tripods with both the 190x Pro B and 055 Pro B carbon fibre tripods gaining a lot of adulation and praise. Despite this, there is always a few negative reviews just enough to plant a few seeds of negative doubt in the mind. The same can be said for the Gizto Explorer range which is praised and slandered in fairly equal measure. In actual fact it is not spoken about enough to hazard a guess as to its merits but it looks a very useful piece of kit. It is definitely the strongest candidate for botanic macro photography (or any other close to the ground subjects). Macro Photography is not simply about buying the best gear from the local photography shop. It is also about understanding what is required and experimenting until you find the best solution. Most of the equipment that I use looks like it was rescued from a skip.

I also use several home made (aka heath robinson) devices including a flash diffuser, ripstop nylon windbreak and diffuser and also (new 2009 season) a bracket that holds the ring flash away from the camera.

There are certainly a multitude of big decisions to make when contemplating which equipment to buy. Internet photography forums are testimony to this fact and often a good source of information. The problem is that unless several forum posters are all agreed on the subject matter, it is still difficult to build an accurate picture of how good or bad a particular product is or whether it would be suited to your own particular requirements. It does not matter how bad the reputation of some products on the market, there are always people on the internet recommending it. The question is who this person? Perhaps the MD of the company involved or an idiot with no idea which end of the kettle to blow into to make it work! The same problem operates in reverse with products with excellent reputations for quality. Just as you are about to make a purchase after several months of in depth research, you find one solitary review slating the product and suggesting that to buy it would be folly. This obviously plants further seeds of doubt in the mind and the struggle for equipment continues. This is also the fuel that feeds photography forum threads. Anyone can join in with the phenomena by posting this question in a photography forum of your own choice Which tripod for Macro Photography?

I am sure that if you do this you will get an array of answers with words like Benbo,Benro, Giottos, Gitzo, Manfrotto 190x Prob, scattered around like a bag of marbles on a child’s bedroom floor. If you are not careful you could slip over on them and hurt your back.

Some answers will be detailed and complicated with talk of great gadgetry such as geared tripod heads, micro positioning plates (aka rails) and every conceivable addition imaginable (and otherwise). It is of course usually the syndrome known as “pea-cocking” and has nothing whatsoever with the question posted in the forums initially. If you analyze the posting on internet forums they tend to be just a load of people posturing. The reason for such behaviour is not always evident but sometimes makes interesting reading despite generally offering no help when deciding which tripod or other equipment to purchase. Examples of this are easy to find. I can put all this another way, what suits Roy575 from Cheshire might not be the right choice for JennyM from Arkansas. It stands to reason that people do not join forums to help people they’ve never met before choose the right equipment. Most people sign up to forums to promote themselves, their websites, their businesses etc.

Manfrotto 460MG 3D Magnesium Head
The reason that I recommend this particular 3 way head is because it is fairly inexpensive. Selecting (or even recommending) equipment for a beginner is difficult because people differ in their requirements and expectations. There comes a point where a line has to be drawn between what is a good general choice for a beginner, and what might be considered to be the next progression from that initial choice. In this case I would recommend the 460mg (or similar) for a beginner and the Manfrotto 410 geared head as a natural progression towards a more professional set-up.

The second point to consider is that some people prefer the freedom offered by a ball and socket head. A problem arises here because only an expensive (professional quality) ball and socket is generally good enough to cope with the weight demands of macro equipment. I have used a ball and socket and a 3 way head and found that they both have their pros and cons. It is also difficult adapting to one after spending a lot of time using the other type. In other words the way you use a tripod head is habit forming. I prefer to use a three way head these days but many photographers prefer to use a ball and socket.

In the end I spent most of 2009 practising my hand held photography skills.

Read my next post about Macro photography Lighting Kits

Canon EF and EFs Lenses

2009-07-03T14:06:00.006+01:00

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. This post is about the difference between Canon’s EFs and EF lenses. So if you're not a Canon user this might not be the most interesting post to read.

It will have either escaped your attention completely or kept you awake at night with wonderment, that Canon manufacture lenses for their EOS cameras in two different lenses mounts. I’m talking about the description that accompanies the lens which will either be EFs or EF. In actual fact the mount is exactly the same, but the lenses have a slightly different design.

The original EF lenses are compatible with all of Canon’s range of EOS cameras. The EFs lenses are designed to only be compatible with digital EOS cameras that use the APS-C size of sensor. Most photographers will recognise the APS-C sensor by its cropping factor (in this case 1.6x). This may all seem like irrelevant information but depending on your aspirations could leave you with lenses that you can not use. If for example you intended to upgrade to a professional specification of canon EOS digital SLR camera you would find that your EFs lenses were incompatible.

An EFs lens would not be compatible with a full sized sensor camera (for example Canon’s EOS 5D). It is for this reason that I would not recommend buying EFs lenses if you intend to upgrade to a full frame sensor in the future. However, some entry level photographers buy EFs lenses knowing that they will be compatible with semi-professional EOS cameras like the 50D. The rumour mill predicts that at some stage full frame technology will filter down through the range.

To put this into a very basic prospective the S in EF-s stands for Short Back Focus. The design of an EF-s lens allows it to protrude further into the camera. This means that the rear of the lens can get closer to the sensor than an EF lens. An EF lens is relatively flat in comparison. It is for this reason (for example) that you can not use a tele-converter with an EF-s lens. It is physically incompatible i.e. in this case they simply would not fit together. The protruding part of the EF-s lens would hit the glass of the tele-converter. (See my detailed and artistically drawn diagram - and check out the lined note paper, click to enlarge).

Image 1: Simple Diagram showing the difference between a Canon EF and EF-s lens

As stated earlier, this is worth remembering if you are considering buying a EF-s lens for a APS-C sensor camera but aspiring to upgrade to a full frame camera. However, the rumour mill (or internet as it is also known) suggests that because, unlike Nikon, Sony, and all the other known SLR brands, Canon actually manufactures their own sensor technology. It is likely that they will gradually incorporate full frame sensors into their semi-professional cameras and maybe even the entry level cameras as well. This would leave some photographers with a camera bag full of useless EF-s lenses. I’ve included a list of Canon EOS cameras by sensor size for reference.

EOS 1000D APS-C
EOS 450D/500D APS-C
EOS 40/50D APS-C
EOS 5D Full Frame
EOS 5D II Full Frame
EOS 1D III Full Frame
EOS 1Ds Full Frame

*Full Frame - no cropping or magnification

Macro Photography for Beginners
This post is not the usual fare for this website but I believe that this is useful information, considering that a popular macro lens for canon users is the Canon EF-s 60mm f2.8 Macro. To be perfectly honest, I found all this information scribbled on a scrap of paper ready for the shredder. It was probably part of another article or post that I never completed writing. So the post that you've just read was destined for the bin.

I've been very busy recently and apologise that I have not been able to respond to comments or feedback at my usual lightning pace!

Marvin Africa

Repair Canon 18-55mm Zoom Lens

2009-04-11T14:34:00.014+01:00

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. I recently used precision tools to take apart my canon kit lens.

The Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens has become known as the standard kit lens sold with most new Canon Digital SLR cameras (with a APS-C sized sensor). The lens was originally designed specifically for the Canon 300D but has since become available as a stand alone lens. It has been equally criticized and praised by photographers during its short and illustrious lifetime. In my opinion it is an almost adequate lens with a fairly average/variable performance.

There are three reasons why I decided to dissect my Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens. The first reason is that the auto-focusing was "hunting" or to put it another way going backwards and forwards continuously. The second reason was to resolve a common problem with the Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens. I have read several accounts that suggest that this lens allows moisture to accumulate inside the casing. The moisture condenses on the inside of the glass resulting in a water mark on the glass. Images from my lens became cloudy for a large proportion of the frame. When inspecting the lens for damage it was evident that my lens had succumbed to the problem mentioned above. When looking through the lens with the naked eye it was possible to see a large water mark on the inside of the glass. The lens in all honesty was rarely used and would not be sadly missed if my attempted repair went wrong. I decided to operate on the lens and find out exactly what goes on inside a Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens. This post is a supplementary addition to back-up recent reports that I am probably crazier than a soup sandwich (the third reason = my own curiosity).

The first point to make about this operation is that I am fairly competent person with a good knowledge of electronics. The second point to make is that the lens was useless in its present state. I would not recommend that you dismantle a Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens or any other piece of electrical or photographic equipment, unless you know what you are doing or are fully prepared to lose the lens/equipment as part of the learning experience. So what is inside a standard Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens?

How to get Inside the Lens
First of all I wanted to investigate the problems with the auto-focus on this lens. This means delving into the electronics and most importantly find the motor inside. I’ve read a few photography forum threads about how difficult it is to get inside the lens. Let me assure you that it is not actually very difficult to get inside but once inside it is rather complex and delicate. I recommend placing the lens cap onto the lens for added protection. Then turn the lens upside down on a suitable work surface. Take off the rubber seal which is present around the centre of the reverse part of the lens. To gain entry into the lens (using precision tools) remove the two screws holding the contacts in place. It will not come apart fully with these screws in place and the soldering could be damaged if the lens casing is forced open. Then remove the four holding screws that are clearly visible around the edge of the lens casing. Carefully lift the casing away from the lens to reveal the circular circuit board underneath.

Image 1: The circular circuit board inside the Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens

To get further into the lens requires disconnecting the flat cables from their interfaces. These can be pulled out quit easily using the correct precision tools. They are however, not as easy to re-connect and also very delicate. If these cables are not correctly assembled (or damaged) the camera will not detect the lens and an error message will be displayed on the camera. If at this point you are still determined to go further into the lens remove the two silver-coloured holding screws.

Image 2: This is the view below the circuit board. The electronic motor can be found below the metal housing in this image.

The motor housing can also be removed and the motor examined. This requires the removal of several components that are very difficult to put back into their exact positions. In the overall image shown the electronic motor that operates the auto-focus is housed below the metal plate.

How to Remove the Water Mark
When I did manage to rebuild the lens the auto-focus was still not working. I think that there is a moral in this story somewhere. I made a tool to remove the front glass from the lens. The tool was basically a length of wood with two modified panel pins fixed through it. The pins where aligned with the two small holes on the front of the lens where it says 58mm Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 Canon Inc. The tool that I made fitted perfectly and also was designed in a way that kept it away from the glass even if it slipped (which it did several times). To remove the outer glass from the Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens it has to be turned anti-clockwise and it is initially very tight. It takes a lot of force to unlock the glass which gives a satisfying “crack” when it does eventually turn. When the tool I was using did slip out of position it etched unsightly marks into the plastic casing. The front glass has to be unscrewed completely from the lens casing which takes many turns. Once removed it can be easily cleaned and returned to the lens casing. I used Eclipse cleaning fluid which is designed specifically for cleaning camera equipment and dries without leaving any residue. I also used what is known to as a “magic cloth”. This is also specifically designed for cleaning camera/optical equipment and leaves no marks or dust particles on the glass surface. I used a rocket blower to ensure that no dust was left in the chamber of the lens before screwing the front glass back into the lens. This was really a very simple task.

Image 3: This is the home made tool that I used to remove the outer glass from the lens. It is crude, simple and effective (very much like myself).

In conclusion there was no real reason to take the electronic parts of the lens apart other than my own curiosity. I could not get the auto-focus to work but it was already not working properly when I started. I might re-investigate the auto-focussing problem and test the motor. In the meantime the lens can still be manually focused and after being cleaned the fog from the water mark on the glass is gone.

Image 4: The lens is now safely reassembled and it was time for one of these! No, not a hot drink (although I did obviously drink that afterwards) but a test shot to show that the lens is still in working order (minus the auto-focus). Incidentally I used my ring-flash to take this image as well! Just a quick note: The ring-flash does not fit on this lens but it can be held in place manually.

It is a very rare occasion indeed when I remove my macro lens. It is even rarer when I replace it with the Canon 18-55mm EF-S 1:3.5-5.6 zoom lens . I can still use my lens (manually) until I get around to replacing it. Well, that concludes this post which is not strictly about macro photography but more the curious nature of the macro photographer.

Marvin Africa

Flower Photography

2009-04-06T23:31:00.002+01:00

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. In my last post I took a swift look at how to shoot insect macro & close up. Quite a lot of what I wrote about in that post is relevant to this subject as well. This is because flower photography is generally split into the same categories of scientific and artistic photography. Taking pictures of wild flowers was the reason that I became involved with Macro Photography in the first place. Initially I began with a standard 35mm film camera (yes I am that old – going to be 38 on April 20th). My adventures with film did not last long because the camera stopped working one day whilst clambering around on the North Yorkshire Moors (United Kingdom). Sadly for my 35mm film camera, it would have cost more than it was worth to have it repaired. Digital SLR cameras were just appearing on the market at the time (circa 2004). So I entered into the world of digital photography.

Flower photography is often more complicated than you may first imagine. There are lots of types of flowers and therefore lots of different types of flower photography. Some of the most popular flower photographs fall into the fine art category. Fine art photography usually takes place within a studio environment but not exclusively. Macro photographers are generally drawn towards wild flowers, garden flowers and fine art imagery. The settings and varieties of flowers often allow for high levels of contrast in flower photographs. This makes flowers an ideal subject for black and white photography. You can see examples of this for yourself in any photography gallery worth its salt. Initially before acquiring a dedicated macro lens I would use a standard Canon 18-55mm kit lens for flower photography. This was adequate (but not great) for getting portrait shots which are generally taken from the side (or above) and show the plant in its entirety. This is usually not an easy shot to achieve with a dedicated true macro lens. You would have to be a long distance from the plant or flower that it would become an unworkable situation. To get the best plant and flower portraits you will need a decent wide angle lens. It is always difficult deciding which lens is the best macro lens for a particular task. It seems logical that the shorter range of lenses i.e. 50mm-100mm would be better suited to plant and flower photography. If you want to shoot insects and small animals as well as flowers then you need to consider buying a macro lens with a longer working distance. This is the distance between the lens and the subject. There is no reason why you can not use a longer range lenses such as 100mm-180mm for flower photography.

Benbo Tripods (manufactured by Paterson Photographic)
Believe it or not I’m not a salesman for Paterson Photographic the company that makes Benbo tripods. I know that this brand of tripods has been around for 35 years (so they must be doing something right!)The Benbo trekker range of tripods are loved and loathed in equal measure by the hard to please macro photographers of this word. I firmly believe that for wild flower photography there is nothing of better value on the market. Most beginners to macro have already spent their budget on a camera and lens. These tripods are inexpensive in comparison to other leading brands, practical (although traditionally a little bit heavy) and they are extremely versatile. Benbo tripods are good value for money and I’ve written about them before in the past. In one of my previous post (probably about tripods) I recommended using a Benbo Trekker tripod with a Manfrotto head (this requires the use of an inexpensive thread adapter – as discussed). This will provide you with a versatile set-up that is ideally suited to wild flower photography. If you want a more expensive tripod (and some people do) I would suggest having a look at the range of tripod products by Gitzo. Remember to buy a remote switch for your camera and you are almost ready for some wild flower action.

Windbreaks
A lot of the most interesting and diverse flora (flowers and plants) tends to grow in places where photography is difficult. Coastal locations, mountains, moor land, open plateaux, bogs, streams, beaches, salt marshes and riverbanks to name a few. Not only do you have to do battle with the terrain the weather is always going to be an additional difficulty to overcome. In particular the nemesis for the wild flower macro photographer is the natural phenomena of wind. Even a gentle summer breeze is enough to spoil a macro shot by adding motion blur. A fast shutter speed can be used to freeze the action but this will be at the expense of aperture. This has all be discussed and explained in earlier posts. Instead of trading aperture for faster shutter speeds I would recommend using a windbreak. A windbreak is not one of those dreadful striped contraptions people used on the beach in the 1970’s. It is a much smaller unrelated device used to keep your outdoor macro shots sharp in wild and windy conditions. A simple windbreak is easy and inexpensive to make from household objects. I’ve used a large padded white envelope with a few wooden kebab skewers as the supports and ground pegs. As long as your wind protector is flexible it will be easy to adjust its position quickly as you work. It is absolutely incredible how much difference this simple homemade device makes to outdoor flower photographs. A windbreak which is almost free to build will make your outdoor macro shots consistently sharper.

The windbreak can also act as a reflector to make more use of ambient light (a.k.a. natural light). To do this, use a material that reflects more ambient light onto your subject. It is also possible to use the makeshift windbreak as way of bouncing flash for a more flattering lighting effect. This could be starting to sound a little bit too technical for the avid beginner to macro photography. I will cease this here for now but will probably return to these topics at a later date if required.

If you didn’t read my previous post about using field guides I recommend going back one post and browsing through it. Field guides are a very useful tool for the wild flower photographer. This may seem like a strange correlation but field guides contain a lot of information about each plant. Like insects you will need to know which habitats certain plants are likely to be found in. There is no point driving hundreds of miles to a salt-marsh to photograph alpine flowers! The more information you know about certain plants the more you will understand about photographing them. An example would be the species with the common name Yellow Rattle. This semi parasitic plant gained its name because after flowering it develops seed pods that rattle in the wind. Knowing that it is semi-parasitic can help you to find it because the areas where it grows are surrounded by brown unhealthy grass/foliage. Yellow Rattle is not difficult to find although it is quite rare generally in the UK. Also knowing when plants are in flower or when they produce fruit will make photographing them much easier. It is always better to photograph a flower by planning rather than by a chance encounter. I’m not suggesting that you need to be a professional botanist to photograph flowers. I am making a point that to become a proficient wild flower photographer it would be beneficial to have a good general knowledge and understanding of your subject. This obviously applies to wild flowers but is also relevant to flowers generally. Photography is a very competitive business and if there is a way to get the upper hand you should definitely not think twice about taking it. A wild flower photograph always looks more professional with the correct scientific name written below it – along with your name and copyright.

Getting in Close to Flowers
It is not always an easy task attempting to get close-up or true macro of flowers. Plant foliage will always appear to be in the way and not always conducive to a good composition. If a plant has a lot of flowers it can be difficult finding the best one for your composition. A cluster of flowers will often make a composition look messy or confused. Flower photography is an art even when taking scientific shots. Different skills are required for different species of flowering plants. It can be extremely challenging for example to take sharp images of grasses. The identification of grasses can be important in terms of agriculture or conservation. Some students of wild flowers and grasses use photography to assist in the identification process. If you fall into this category of photographer I recommend that you also keep separate notes on each species photographed for later reference. In these records write down the in-camera file number assigned to that image.

Experience is the only real lesson
The fact is quite simple. I could write about flower photography all day and you could read about it for the same length of time. The only way to learn how to take macro photographs of flowers is by doing it. This way you soon learn what works and what doesn’t. I’ve found that using coloured card you can simply make a new clean background. In some cases this will stop the ambient light passing through the petals. This can be beneficial in some cases and detrimental to other compositions.

Macro Photography for Beginners
Well, it is almost a year since I began writing this website. It has been an interesting year. I think that I have done quite well for my first year writing a blog. I have had some experience of writing website and blogs in the past but nothing as comprehensive or serious as this project. My ambition was to catch those macro photographers who had bought equipment found macro photography much harder than they had expected and considered giving up. I’ve been there, and I know how it feels, you want to put your camera equipment on Ebay and spend your time doing something easier…like training to be an astronaut. It is now English summer time in the UK (not that you would notice by the weather conditions) and I’m looking forward to new season of Macro Photography. If the summer is anything like 2007 there is a chance that photo opportunities may be confined to indoor space. Also, there is very little on television worth watching these days. So once the light goes down I spend most of my time taking photographs indoors. I am now concentrating on building an indoor still life macro studio. This means that I have to face the continuous or flash light debate. My next post is about studio lighting kits and whether we should be investing in them or not. I hope that you have found at least some elements of this article insightful.

Marvin Africa

Macro Insect Photography

2009-02-15T13:53:00.003Z

Macro Insect Photography Tips

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. My last post was an investigative report on the perspective of Black and White Macro Photography (a.k.a. monotone). I’m starting a new series of articles now that are directed towards the warmer months. It is still winter in the UK at the moment but there are one or two signs that spring is on the way. I watched a pigeon love-dancing on top of a wooden fence yesterday. Mating rituals are a good sign that the seasons are beginning to change. When the warmer weather arrives it brings with it a whole host of interesting subjects for the macro photographer. I’m talking about one of the most fascinating wonders of nature…insects! This post is all about Insect Macro Photography…It is quite a long article so I suggest that you put the kettle on (and your glasses if you wear them).

Some people call them bugs whilst others prefer the term insect. I’ve heard people call them Creepy-crawlies, Critters and more recently Mini-beasts. The only term that I don’t like being used to describe insects is “pests”. They are small and interesting living creatures that are part of the eco-system. I’ve never studied entomology but have several really good insect field guides. In fact most of them are no longer in print which is another indication that I am getting old and grey. I mention field guides because I believe that research and study are important aspects of insect macro photography. Finding a good field guide for the insect or creature that you are most interested in is an important step. It may be possible to track down field guides that are out of print by searching second hand book stores and internet market places/auction sites. I have compiled a list of species (followed by their taxonomic order) that may be of interest to the avid insect photographer. Please note this list refers to Britain and Northern Europe – and is not a definitive list but posted as an example only. Another good reason to learn the scientific names and orders - it will help you spot internet forum “know-it-alls”. They usually select an obscure scientific name as their username.

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera)
Dragon Flies (Odonata)
Stoneflies (Plecoptera)
Grass Hoppers and Crickets (Orthoptera)
Stick Insects (Phasmida)
Earwigs (Dermaptera)
Web-spinners (Embioptera)
Cockroaches and Mantids (Dictyoptera)
Termites (Isoptera)
Psocids or Booklice (Psocoptera)
Biting Lice and Birdlice (Mallophaga)
Sucking Lice (Anoplura/Siphunculata)
The True Bugs (Hermiptera)
Thrips (Thysanoptera)
Alder Flies, Snake Flies and Lacewings (Neuroptera)
Beetles (Coleoptera)
Stylopids (Srepsiptera)
Scorpion Flies (Mecoptera)
Fleas (Siphaptera)
Two Winged Flies or True Flies (Diptera)
Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera)
Caddis Flies (Trichoptera)
Bees, Wasps and Ants (Hymenoptera)

There are lots of other small animals and creatures absent from this list such as spiders, molluscs, reptiles etc.

I have posted this list so that you can see the importance of selecting a subject of interest and becoming proficient in one or two subjects. If you were to select a lesser known subject from this list (or from your own locality) it will be easier to become known as the expert in this particular field. Please note that most of these orders can be split again – for example there are different types of bees in the UK including solitary bees, bumble bees and cuckoo bees. There are lots of photographers interested in taking pictures of butterflies and moths where I live. I have met quite a few of them on my travels but have never met anyone who specialized in Thrips! So we have learnt that there is a possible opening for a good Thrips macro photographer in the UK.

Insect Photography (or perhaps photographers) can be divided (although probably not physically) into two distinct categories.

Scientific Macro Insect Photography
This technique does not gain its name because the images are captured in a scientific way. You do not need to wear a white laboratory coat and protective goggles to take scientific images (although you can if you really want to). A scientific photograph is taken by a curious photographer who wants to learn more about the species captured in the image. The photograph is taken in a way that will capture as much information as possible about the species. This is where education and guide books are useful. If you already understand the important aspects required to separate a rare or unusual species from a more common species you have an advantage from the beginning. It is often later in the process when a photographer realises that he (or she) has failed to capture the most important details. This can be frustrating for the photographer when it comes to identifying the species that they have photographed. This problem appears often on nature and wildlife websites were the photographer has gone for an artistic approach but also wants to know the species in the image. This gives experts in entomology a real challenge in narrowing down the species, often with very little information. The key point to remember here is that if you want to identify the species photographed take the scientific approach. There is nothing to stop you taking a few frames of both but make sure you take the scientific images first.

Remember that this is definitely not a case of “never the twain shall meet” because a photograph can be scientific and artistic at the same time. A photographer aiming for a scientific image can produce artistic images by chance and good fortune. In the same way an artistic photographer can capture all the required details in their work to add scientific merit to their work. The point is really to understand that both types of photography exist and to aim for one or the other to meet your own needs.

Insect Macro Photography Technique
The main principle of taking macro photographs of insects is not any different to taking other subjects. The major difference is that living subjects do not usually want to pose for the camera. This makes life difficult for the macro photographer and is also the reason why great patience is required. The most beneficial insect photography tip that I can offer is to begin early in the morning and finish late in the evening. Avoid taking outdoor images in the heat and harsh light of the mid-day sun. At this point in the day the sun is very high in the sky and is known to create very harsh light. This will make images have very hard edges which is not a desirable effect in photography.

I once read a photography forum post where an avid insect photographer was discussing his digital camera set-up. He stated that a particular piece of equipment was not adequate for him because he likes to chase after bees. Afterwards I realised that it was not the equipment that was inadequate but his photographic technique. Nature is notoriously difficult to capture and most photographers do not have what it takes to live up to the challenge. It is only my opinion, but I think this insect photographer would have got better photographs by not moving around quite as much. As crazy as it sounds, sitting and waiting (provided that you are in the right place to begin with) often yields far better results. When you move around the insects (particularly flying insects) will also move around and always be just up ahead or settle just out of reach. When you take up a good position and concentrate on a smaller area nature just comes to you! Another benefit of this approach is that it is easy to be still (after being still) than trying to be still after racing about like an absolute lunatic for 20 minutes. (I hope that this makes sense).

The overall aim of insect macro photography is the same as any other form of photography. To get a sharp image of the insect (first) and a pleasing composition (second). If your purpose in life is to photograph insects I would suggest using a regular flash gun (covered with a diffuser) and the entire assembly fixed to a bracket. This is the set-up that most bug photographers prefer to use. This will allow you to add fill-flash to the ambient light (or day light). Fill-flash does not really alter the exposure of the image but helps to pick out more detail. The flash will reveal areas that might otherwise be lost to shadows. This can make a lot of difference to the quality of an insect macro image. If you are venturing into insect photography in a less dedicated way, you may be able to get away with using your camera’s pop-up flash (which can also be diffused with a piece of toilet (or tissue) paper or section of plastic milk bottle). A ring-flash can be used but does not always provide the best results (can also be diffused but is more difficult to achieve and is slightly hit and miss). Even if you go the extra mile and purchase a state of the art twin-flash system you may still need to find a way to diffuse the light for the best results.

Most insect photographers develop a technique that suits their style. This may be based on your size, stamina and several other factors. I can not help you with this because we are all different. The fact is, with time and some practice, you will begin to develop a preferred style of your own. Sometimes I like to use a tripod and get the sharpest image as possible but this often leads to lost opportunities. Whilst I set up the tripod the subject is often taking off and could be over a mile away before I even notice that it is gone. This is why most successful insect photographers either us a mono-pod or take their shots hand-held. Like I said above it really is your own choice but I recommend that you try a few different methods, review the results and see how you get on.

Hand Held Insect Photography Tips
The technique of photographing insects with a macro lens is quite simple in principle. Insects generally reside outdoors and macro photographers generally photograph them in day light hours. Set the camera at a fast enough shutter speed and aperture value for a good exposure. If you are interested in a particular spot, for example a rock pool, take a few test shots to assess the ambient light in advance. Set the camera lens to the ratio that you want to use, for example true macro 1:1 and wait until the subject comes into view. There is a method of locking your elbows into your rib cage. Place your left hand flat under the camera and use your right hand to operate the camera controls. Gradually move the camera forwards until the subject is sharp in the frame and then depress the shutter button (fully) all in one swift action. Repeat until you feel you have exhausted the potential of this subject and composition. Use any natural features available to assist in keeping the camera steady. It may be beneficial to take and hold a deep breath whilst operating the shutter. Do not forget to exhale afterwards as this may cause you to go blue in the face.

Remember that understanding the life cycle and biology of insects and animals will increase your chances of getting good macro photographs of any individual species. Something that you will discover, as does anyone who becomes interested in nature, is the amount of variation within the same species. Field Guides are useful but have their limitations and you will soon learn that the species in your photographs do not resemble the pictures in your books. This is nature…Obviously you do not have to be an insect expert or be a student of entomology to get good pictures of insects. The point I’m making is that the best insect photographers that I have come across usually know their stuff. It is also the case that as you learn more your interest grows. This means that you will be more likely to remain interested and therefore take more insect macro photographs. I often set myself a target of capturing several specific species each season. Most seasons so far I have failed to reach my targets but have also taken some good shots by using this motivational technique.

There is something else quite strange that keeps my interest in macro photography alive. My neighbours are a bunch of low-life scumbags. They make my life a real misery, loud music, drug taking, vandalism, aggression towards members of my family etc. Despite this they also give me the motivation to continue writing, taking macro photographs and generally working hard. When it all gets too much, I pick up my binoculars and camera equipment and head down to the local nature reserve. Evidence if needed that macro photography can be good for your health and mental well being! Thanks for visiting my Macro Photography for Beginners website. In my next post I will be looking at Wild Flower Macro Photography.

Marvin Africa

marvin.africa@yahoo.com

Black and White Macro Photography

2008-12-13T11:16:00.012Z

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. My last post concentrated on a specialised way of capturing small objects using the "pedestal technique". In this post I will be discussing the benefits of using Black and White photography for Macro shots. When photography first began it was only possible to take monotone images. In actual fact the images do not consist of just black and white but are made up with various shades of grey. In image editing terminology this might be described as greyscale. The more precise term for this type of photography is monotone. A benefit of digital photography is that image can be manipulated afterwards. Colour images can be made monotone and then be made more authentic by adding tone and grain. This can make a photograph taken today look like it was taken in the earliest days of photography.

Black and White was once the only type of photography available and is still the one of the most powerful way to portray many subjects. To remove the colour from an image can have a very dramatic effect. In many images it makes them appear timeless, in that they could have been taken in any decade. In image editing software further pseudo effects can be added including dust, grain, scratches and small surface damage.

Many rules that apply to conventional photography do not always apply to macro photography. In terms of photography, Macro has always been the odd one out. Maybe this is what makes it appeal to a certain type of person rather than to everybody. Black and White (or Monotone) is accepted and extensively used for popular forms of photography including landscape, wedding, fashion, fine art, abstract, portrait and creative. It is rare to find outstanding black and white macro photography now that most photographers shoot in colour only. It seems that photographers are reluctant to strip out the colour or perhaps when you get very close - colour is more important to the composition. So this begs the question, is macro photography dependant on colour or can it be just as effective in black and white monotone? I recently did a couple of internet searches for the term “monotone macro” and “black and white macro” and was quite surprised at the results. The images that I did find were actually quite impressive but it also has to be noted that they were actually close-up rather than true macro shots. I’m usually not bothered about this distinction between these two terms but today I want to look at shots taken at 1:1 (true macro shots).

As a photographer I am always on the lookout for unusual subject to photograph. Luckily (and at great expense) I recently came into the possession of a brand new road racing bicycle. It is a very impressive piece of equipment . I actually use a bicycle to get around a lot of the time and find it a great way to find photographic opportunities. The great aspect of this bicycle being brand new is that it is allowed to "live" in the house. I’ve been looking it at most days very closely and decided to write a review about it for another website. Then I thought maybe I should take a few photographs of it as well - and perhaps get some close-up shots of the important bits. There are some details that are important but are very small and hard to see. This is when I realised that this would make an ideal subject for this macro photography experiment. So I took several macro photography shots at 1:1 of different parts of the bicycle. Most of the shots I would use for the review that I am writing for another website. The spare shots (that might otherwise have been deleted) have been salvaged and converted into monotone. All the pictures were taken on location (in my kitchen) and the ambient light can only be described as dismal.

Figure 1. A Bicycle Valve in Monotone (Left) and Colour (Right) – I’m sure you could have worked this out for yourselves but I’ve got to write something under the pictures! In my opinion this is a poor composition and looking at it in monotone or colour makes no difference. Unless of course you have a strong passion for bicycle valves.

Figure 2: This is a hex nut(I think!) - this image is over-exposed but has a more interesting composition than the valve due to greater differences in contrast.

Figure 3. This image of a brake cable has been included simply to add some much needed tension.

Figure 4. This image is the gear cassette or to put it another way a bunch of cogs (or sprockets).

I soon discovered that taking images of a bicycle at 1:1 ratio is quite a difficult task. It was not long before my Benbo tripod, bicycle and my limbs were intertwined. Somewhere amongst it all there was a man sprawled on the floor trying to operate the camera. I don’t know why but no matter what I set out to do there is never quite enough space. There is always an obstacle such as chair leg, hairy Labrador or other immovable object where my tripod needs to stand. Despite these difficult circumstances and the normal household disharmony (fighting and shouting) in the background, I managed to get all the shots that I needed for my project. It has to be remembered that all this images featured here have been taken from the cutting room floor. They are the out-takes from a productive photo-shoot. Macro Photographers delete a much higher percentage of their images depending on their standards of acceptance. I got all the images for my bicycle review and normally all these extra images would have been surplus to my requirements and deleted. My point being that you should always consider carefully which images you keep and which images you delete. If you are uncertain keep the images and review them in a few days time. Preview all your images in monotone as well as colour if your software allows this option.

Conclusion
There are some macro images that convert to black and white or monotone better than others. This is generally images that contain a lot of contrast or where large differences in levels can be seen. I believe that the best black and white photographers actually see the world in monotone. When done correctly and with the right image it can be very powerful. I often convert images to black and white but usually return them to colour or use duotone! I found that only a few of the 1:1 macro images converted made good viewing. The problems seems to be that when you get very close to most subjects you need the colour differences to assist in isolating the main point of focus. In most cases converting to black and white or monotone will distract from this effect and make the image less convincing. Images that have a large difference of contrast should convert to monotone with better results.

Converting to monotone does not just have to be a last minute rescue attempt for the landscape photographer. There is definitely a place for the monotone macro image even when taken at a very close range. On reflection I have learned that close-up photography tends to make for better monotone images due to the large areas of negative space around the subject. In a good composition this should help to draw the observer to the focal point of the image. I tried composing frames that I thought would convert into good monotone images. The whole season was spent thinking about the conversion to monotone. I didn’t feel too well on the day and I was surrounded with general household chaos at the time. My concentration was therefore not as sharp it should have been. It has been difficult finding time to get these pictures done because I am very busy writing articles for other websites.

Macro Photography for Beginners - Feedback and News
I've had quite a few technical problems with my website recently. In addition my computer will be celebrating it's seventh birthday soon! You can only imagine the amount of noise that it makes when it is running... all the cooling fans are broken and it produces more heat than most ovens! The good news is that a new machine is on the way but I might vanish for a short time during the cross-over period. Please note that I'm not ignoring you if you do not get a response by email or in the comments.

I’ve had some interesting feed back recently and found some new friends and cool places to hang out.

Thanks to Larry Hnetka for dropping by, if you want to read an interesting weblog direct yourself to this place on the internet.

Larry Hnetka Goes HMmmm

...and I got an amusing email from Roz

I like Roz, she has a great sense of humour and is also an excellent photographer and digital artist. I wanted to post this email because it came at time when I was feeling a bit low and it cheered me up. It was only a few words but it really lifted my spirits after a really tough week.

Hey Marvin,
Just thought I'd send you a quick email to say I thoroughly enjoyed your Macro Photography for Beginners http://www.macrophotographyforbeginners.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-is-best-flash-for-macro.html
particularly loved the bit about the chocolate underpants .. lol ..!!
anyhoooooooo .. have a good weekend ..
from roz ..

If you want to know more about Roz follow these links here:-

dpchallenge

rozdesign

dpcprints

I also landed at this website recently:- nicholas-hendrickx where images of flies have been manipulated. If you like pictures of flies playing the piano or riding bicycles this might be a good site for you to visit.

Please note that this artist has used image manipulation and assures his readers that no flies where harmed in the making of his images. I think he needs to read my website to get those images a bit sharper and then he may be on to a good thing!

Just a quick word – I’m not an expert on SEO (obviously) but if anyone wants different anchor text in their links to suit their keywords please just ask. I don’t mind changing the anchor text. For the uninitiated, anchor text is the words that the link is applied too, for example some people will use “click here”. In terms of SEO links that use relevant words for the website they link to are more valuable. In return please choose a reasonable keyword if you want to provide a link to my website.

Well that’s another post…

Thanks for visiting my Macro Photography for Beginners website.

Marvin Africa

Close-up Photography of Small Objects

2008-10-26T13:17:00.011Z

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. In my last post I wrote about a lot of different subjects but mainly concentrated on still life and to a lesser degree product photography. Today, I am writing about a technique of photographing coins or other small objects of interest. This post is not just packed full of macro photography tips and information about photographing small objects it is also based around a story of how this particular collection began.

My eagle-eyed four year old daughter began collecting coins after taking an interest in the pictures and designs on them. She has now amassed approximately 20 of various shapes, sizes and designs. I decided to photograph and catalogue her collection to ensure that we have an accurate record of them. None of the money in this collection is valuable and mostly they have been taken from circulation. There are one or two interesting specimens that are no longer in circulation which I have donated to boost the collection. I’m sure that if we promoted her interest in collecting metal money she would soon have a lot more donations from further a field. Although her collection is not worth much in financial terms the majority of this assemblage was put together by my daughters Grandad who sadly passed away last year. As you can imagine this set of coins may not be “special” to anyone else but to my daughter they are very special indeed. So much so, that whenever anyone in our household goes to the bank to pay money in to an account my daughter has a minor “panic attack“ over the whereabouts of her collection!

I suppose we are all money collectors at some level with most of us collecting for different reasons. I’ve known a few people who refer to their hard earned money as beer tokens. If you take the time to observe more closely the contents that pass through your hands each day, you will be surprised at the variety of different designs in circulation. The main problem seems to be that there just doesn’t appear to be enough of them coming my way. So there will be little chance of any new camera equipment in the foreseeable future! Luckily, I found a simple and effective method of using my macro lens and ring-flash to photograph the entire collection. It is a great technique that I derived from information on other people’s photography websites. I wanted to take a shot of both sides of each one. To use the correct technical terminology this would be the obverse and the reverse. I try as much as possible to avoid mathematical calculations on this website but I think we can all cope with this one. (20 x 2 = 40 shots). To save as much set-up time as possible all subjects of the same (or similar) size (or type) will be photographed and catalogued at the same time. Then the camera position will be re-set so that all the compositions are full frame. There is a cropping factor to consider if you want to get the object completely full in the frame, but be careful not to allow any overlap over the edge at all because this always looks a bit strange (a bit like a car with a flat tyre).

Even the smallest radius of these objects is usually too large to photograph at 1:1 but this is not important for this type of work. The main intention here is to capture the entire subject in the frame with as much detail as possible. This means ensuring that the details are in sharp focus and easily legible in the final photograph. In older metal coins it is important to capture any damage which may be present on the specimen. There may be a few notches, surface scratches or discoloured areas. In extreme cases in very old money there may even may the occasional hole!

Why use a Ring Flash?
It is a well known fact that the ring flash has a reputation as being as useful as pair of chocolate underpants. I seem to be one of the few macro photographers prepared to stand up for this much maligned device. In my opinion it is much more useful than you could ever imagine if you are prepared to use it in an unconventional manner. In addition you may have to build some additional equipment such as a (home made) diffuser to get the most out of it. I made mine from an empty “Vitalite” margarine tub. You do not need to worry about diffusers today because this is not required for this type of photography. I will come back to this in another post if anyone wants to build a similar device. It does not take a genius to work out that in certain situations a ring-flash will direct the light to the wrong place and ruin the image. In these situations you have to detach the flash unit from the macro lens and hold it in position (most often at an angle of 45 degrees). The flash does not have to be held steady as any shake will not be picked up by the camera (unless it is extremely violent, such as an earthquake or the shutter speed is very slow).

The Pedestal Technique of Photographing Coins
This technique may sound complicated at first but in fact it is very simple and easy to accomplish. The basic principle of this technique is to isolate your subject on a small pedestal from the background. To do this you need to erect a small cylinder or tube to a height of approximately 5 ½ inches (or 14 centimetres). Ensure that the pedestal’s diameter is smaller than your object so that it will be hidden from view in the final images. Use a matt background around the base of the pedestal. The distance between the subject and the background is what makes this technique work. Set-up the camera and (macro) lens to focus on the pedestal. Use an appropriate aperture value to throw the background out of focus. Ensure that the value used keeps the entire subject (or object) sharp in the frame. See illustration in figure 1. Reflectors can be used to direct more light to the subject. Place reflective material in an appropriate position to bounce light onto the subjects surface from your light source.

Figure 1: Illustration of Tripod and Camera Set-up (Marvin Africa, 2008)

There are two way to photograph your subject using this technique. You can use one side of a ring-flash to fire a burst of light across the surface or use some type of continuous lighting. I have taken pictures using both techniques and found the ring-flash method more reliable. The only major problem with this set-up is that the subjects are often all different shapes and sizes. This equates to a lot of setting up and re-focussing the camera. Another time consuming problem is keeping track of all the heads and tails. The only reasonable method that I have come up with so far is writing down the image number (with a pencil) on a piece of scrap paper. Which is not very technical in this digital age! Another minor problem to overcome is that some of the subjects have very bright surfaces. This occurs when a coin has not been in circulation long enough to loose its surface shine. A very newly minted piece of metal will be much more reflective than an older piece that has become dull with time. Adjustments to the ring-flash or (continuous lighting if your using it instead) need to be made to accommodate this variation. Changes need to made for objects with different surface colour as this may require a different lighting set-up to get the best image. This is often a matter of changing the angle of the lighting or with the ring-flash changing the intensity of the flash. I found that for some items with silver surfaces it worked best to use both tubes at different intensities for the best results. This took a lot of trial and error and moving the ring-flash around to many different angles.

How to set the Ring-Flash to Fire one Tube
To set the ring-flash (Sigma EM-140DG) select on (you won’t get far otherwise) and then select M (Manual Mode). Once in Manual Mode you can change the intensity of the flash on both tubes. Select until the left tube’s value flashes, it will begin at full intensity. Use the (-) minus button to reduce the intensity to a lower amount, which will be displayed as 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and 1/1 (lowest to highest). To turn the tube off press (-) button again and the line that represents it on the LCD screen will disappear. This indicates that it has been disabled. I am sure that the settings are similar with other manufacturers of ring flash.

This was very much an unplanned post about a project that I ended up doing. In the end I found it so enjoyable that it became worthwhile writing a post on this subject. In addition this experience has made me more aware of the different designs on the money in circulation. My aim was to try and take a flat image of these diverse and interesting objects. This was not an artistic shoot and I did not want to make them stand out too much. All I needed was a scientific record of their existence in case they are ever lost or stolen. I recommend taking a closer look at the contents of your own pockets and see if you can find anything worth capturing this way. I’m now considering using this same technique for other small subjects including stamps. I hope you found some of the information in this post useful. Thank You for visiting my Macro Photography website.

Marvin Africa

Still Life Macro Photography

2008-09-30T19:22:00.005+01:00

Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners. My last post was all about macro lenses. In this post I am going to write about still life and macro photography. Still life is a form of art that captures or creates images of stationary, still or static objects. This can be achieved in several different ways and by using all kinds of techniques. Many still life images are actually taken as close-up rather than true macro. Remember that images taken at the ratio of 1:1 and above are true macro and images taken below this ratio are considered “close-up”. Many photographers are very particular about this and will condemn close-up photography for not being true macro. In my opinion photography should be judged on other factors and not the ratio at which the photograph was taken. On the other hand I can understand how macro photographers get annoyed when their complex art is confused with a less technically difficult one.

If you understand composition and know how to set up your camera, you should find still life relatively easy. This being the main reason that students of photography become involved in this type of art. Almost any nondescript object can be brought into the limelight and become a point of fascinating interest.

Why is Still Life Macro Photography So Simple?
The answer to this question is within the title itself, the subject is still. Therefore there is no prospect of any movement. Motion blur is caused when the subject moves during the exposure. This is much less likely to happen when you are not outdoors fighting with the elements. When you arrange a still life composition the set-up can be left in position for as long as required. The camera can be supported on a tripod or attached to a frame using a bracket. A remote switch is an inexpensive way to reduce any chance of camera shake. This will enable you to get consistently sharp still life images. If you do not have a remote switch you can use the cameras self-timer function. Even the action of depressing the shutter button can introduce enough camera shake to ruin your images. Try not to introduce any vibrations as these will be magnified. The key to sharp still life macro photography is (perhaps ironically) keeping the camera still.

Incandescent and Fluorescent Light
When photography takes place in a studio environment natural light (also called ambient light) is not used as the primary light source. This means that an artificial light source must be used in its place. Most studio close-up or macro still life photography is composed against a clean white background and lit by a number of diffused lamps. This gives a soft even light for the subject and eliminates colour casts from the background. An incandescent lamp or light bulb has an element that gives out light when it is heated by an electrical current passing through it. Fluorescent lamps or light bulbs (often in the form of tubes) are more efficient. They are also known as gas discharge lamps because of the way that they work. In basic terms, when an electrical current heats the gas inside the bulb it causes it to fluoresce (glow brightly). The problem with artificial lighting is that it does not replicate white light naturally and the camera picks up the difference. Light has a colour temperature measured in Kelvin. A combination of the colour temperature of the lighting and the cameras white balance setting that can create an unwanted colour cast. Warm temperatures are seen as yellow or orange whilst cold temperatures are seen as blue or green. One way to combat unwanted colour casts is to add corrective filters to your camera lenses. You can buy expensive studio lamps that are designed to provide continuous light. Although they can be expensive to buy, continuous studio lighting is more reliable, flexible and generally safer than home made systems. If you’re planning on taking a lot of product or table top studio photographs it is going to be well worth the initial financial outlay.

It can be difficult finding the right lighting for a home made macro studio. Many amateur photographers use 500W halogen work lamps (or site lamps) to provide the lighting for their home made (self-build) light-boxes and light tents. The lamps are free standing which makes them easy to position at either side of the light-box or tent and they will provide an even diffused light. You can find this type of lamp at hardware/DIY stores or building merchants. They are relatively inexpensive to buy.

Squidoo and Hubpages
I recently visited an internet hubpage that used Macro Photography for a competition. It was very similar to those well known magazine competitions where you are invited to guess the identity of an obscure object in the photograph.

Hub pages (if you are wondering) are a type of internet community with social networking. To become a member you need to sign-up and create your own profile. When you have logged in you can begin creating your own hub pages on any subject you can imagine. It is very similar to Squidoo, another online community where you create your own web pages called lenses. This is done by adding and editing selectable modules. If the pages that you create are popular you can make a small amount of money for your efforts. Obviously to make successful lens or hub page means putting in some hard work. Pages and lenses need to be kept up to date and routinely maintained to retain popularity. Obviously you stand a greater chance of success if you write an original and entertaining page. So you need to put your creative thinking caps on! I’ve dabbled with Squidoo in the past but have as yet ventured into the realms of hub pages. Hubpages have a good reputation for showing up in search engine results and this has increased their popularity.

Squidoo, Hubpages and all other similar Internet communities or social networking websites can be written on any subject imaginable. Digital Photography is a very popular subject and therefore an ideal subject to cover. If you are interested in writing Squidoo lenses or Hubpages I would recommend reading some of the most popular pages for inspiration and to find out what is required. It appears that making your lens or page popular will involve entering into the social networking side of these websites. In essence you have to actively make friends and influence people. If your creation is successful you will gain a percentage of advertising revenue or affiliate sales.

Squidoo

Hubpages

Stock Photography Libraries
If this has whetted your appetite for making money from your digital photography I will briefly draw your attention to stock libraries. Stock photography libraries accept images from photographers and display them in a researchable on-line database. Methods of payment vary between different stock libraries but you can usually find payment rates somewhere on their own websites. I have only recently decided to get involved with stock photography libraries myself and have not formed an opinion as to whether or not they are worthwhile from a financial revenue point of view. It is surprising how popular stock photography has become with webmasters. It is obviously much easier to grab a couple of images from a library rather than set off down the high street with a digital camera in hand. Looking at this realistically it does make quite a lot of sense. Stock Photography is probably not going to make you into a millionaire but equally there is no reason not to get involved and see how it all pans out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

One point to consider is that the quality of the images has to be very high. The images need to be of a subject that will be popular. If you can specialize into an untapped niche here you may be onto something. I’m not known for posting many outward links in case my loyal readers venture off and fail to come back. I will chance it this time and post a couple of links for a couple of popular stock photography websites. Don’t forget to come back to read the rest of my post. It is not just photographs that are popular with webmasters. Vector art is also a sought after product for stock libraries. So if you’re good with graphics you could find a way to supplement your income. There is always a slim chance that you will be spotted and become the next “big thing” in this lucrative industry!

Here are few links to some popular stock photography libraries.

Dreamstime

Shutterstock

Istockphoto

There are plenty of others out there too!

White Balance (WB)
If you are taking still life macro images of any type you will need to understand white balance. Luckily the concept of white balance is not difficult to comprehend. White balance (WB) is the term used to describe the process of correcting unwanted colour casts.

One of the most considerable advantages of shooting in RAW format is that you can adjust the white balance afterwards. However to gain confidence as a photographer it is important to know how to get the white balance right without using image editing software for corrections and adjustment. Remember that changes to the white balance during post processing affect the entire image. This means that you may not be able to edit the background without altering the subject to some level as well.

The aim of studio still life photography is to get a clean image without any colour cast. To do this you can set the white balance to compensate, add a corrective filter to the end of the camera lens or select a source of lighting that does not produce a colour-cast. It may be possible to eliminate the unwanted cast by re-positioning the lights, using a different type of light bulb in your lamps or using a gray card to adjust the camera’s white balance setting. The gray card can also be used in post processing for RAW files and in some cases JPEG files as well.

The problem of colour cast is likely to be seen with home built or experimental macro studio systems. If you plan to take a lot of close up studio macro or product shots it may be a good idea to invest in a macro studio and an adequate continuous lighting system. As I said earlier, this will be expensive but as you know, photography is an expensive business.

Gray Cards
This is an inexpensive and extremely useful piece of photographic equipment. It is in fact exactly as the name suggests a gray piece of card or material. However it will remain neutral gray under any type of illumination. It is used to set a custom white balance for the lighting conditions that you are using. Gray cards are described as 18% gray and often referred to as the last gray card. This is the cause of much entertainment between photographers as they all pertain to have the last gray card! Digital cameras have sensitive light meters and their is some evidence that a higher reflectance is required. There are specific gray cards available that have been designed to be used for digital photography that have a higher percentage. (approximately 36%.

The use of gray cards will yield far better results than depending on the camera’s default or automatic settings. It may sound complicated at first but let me assure that using a neutral gray card is very simple indeed. Place the gray card within the area of your light source and ensure that it fills the frame. Take a shot of the neutral gray card and use the resulting image to set a custom white balance in your camera settings menu. The camera will now use this new setting for all subsequent images until you input a different or default white balance setting. It really is that simple. It is also possible to use the neutral gray card during the post processing of images to adjust the white balance of a batch of images.

Macro Photography for Beginners
Thank you for visiting my macro photography for beginners website. It has been a long time since my post due to some problems that I have recently encountered. I would like to thank readers for their feedback in the way of comments. Talking of feedback, it is a well known way of promoting your website or blog to leave comments on other peoples websites. This became a problem for webmasters because spammers began to use this method to promote their scams. In response to this the “no follow” attribute was introduced. To put it another way these comments and the link they create are now totally pointless. In the past I’ve ignored some of these comments on my own website but will now delete them as soon as they are posted. Genuine comments are obviously welcome as always and I’m sorry to have bored you with the tedium of dealing with spam comments, which has sadly become one of my recent pass-times. I hope that this article will prove to be useful and insightful, despite it spanning quite a large array of topics not all of which include Macro Photography.

Marvin Africa

Macro Lenses

2008-08-17T09:46:00.006+01:00

Digital Macro Photography Lenses
Welcome to macro photography for beginners. This post is all about macro lenses. To achieve good macro photography you will need a decent lens. The highest quality macro lenses (also called micro lenses by some manufacturers) are usually quite expensive to buy. This is because of the way they are designed to gain high magnification without impairing the image with aberrations, ghosting, vignetting and distortion. The end result should be a crystal sharp image throughout the entire focal length of the macro lens. It is not possible to create a perfect lens but the manufactures of camera lenses strive to make them as good as possible. To achieve this manufacturers need to incorporate expensive components into their lens technology.

On several occasion within this blog I have described the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro and 150mm APO Macro DG HSM lenses as excellent. In fact what I have meant by this, is that they are both extremely good value for money as lenses for beginners (and beyond). This is because they both share a high standard of build quality that produces a sharp image (the 105mm just sneaks it for sharpness but it is very close indeed). These lenses are made in almost every mount imaginable. So they are accessible, affordable and take sharp macro photographs. The Sigma 150mm APO Macro DG uses Sigma 's HSM motor which is very quiet when auto focussing, this can be a real bonus when photographing nervous subjects. It is also a fixed length (not a telephoto) and this is also a benefit for nature photography. A lens that does not rotate is more suitable for use with polarizing filters. These are some of the reasons that Sigma's range of macro lenses have become extremely popular with nature and wildlife photographers. The great aspect about both of these two particular lenses from Sigma is that they can be used for general day to day photography as well. They are both very good prime (fixed focal length) lenses. In fact most fixed focal length macro lenses can be used in this way.

Photographers may question the weight of a particular lens as being too heavy. In my experience, I actually find the heavier lenses easier to use. This is because it can be difficult to hold a very light camera and lens steady. I believe that it is easier to hand hold a heavier lens than a light lens.

Personally aesthetics of a lens are not really important when making a decision. The lens elements, components, and auto focussing motor and price are all important factors. I suppose that if a lens look great on the camera this may create a feeling of confidence that results in a burst of inspiration. If the lens makes you feel good then this is bound to have a positive effect on your photography. It is very difficult to find a poor quality macro lens on the market, the established brands all make very good macro lenses. I can highly recommend The Sigma 150mm APO Macro DG HSM lens for beginners, particularly those interested in wildlife photography. The Sigma 150mm APO Macro DG HSM is a very good macro lens and as stated earlier, it is perfect for beginners to macro photography. It has an aesthetic appeal, admittedly not strictly a criteria for a good lens it is definitely a good looking piece of kit. I have never experienced any problems with this lens and I use it most days and often for long photography sessions. It is a good lens for capturing insects, dragonflies, butterflies, moths etc. Equally it is a good lens for still life and flower photography. If you have the opportunity to try before you buy be sure to take advantage of the opportunity. If you have a Canon camera consider the EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM. If you have a Nikon camera consider the AF-S 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR Micro. (note: VR stands for Vibration Reduction, IS stands for Image Stabilisation)

Some of the best macro lenses available:-

Nikon
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 105 f2.8G DX ED-IF VR Micro
Nikon AF Nikkor 60mm f2.8 D Micro Lens#

Canon
Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro USM lens
Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM lens
Canon EF 180mm f3.5 L Macro USM Lens

Sigma
Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro
Sigma 150mm APO Macro DG HSM

Canon also make the ultimate macro lens with their MP-E 65mm 1:2:8 1-5x 65mm. This remarkable lens begins at 1:1 and will take macro images at a magnification of x 5. I would not recommend this lens for beginners as it can be a difficult lens to use.

The Different Types of Lenses Explained
Camera lenses come in a multitude of shapes and sizes and are designed with different styles of photography in mind. Many of these forms of photography overlap so you can buy a lens for one purpose and find that it is also capable of another. However it is best to buy lenses that have been designed for the purpose that you intend to use them. This will provide you with the best results in my opinion. I know that when you step into the world of digital SLR photography for the first time the large array of lenses and their terminology can be a little bit confusing.

Fixed Focal Length (also known as Primes). This type of lens as the name suggest has a fixed length. For example a 50mm Prime lens will always have the same focal length. To frame your subject you have to move the camera and lens closer or further away from the subject. Generally a prime lens will be (slightly) sharper than an equivalent zoom or telephoto lens but this is not guaranteed.

Telephoto lenses. A telephoto lens is a type of zoom lens. This means that it does not have a fixed focal length. Instead it has a focal range that will be displayed on the lens barrel itself, for example 70mm-200mm. Telephoto lens are physically shorter when at the lowest end of their focal range (70mm), when extended to the highest end of the focal range (200mm) they are physically longer. This type of lens can be difficult to use in certain circumstances.

A typical zoom lens also has a focal range but it operates differently. The lens elements move inside the lens housing which means that the physical length of the lens remains the same when the lens is fully extended. Some zoom lenses are known to create a vacuum effect that draws dust and debris into the camera. This can be a problem when taking photographs in places where there is a lot air born dust. This could be a motor-sports event like an off-road rally stage or where there are dirt bikes, mountain bikes or motorbikes etc. This is not so much of a problem for macro photography but if you use your camera for this type of event you can expect more sensor dust and that can be a real problem for macro photography because it shows up most when smaller apertures are used.

Most compound lenses are made from a number of optical lens elements. Each element is carefully engineered to reduce unwanted aberrations, reflections, ghosting or distortion in the image. However there are also some lenses that are designed to actually cause distortion of the image. Fisheye lenses are an example of this type of lens. A fisheye lens purposely produces a very distorted image. (for example:- Nikon AF Nikkor 105 f2.8 DX Fisheye Lens)

Weight – Sometimes Heavier is Best.
In basic terms the lens elements are either plastic or glass (sometimes other materials and coatings are used such as fluorite in expensive lenses). Cheap and cheerful lenses often use plastic internal elements to reduce weight and overall cost. However in a lot of cases they are adequate for the casual or amateur photographer. High quality lenses have a better build quality for professional use, which means the lens is made to higher standards. A professional quality lens has to withstand the vigour of being used (and abused) on a daily basis. This is often what you are paying for when buying a very expensive lens. It is not just the optical quality but also the built quality, which means having better seals etc. Higher quality lens elements mean better image quality and usually more weight.

Summary of Macro Lenses and their uses based on their focal length and working distances.
50mm [Short working distance] This lens would be ideal for small objects, still life photography. A good example would be product photography for auction or retail websites.

100mm [Medium working distance] This lens would be suitable for small objects, flowers and insects. Although the working distance may cause some problems for some subjects. An ideal lens for coins, stamps and flowers)

150-180mm (Long Working Distance) This lens would be the best choice for insect and small animal photography.

Working Distances
The working distance of a camera lens is the shortest focussing distance between the lens and the subject. This means that if you move the lens closer to the subject you will be unable to sharply focus on the subject. To retain full magnification (typically 1:1 on most macro lenses) you must maintain the working distance. Simply keep the camera and lens at the same distance from the subject. This can be difficult when hand holding for insect photography. This is why it is important to buy the lens that most suits your subject matter. Insect macro photography requires greater working distance so look at lenses that at least 100mm. If your photography interests extend to dragonflies, moths and butterflies and small animals then you should consider 150mm – 180mm macro lenses.

Still life macro photography is much easier to accomplish than wildlife and nature photography. It can still have it's challenges though! Working distances are less important and a shorter lens (typically 50mm Prime) is an adequate lens for studio macro photography. A studio does not have to be fancy for macro photography either, a soft box (or a light box) can be obtained or created quite easily and without a lot of expense. To get consistent results it is better to provide evenly diffused lighting for the subject against a plain background (usually white). This works better than using flash photography as this usually casts hard shadows when the light hits the subject and can be reflected back towards the camera if the subject has a reflective surface.

A serious word of warning: If you attempt to build a still life studio, softbox or lightbox yourself, please ensure that any electrical wiring and the situation of bulbs is safe. By this, I mean ensure that light bulbs will not come into contact with any flammable materials. Still life macro photography is a lot of fun, burning down your house is not! If you are not certain that your creation is entirely safe you can ask a qualified electrician to check it for you.

If your lens requires a lens collar make sure it come with one.
A light weight camera lens with a short focal range (for example 18mm-55mm kit lens) will not require a lens collar for attachment to a tripod. They are designed to be used for hand held photography primarily. When used with a tripod the camera is connected directly to the tripod head or via a quick release plate.

A heavier lens with a longer focal range will require a lens collar to attach it to a tripod. Lens collars are simply a detachable ring with flat connection plate that contains a female threaded connection. Lens collars are surprisingly expensive so make sure that your lens comes with one as standard. The lens collar can be connected directly to a tripod or tripod head. I recommend that you use a good quality tripod head with a quick release mechanism to reduce the chances of damaging the collar's thread. A top tip here, is that you can actually make your own reduction rings (from household materials such as cardboard and duck tape) to use a larger collar on a lens with a smaller diameter. This is relatively easy to do and can save you a lot of money. Make sure that the reduction ring holds the lens as tightly as an original component before using it because camera lenses do not tend to bounce too well.

I hope that you have found this article interesting, useful or entertaining in some way! ...and a quick thanks to everyone who has sent feedback recently.

Marvin Africa

Digital Cameras for Macro Photography

2008-07-12T13:53:00.009+01:00

The Rapid Evolution of Digital Cameras and Macro Photography
Welcome to Macro Photography for Beginners in my last post I wrote about RAW conversion software and how it can be used to improve your digital macro photography workflow. I have also written a closely related post about image editing software (such as Adobe Photoshop CS3) and how it can be used to enhance your macro photography. In the past I have covered a diverse range of subjects including photographic composition and helpful macro photography techniques. This post however is going to address a subject that is much more exciting...cameras! You will never get far with macro photography without a descent camera. There are literally thousands of cameras on the market of all shapes, specifications and sizes. Your job as a consumer and photographer is to sort through them all and find the best one for your requirements. This is a difficult prospect if you are new to photography altogether, or maybe less so, if you are upgrading or migrating from film to digital. Remember that this is a macro photography website and as such all information is tailored towards obtaining better macro photographs.

The most significant challenge of finding the perfect camera for your requirements is that it does not actually exist. This means you have to find the digital camera that comes closest to perfection. When it comes to macro photography you need to look for some specific features on the camera that will make much easier. Since the onset of the consumer Digital (Single Lens Reflex) SLR boom there have only really been two camera manufacturers in the race. Canon and Nikon have totally dominated the market for SLR cameras. There are a lot of camera manufacturers developing digital SLR technology in an attempt to get a foothold in this lucrative market. Up until now non of the pretenders to the thrown have been able to better the Canon and Nikon cameras who have interchanged the trophy for best Digital SLR throughout the entire range. The arrival of Sony, Fujifilm, Sigma, Pentax, Samsung, Panasonic, Leica and Olympus barely ruffled any feathers. All were making good high specification cameras but they always seemed to fall just short of the mark. The market leaders seemed to be untouchable with both Canon and Nikon developing the most advanced camera models. It was going to take an innovation a little bit special to spoil the party. In an attempt to reel in the bigger camera companies, manufacturers began to jointly develop digital SLR technology. Pentax and Samsung have joined forces in this way. Konica Minolta, a major innovator of photographic equipment, began jointly developing digital camera technology with Sony. In 2006 Konica Minolta pulled out of the camera and photography business. In doing so, they sold most of their digital SLR technology to Sony. This is one of the reasons why Sony was able to hit the ground running with their range of Alpha Digital SLR cameras. It has been Sony who have finally managed to build a camera good enough to pour cold water on the Canon and Nikon parade. The NEW Sony Alpha 200 has been awarded as the best entry level consumer Digital SLR camera by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) for 2008. Proclaimed to be as the most coveted photo and imaging awards in Europe. TIPA editors judge on quality, performance, and value criteria that are very important to the end user.

If your starting out from scratch I would recommend that you investigate the Sony Alpha 200 and Alpha 350 as a potential purchase along with the equivalent Canon and Nikon cameras. As the owner of a Canon camera I fully understand the frustrating and persistent problem of their cameras underexposing images due to the metering system being easily “fooled” by difficult lighting (for example a bright sky). The Sony Alpha 350 certainly has an aesthetic advantage over the Canon 450D and the Nikon D60. It also has an impressive specification with a 14.2 MP sensor, that's more mega pixels than a Canon 450D (12.2) Canon 5D (12.8), Canon EOS 1D MKIII (10.1), Nikon D60 (10.2), Nikon D300 (12.3), Nikon D3 (12.8). Mega pixels are not everything, but this is an example of how hard Sony and other manufacturers are pushing this technology along.

A contentious argument against buying the a Sony (or most other Non Canon or Nikon brands) is that they do not have a large choice of high quality lenses available. Sony manufacture their own range of lenses and third party lenses are also made in this mount by Tamron and Sigma. I do have some reservations about the Sony 100mm f2.8 Macro Telephoto lens. Note the word “telephoto” this means that the lens barrel extends as you zoom closer to your subject. I would prefer a fixed lens for macro photography, particularly for shooting insects. If I was in the market for a Sony Alpha SLR camera, lenses would be my main concern. Fujifilm have been clever in this regard and made their SLR cameras with a Nikon F lens mount. This means that their digital SLR cameras are compatible with the entire Nikon (Nikkor) range of lenses from past and present. It is interesting to note that Fujifilm do not currently make an entry level digital SLR camera. Whether or not consumers will buy the Fujifilm over the Nikon is the main question. Fujifilm are one of the companies involved with the development of the four thirds system, perhaps they will introduce this lens mount on some of their cameras in future. If you are thinking about buying a SLR camera for macro photography keep in mind that Canon and Nikon have some of the best lenses available and most third party manufacturers make lenses for these mounts.

What is the The Four Thirds System (4/3)?
The four thirds system is a standard created by Olympus and Kodak that allows for the interchange of lenses from different manufacturers. Several companies support the standard but this not mean that they make cameras that use the 4/3 system. Kodak, Fujifilm, Leica, Panasonic, Olympus, Sanyo and Sigma are all involved in developing the 4/3 system. Olympus, Leica and Panasonic all currently manufacture digital SLR cameras that use the four thirds (4/3) system. The system itself is called the Four Thirds System because it uses an aspect ratio of 4:3. This may seem familiar as it is the same ratio used by standard television and is also used in a lot of computer monitors. Most digital SLR cameras use an aspect ratio of 1.81:1 which is very close to the 16:9 ratio, the international standard format for high definition television(HDTV). The Four Thirds System uses a physically smaller sensor, most often found in point and shoot compact cameras. A consequence of using a 4/3 sensor in a digital SLR camera is a larger depth of field. This is a real advantage for macro photography where depth of field becomes very narrow at high magnification. The small components are also the reason that Olympus has been able to develop the worlds thinnest digital SLR camera . The Olympus E410 weighs only 380g. A major drawback and concern for consumers who may be thinking of buying a four thirds camera is the lack of lenses available. There are only 4 macro lenses to choose from at time of writing this article. Luckily two of them are the very reasonable Sigma 150mm f2.8 EX DG HSM and Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG.

Digital SLR too much for you?
The technology that made the Sony alpha digital SLR cameras a force to be reckoned with is not the only legacy that Minolta left behind. Minolta were also responsible for introducing the first superzoom compact cameras with their Dimage cameras. Superzoom compact cameras are getting more and more like SLR cameras all the time. They do not have interchangeable lenses and are often considerably lighter to carry. They are very capable cameras and are great for people who do not want the problems of having a heavy, cumbersome digital SLR camera to carry around. These compact cameras are often called bridge cameras because they span the gap between an SLR and an ordinary compact camera. A benefit of a bridge camera is that it will shoot in RAW file format, whereas many point and shoot cameras do not have this feature.

Taking an SLR with you on an outing, journey or expedition takes a lot of planning. You need a whole load of stuff including a camera, tripod, lenses, camera bag and external flash gun/s. On top of all that, your electronic equipment needs to be charged or fitted with batteries. It all adds up weight wise and can be difficult to carry for long distances over rough terrain. It also adds up cost wise as each component will be expensive to acquire. This can take time to build up all the kit that you require if you have a low initial budget. A compact camera may solve some of these problems but not all of them, for example you will still need a tripod for those longer exposure shots.

Fujifilm currently appear to have the upper hand in this market with their excellent Finepix S100(FS) being the latest addition. It is for this reason and this reason only that I have singled it out for attention. The obvious attraction to photographers is their high quality Superzoom lenses but they also have Macro (and Super Macro) functionality built in. Some cameras have additional screw on macro filters that can be added for increased magnification.

2/3 “ High Resolution 11 Megapixel Super CCD VIII HR
28-400mm F2.8-5.3 High Performance 14.3x Zoom Lens
Optical Image Stabilisation
ISO 100 – 10,000 [ISO 6400 at 6MP or Lower, ISO 10,000 at 3MP)
Unique Film Simulation Modes
RAW mode
VGA Movie Mode
Comprehensive Photographic Controls
Multi-bracketing and high speed continuous shooting
2.5” tiltable high resolution screen

Conclusion
For an absolute beginner to macro photography the a Superzoom camera is a good way to get started. You have to accept that you will not have the same amount of control as you would with a digital SLR camera. This is not as much of a drawback as you might think because as your photography improves you can always upgrade to a new digital SLR later on. I have no preference for any particular product or manufacturer. My main point in this post is that you have to take a long hard look at the camera market, read as many camera reviews, blogs, forums, websites and magazines as your brain will allow. Try and find example shots taken with the camera that you are thinking of buying. Despite the great advances in super zoom cameras, I would always feel a bit restricted without my SLR camera. I have spent a lot of time studying and learning photography and finding the limitations of my camera. This is how I know that it is time to upgrade to a new model. My lenses all have a canon mount so my decision is already made. The main problem is finding a reasonable second camera that can be thrown into your top pocket for backup, emergencies and general photography – there a certain situations and circumstances where a large expensive digital SLR camera could attract undesired attention. Remember that many mobile (or cell) phones now have high quality cameras built-in which are great for covert photography.

I hope that you have found this article about the rapid evolution of digital cameras and macro photography interesting. There is certainly a lot more to digital cameras than meets the eye. I'm not sure if it is just me, but I find myself constantly looking over my shoulder. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence! In this post I have mentioned quite a few lenses and this has been the inspiration for my next post which is going to be about...[drum roll please] macro lenses. In the meantime thanks to everyone who has emailed me and left comments on my blog. I am currently editing some of the older posts so it may take a while for new posts to be added. Thank You for visiting my Macro Photography for Beginners website.

Marvin Africa