Tips for Macro photography

Find a subject

Great macro subjects usually have lots of interesting patters, detail or texture. Common examples are flowers and insects, but other household items such as rope, fruit and sweets also work well. You could try adding interest to shots of flowers or leaves by spraying them with water to capture the glistening droplets in your image.

Aperture

Set your camera to aperture priority so that it will automatically select the correct shutter speed for you. A wide aperture (low f number) is often used for macro photography as it blurs the background and makes your subject stand out in the frame. However, if you are shooting really close up and want your subject to fill the frame, use a narrow aperture (high f number) to keep it all in focus.

Focus

The trickiest part of macro photography is getting your subject in focus at such close range. Often manually focusing for your shot gives the best results, but if your subject is moving (e.g. an insect or a flower in the wind) you might want to use continuous autofocus.

Light

It is best to use lots of natural light to ensure your image is not underexposed. Shoot outside or place your subject by a window, but avoid shooting in bright sunlight as this will produce harsh shadows in your images. However, if the light is fading, you can use a desk lamp to light your shot. When shooting leaves, try positioning them in front of your light source to bring out more detail.

Composition

Composition is just as important for macro photography as any other genre. Think about the rule of thirds, positioning your subject off centre in the frame. You can use your camera’s gridlines to help you. Experimenting with different angles can also show your subject in a whole new light.

Crop in

If you have not been able to get as close to your subject as you would have liked, then use editing software to crop in closer. You may even be able to do this in camera if your model has the option. This is also a good way of recomposing your shot if you did not get the desired results at the time.

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/35-examples-of-stunning-macro-photography/

How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio
This tutorial is nothing short of fantastic. It shows you how to build a small lightbox in which you take pictures of small objects, flowers or anything you can think of. It won’t cost you much: all you’ll need is a cardboard box, cutting utensils and some paper.

MACRO Fruit Photography:

Find fresh fruit

It’s a good idea to buy your fruit as fresh as possible so that the colours are bright and juicy. Fruit that looks good when cut into slices is perfect. We bought some fresh limes, lemons and an orange. These have some of the best zesty and vibrant colours and so make the ideal macro candidates.

Slice it up

Slice your fruit finely. If the slices of fruit that you are using are too thick they will also be heavier and more likely to sink. We want them to float on top of the water.

Blow bubbles

You’ll need to ask someone to blow bubbles into the water with a straw as you take the shot from above. Alternatively, you could set your camera up on a tripod and use self-timer, enabling you to do this yourself.

Mix them up

Get a pack of sweets and empty it out into a small glass bowl. For the best effect in your images, try to ensure that the different colours are mixed up as much as possible.

Set up a surface

You can’t place water directly onto the sweets, so a transparent surface is required. One half of an empty CD case is the ideal thing to use – all you need to do is rest it over top of the glass bowl.

Place droplets

Simply drip some water droplets onto the CD case, trying to keep your individual water drops separate. It may be best to use glycerin to create more clearly defined droplets. Also think about where you are placing them in order to create the best-looking image. Different-sized drops will produce different effects, so experiment!

Artist of the Week / Matthew Albanese

http://framednetwork.com/matthew-albaneses-diorama-photography/

A BTS Look at Diorama Landscape Photography

 

 https://fstoppers.com/news/bts-look-diorama-landscape-photography-5350

  1. How is the technical quality?

 2. How’s the composition?

         3. What do you find interesting  about his work?
        

Julius Shulman

                                              Shulman setting up for the now iconic shot 

Julius Shulman's iconic image: Designed by Pierre Koenig in 1959 for Buck Stahl as part of the Case Study Houses sponsored by Arts & Architecture Magazine, the Stahl house achieved its fame, in part, due to Shulman’s iconic image. The glass house appears to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline. Shot at f32 on his 4x5 camera, he used two flash heads for the interior and kept the shutter open for 5 minutes to expose for the city lights.

Winner of several awards including Best Documentary at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Lone Star Festival,‘Visual Acoustics – The Modernism of Julius Schulman’ is an elegant, considered and unreservedly lavish expose of the most prolific architectural photographer of our time.

       1. How is the technical quality? 
         2. How’s the composition?
         3. What do you find interesting  about his work?