Setup, Lighting, and Exposure
Supports
Close-up and macro photography require the most stable supports possible. Even nearby footsteps can often render a macro shot too fuzzy to be successful. Long exposures also require stable supports for both the subject and the camera system. Sometimes it is necessary to add vibration damping, add weights and bracing, and avoid any movement in the immediate area of the photo setup. Flowers in particular are very sensitive to air movement, so you need to hold still just before and during the exposure.
Lighting
Due to the magnifications usually encountered in macro and near-macro shots, added lighting is frequently needed. This can be provided by adding flash, but it is often best to use what is available by reflecting it to the places where it is needed. Sunlight is usually bright enough for serious macro work, but sometimes the subjects of the picture object strongly to the light and heat of the sun.
One of the chief difficulties of close-up shooting is that there is generally little room for the lights. Arranging them so they light the subject without causing flare is also difficult, but very important. Some form of lens hoods or light baffles should be used if you wish to have the best possible image contrast and color.
Modern flash systems have helped greatly in simplifying lighting problems. It is possible to place flashes in almost any needed place and to synchronize them by means of optical or radio triggers. For some systems, the intensity of the flashes can also be adjusted remotely.
Polarizers are sometimes useful in macro work; they can reduce or eliminate highlights in some cases. They are especially useful if you are shooting something that is in the water, such as a critter in a tide pool. You can also use a polarizer on the lens and a crossed polarizer on a flash and partly control reflections.
Miscellaneous Hardware
This can be an enormous catchall. When I look at the toolbox of items I use occasionally for close-up shooting, I wonder when I became such a pack rat. I have clamps, reflectors, mirrors, bits of card and paper, aluminum foil, diffusing panels, clay, various types of adhesive and tapes, plamps (plant clamps), cables, spare batteries and their chargers, water misters, glycerin, flashlights, pieces of clear and opal glass, scissors, hemostats, lengths of straight wire, plant twisters (to secure a stem to a piece of wire or something else), colored gels and filters, and on and on…
Exposure considerations
This is not much of a problem with current camera meters. In the “good old days of film”, exposure determination was a huge problem, and there were many tables of compensation to be consulted for any combination of hardware you could imagine. And of course you applied these and then waited to see whether you had gotten it right. Now, just use the camera meter to get close, check the histogram, adjust as needed, and there you are. And you know before you break down the setup that you got it!
Close-up and macro photography require the most stable supports possible. Even nearby footsteps can often render a macro shot too fuzzy to be successful. Long exposures also require stable supports for both the subject and the camera system. Sometimes it is necessary to add vibration damping, add weights and bracing, and avoid any movement in the immediate area of the photo setup. Flowers in particular are very sensitive to air movement, so you need to hold still just before and during the exposure.
Lighting
Due to the magnifications usually encountered in macro and near-macro shots, added lighting is frequently needed. This can be provided by adding flash, but it is often best to use what is available by reflecting it to the places where it is needed. Sunlight is usually bright enough for serious macro work, but sometimes the subjects of the picture object strongly to the light and heat of the sun.
One of the chief difficulties of close-up shooting is that there is generally little room for the lights. Arranging them so they light the subject without causing flare is also difficult, but very important. Some form of lens hoods or light baffles should be used if you wish to have the best possible image contrast and color.
Modern flash systems have helped greatly in simplifying lighting problems. It is possible to place flashes in almost any needed place and to synchronize them by means of optical or radio triggers. For some systems, the intensity of the flashes can also be adjusted remotely.
Polarizers are sometimes useful in macro work; they can reduce or eliminate highlights in some cases. They are especially useful if you are shooting something that is in the water, such as a critter in a tide pool. You can also use a polarizer on the lens and a crossed polarizer on a flash and partly control reflections.
Miscellaneous Hardware
This can be an enormous catchall. When I look at the toolbox of items I use occasionally for close-up shooting, I wonder when I became such a pack rat. I have clamps, reflectors, mirrors, bits of card and paper, aluminum foil, diffusing panels, clay, various types of adhesive and tapes, plamps (plant clamps), cables, spare batteries and their chargers, water misters, glycerin, flashlights, pieces of clear and opal glass, scissors, hemostats, lengths of straight wire, plant twisters (to secure a stem to a piece of wire or something else), colored gels and filters, and on and on…
Exposure considerations
This is not much of a problem with current camera meters. In the “good old days of film”, exposure determination was a huge problem, and there were many tables of compensation to be consulted for any combination of hardware you could imagine. And of course you applied these and then waited to see whether you had gotten it right. Now, just use the camera meter to get close, check the histogram, adjust as needed, and there you are. And you know before you break down the setup that you got it!
