Anyone who has visited my flickr gallery would know that I am an avid fan of Macro Photography (specially insects). Some people find my passion for shooting insects difficult to digest. What is so tempting about photographing insects that I can spend hours together behind a small creature to get that best shot? Well, it’s the beautiful patterns, or I should say the designs that the insects are gifted – and we are not. These minute details are which I keep trying to capture as I can not admire those with my naked eyes.
Coming to macro photography, it is not as easy as it seems. First you have to work with not-so-cooperative insects and second you need a powerful lens to capture them. Also, either you need some sort of support to steady the camera (a tripod or a monopod or something where you can rest your camera) or you got to have very very steady hands. I don’t have a tripod yet, so I try to utilize my hands as much as possible.
Here are some tips for macro photography –
- Know limitations of your camera – each camera a minimum distance beyond which it can’t focus. For example in normal macro mode, my Canon S3 IS can focus at 1 cm but not less than that. In Super macro mode, it can focus at 0 cm too, nice.
- Have enough light – for macro photography, you need to zoom a lot to get closer to the subject and hence need much more light than shooting at wide angle.
- Get a tripod (I need to get it too) – As you are working at far end of telephoto range, a small shake can give you a completely blurred image.
- Get a good macro lens – Normal point and shoot cameras are generally not equipped with good enough lens for macro photography. You need a lens which can enlarge the image and still retain the sharpness. I use Raynox DCR-250 lens on top of my Canon S3 IS. This lens enlarges the image 8 times and is very good at retaining the sharpness of the subject.
- Keep away from Bumble bees 🙂
Below are some of my favorite macro shots that I have taken over last 3 years.
And finally this video. It’s much more fun when you can capture such wonderful macro videos. I wish I had a tripod.
You wouldn’t appreciate these lovely creatures unless you bend down on your knees and get to their level to see their world.
Hey Ronak,
Cant believe you clicked these.. 🙂
Man.. you owe me a training session and I want it soon.. Now, there is definitely motivation to meet you and soon.. 🙂
I am also planning to upgrade my camera..
Keep up the good work ..
Cheers
Desh
Bandhu, you are always welcome. I’ll be glad to conduct some training sessions. Contact my secretary, he’ll give you the cost estimates for the same 😉
These are some fantastic shots, macro photography isn’t easy but it sure is fun! I also have the Raynox DCR-250, and it works like a charm. Keep up the great work! I will be reading your blog and checking out the new shots.
I know, I love Macro, too! I wish I had the camera to get that close, though 🙂 Instead of buying a nice camera I’ve been looking at a Wacom.. .and they just came out with the wireless one due out in March.
Anyways… you’d probably like Mike Moats… he’s a nationally-known photographer that lives right in little old Michigan. His “Tiny Landscapes” book is AWESOME:
http://www.tinylandscapes.com/
Seriously… his stuff is amazzzzzzing. You could get a few ideas and probably some tips from him, too–he’ll email you back. And check out his stuff using the LensBaby.
By the way, I love your shots — they give personality to the littlest things! 🙂 Who can say things happen by chance!
Nice post, I recently got myself a macro lens for my Nikon D90 and am really enjoying trying something new. Your dragonfly is stunning!
OMG! Mind-blowing shots! You may be interested in checking out my Photography-dedicated website: fotolusion | http://www.fotolusion.com
I share your interest. Ever since I got a camera with a macro function I have to snap a spider or butterfly if I see one sitting there. The detail it reveals is amazing. I remind myself of the old sayings as above so below, as within so without.
I LOVE MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY TOO! uwaaa i remember when we had a dissection of a worm, my teacher asked to identify the sex organ of it in any way we want. i used my camera and bang! i got amazed. i love observing textures too~ 🙂
You got amazing photos. I always wanted to be a photographer and I never realized that there is such thing as macro photography. I think I’ll try this when I buy my Canon EOS 40D. Thanks for the tips I’ll keep that in mind.
Wow this is impressive. I have only tried some Macro on flowers and you are right it’s not that easy, lots of light etc. I took this rose with all the wrong lighting conditions, I managed to get an OK result but ISO was all the way up.
http://martinsoler.com/2010/01/30/rose-blanche/
Yours are great!
i love macro too… love to see the details…
Beautiful. Thank you.
Beautiful macro shots… Thanks for the tips. They are very helpful.
That was so macro.