Knowledge and skills of macro photography

Macro photography is a special way of photography, which is different from conventional photography. It takes photos of related objects and subjects at close range, and can get larger images than the original objects, and the magnification is 1: 1, or even higher. Here are some knowledge and skills of macro photography. Let's take a look!

(1) photographic equipment

In order to get the original image with the magnification of 1: 1 or above, it is necessary to equip a single mirror with pixel height and assemble a macro lens with the magnification of 1: 1. There are macro lenses with different focal lengths in the market, ranging from 60mm, 90mm, 100mm to 200 mm. Some larger macro lenses have been equipped with shock-proof lenses such as VR, IS and OS. , which can bring clear macro images to photographers when they shoot by hand. Even if they use a lens that is not shockproof, they can also be equipped with a tripod or tripod to stabilize the equipment shooting. When necessary, the subject should also use "flash" to fill the light.

Macro images above 1: 1 can be obtained by using the close-range circle, but it should be noted that using the close-range circle will cause slight loss of light and lose the focusing ability of "infinity".

Note: there is no lens group in the close-range circle, which will not affect the imaging.

(2) The magnification is 1: 1

Generally speaking, we don't have to enlarge some conventional photographic images on the screen. If we watch the whole image without being "loose, depressed and hazy" including the three major photographic elements, we can pass our minimum requirements. However, we might as well shoot with a macro lens and go home to enlarge the "smell", which may bring more surprises and arouse people's greater interest in macro shooting.

Directly out of the original stage

Enlarge by 50%

100% magnification

Shooting equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Lens: EF 100mm F2.8 is a macro lens.

Television: 1/200

AV: F5.6

ISO: 400

Theme: Iambrix salsala salsala (spread wings: 30mm)

(c) Key skills

The macro lens structure is different from other lenses, because the focusing speed of the lens is relatively slow, and fine pictures are taken, especially those with longer focal lengths, such as 180mm and 200mm macro lenses, which have slower focusing speed, so the subject can be photographed by "manual focusing" or "manual focusing all the time", and the function of "full-time manual focusing" allows photography. You can also manually fine-tune the subject with the focus ring first, and then lock the subject with the "auto focus" function to achieve the best shooting effect. Photographers need to practice related functions repeatedly and use them skillfully to avoid panic and miss the opportunity when shooting.

(4) camera settings

Appropriate shooting settings are one of the important elements of an image. If it is not set properly, an excessively large aperture setting will blur the image, or an excessively thin aperture setting will make it difficult to distinguish the subject of the image from the subject and object of the messy scene, and it will become an alternative vision with messy aesthetic feeling. The sensitivity ISO should not be too high. Too high ISO will cause too much noise in the image and damage the visual beauty of the image. A shutter that is too slow may also be blurred due to the micro motion brought by the environment, so it needs to be set properly.

Recommended aperture: f5.6–f8.0

Suggested shutter:1100–1/400.

Suggested iso: iso100–400.

AV: F5.6 / TV: 1/200 / ISO: 200

(5) Use monopod or tripod to reduce vibration.

Because the subject is small, macro photography is prone to vibration. In order to reduce the vibration and get a clearer image, using a tripod or a monopod can help alleviate the problems caused by vibration, which will get twice the result with half the effort if it is used in conjunction with cable release. However, it should be noted that using a tripod will reduce the mobility of photographers, and it is necessary to avoid using a tripod for some fast-moving species.

In recent years, many new macro lenses developed by lens brands have added shockproof function, which greatly improves the mobility of photographers. It should also be noted that if a tripod is assembled with a lens equipped with shockproof technology, it is necessary to turn off the shockproof function first to avoid blurring the picture due to active detection of the shockproof function.

(6) Use flash lamps and make good use of light sources.

In order to get a more ideal image, it is best to shoot the subject with the shortest focusing distance under the macro lens. However, because the lens is very close to the subject, it is likely to block part of the light, so it is essential to use the flash to assist in filling the light. Single-mirror reflector can be equipped with dome light, dome light flash and some ring flash lights specially designed for macro shooting. Because the shooting distance is very close, the photographer can reduce the flash output rate by "flash exposure compensation" or "manual adjustment" to avoid overexposure of the subject.

In addition, we should master the light source, try to use uncle Dayang's backlight or side light source, and then cooperate with the flash as the main body to fill the light in front of the camera, so that we can see an almost complete image in front of us.