Seven macro photography skills that beginners must master

A flower, a world, a tree and a bodhi, the tiny world is equally wonderful. Here are some skills I collected for beginners: macro photography, I hope it will help you!

Seven macro photography skills that beginners must master

1. Get familiar with the photographic equipment you have first.

In my opinion, you don't need a lot of equipment and accessories to take a good photo, but the most important thing is to be familiar with your own photographic equipment, especially novices. At first, you expect to blindly pursue professional-grade expensive equipment. You might as well learn about your own equipment from practice and try to shoot more and accumulate experience. When you skillfully use your own equipment, you will get good photos when shooting.

Practice repeatedly with a multi-purpose macro lens

Improvement skills:

At the beginning, people may encounter the problem of focusing, because it is difficult to find the target from the viewfinder, and they will have difficulty in focusing. Finally, they found that the photos taken were not clear enough. In fact, as long as you know and try to solve your mistakes and practice repeatedly, you can become confident and take good photos.

2, understand the operation of the aperture

Some people may think that a large aperture can take beautiful macro photos. Not necessarily. I think learning to shoot macro should first learn the operation of aperture, because the depth of field is not only based on its depth, but also a commonly used macro composition tool. Because you need to know what subject and subject you are shooting first, you don't have to pursue "the bigger the aperture, the better".

Just like this photo, it is no problem to shoot the stamen, but if you want to shoot the whole flower, the aperture is too large to aim at the stamen, which may blur the petals.

Improvement skills:

If you use too large aperture shadow macro, you may only focus on the head or tail of the insect, but not the whole insect. In the end, you can only get a photo that highlights the whole body of the insect (unless you want to deliberately highlight the focus and close-up of the head). If you shoot flowers, you may only focus on one of the petals and don't have to be "useful".

Step 3 focus on the most beautiful moment

The "decisive moment" is often heard. It turns out that macro photography also has this link. The master thinks that if you concentrate on a moment, when you judge a good time, you can take a beautiful photo by pressing the shutter. But if you don't judge the timing, or if you are one step behind, you will naturally not be able to take good photos.

Capture the most wonderful image moments of insects

Improvement skills:

While focusing on shooting, don't forget to ignore the surrounding environment. Once the subject suitable for shooting is found, everyone should try to capture the different movements and aesthetics of the subject as much as possible. It may be difficult to shoot insects and it may scare them away. Secondly, I think it is not easy to capture the graceful movements of dynamic subjects.

Step 4 shoot without a plan

Sometimes, as photographers, everyone may have planned what subject to shoot, where to shoot and so on. Before shooting, I know what tools and equipment I need to bring, and I can't start shooting until everything is ready. Of course, it is sometimes important to make full preparations in advance, but maybe some photographers just like to do the opposite.

Sometimes shooting is worse than "unprepared"

Improvement skills:

Sometimes, as photographers, everyone may have planned what subject to shoot, where to shoot and so on. Before shooting, I know what tools and equipment I need to bring, and I can't start shooting until everything is ready. Of course, it is sometimes important to make full preparations in advance, but maybe some photographers just like to do the opposite.

5, the importance of retouching

I believe that many photographers will use retouching software after taking photos. I think we should learn how to use post-production software to edit our own photos. At the same time, you can know what can be edited and what can't be edited in post-production, so you can know to avoid making the same mistake again in shooting.

I believe that many photographers will use retouching software after taking photos.

Improvement skills:

For example, the focus problem mentioned above requires Lightroom and others to try to "save" photos by increasing sharpness, but if they are out of focus when shooting, it is difficult to save them completely. Therefore, I think retouching is secondary. The most important thing is that you have mastered the shooting skills, and you have taken photos that "capture that moment" and "focus accurately"!

6. Don't force yourself to shoot anything.

This is actually similar to the fourth point. The difference is, I think everyone thinks that we should keep an open mind to shoot. Some people don't like insects, so they don't try to shoot at all. Of course, you can also focus on shooting flowers and other themes, but "diversified" theme shooting can make you more familiar with macro photography and make shooting not too boring.

Friends who like to shoot flowers don't have to be limited to "shooting flowers"

Improvement skills:

I think macro photography of insects is not only a photography technique, but also allows people to look around and study small creatures they want to know more about. Because macro photography can reveal more details of insects, I think even the "ugliest" insects can be an interesting topic, and every moment may record their different actions, and the process is very interesting.

7. Try a new shooting style.

I feel that while establishing my own shooting style, I should not limit myself too much to a certain shooting composition and angle. I like trying to adjust different situations, because I like experiments best, so I can try to mix old and new technologies and practice them. You don't have to use "same composition, same angle" to trap your creativity.

Try more interesting shooting styles.

Improvement skills:

For example, in a day, natural light can have many different situations, if the light at sunrise or sunset is very suitable for taking macro photos with high contrast backlight; If the sky is bright at noon, you can try to make macro photos with color as the theme. Masters also like to enlarge the aperture and take pictures by hand, because they can have a very fast exposure time, so that the movement of objects can be solidified instantly.

Finally, in fact, many macro photographers have been trying, learning, and growing into masters now, taking beautiful macro photos one after another. So the most important point is actually, "success requires hard work." I hope readers can absorb the key points of this article and practice it again and again. In fact, they also have the opportunity to become masters and follow the pace into the macro photography world.

Photography skills of models

First, the equipment selection should be appropriate.

Because the size of the model is usually small, it is necessary to use macro functions to express local details. In this respect, compared with traditional film cameras, digital cameras have unique advantages. The macro shooting effect is often very good for ordinary models with a price of more than 2,000 yuan. Of course, if you use a digital SLR camera, you need to be equipped with a macro lens at the same time, and the deputy factory lens is cost-effective. In addition to the camera, it would be better to bring a tripod, because as we all know, macro shooting requires high stability of grip, and slight jitter will destroy the image quality. Because the model belongs to still life shooting, using a tripod can ensure the probability of success, especially with the camera's self-timer mode. It is also important to use the focal length of the lens. The principle is to make the shooting effect of the model close to the perspective relationship of 1: 1.

Secondly, choose the shooting location and background picture.

The equipment is ready, and then enter the scene preparation stage. Often we put a little effort into the photographic environment and background, and the result will surprise you.

The simplest scenery, we can use a solid color background cloth in an L-shape on the table, which can be bought in the photographic equipment market, usually about per square meter 10 yuan, or we can choose drawing paper with a slightly higher cost. White background is the most popular. Of course, if the color of your model is light, you can choose black, blue or red. , according to the actual shooting flexible grasp.

The above is a relatively simple method. If the model is integrated into the surrounding environment, it will get a more realistic effect. The model scene is made to truly reproduce the atmosphere at that time, so the choice of model scene should also consider this problem. For example, shooting off-road vehicle models, you can choose to be outdoors, where there are mounds and sand; For example, when shooting cartoon characters, you can use color pictorial as the background and put some decorations around the model.

In addition, there are some difficult scenes that need to be synthesized later. For example, when shooting a BMW 5 Series sedan, it is not difficult to find that the photographer expresses the sense of speed of the car through the dynamic blur of the background and tires. The car model is static, so it is impossible for us to photograph its motion state, so we need to do dynamic fuzzy processing on the background and tires to express the dynamics. So we choose a picture of a wide road environment as the background. In the later synthesis, the position and angle of the car should be adjusted first to imitate the visual relationship in the real world. Finally, the background and tire are dynamically blurred. See the digital adjustment section for details.

Tips: The scale of the background is not necessarily large, but the depth of field can be skillfully used. In addition, the use of props should play the role of finishing touch, and can't pretend to be the host.

Third, reasonable lighting, choose the right shooting angle.

The light distribution is the most critical, because when the light strikes the surface of the model, it will produce a contrast between light and shade, and this light and shadow effect will be used to highlight the three-dimensional sense of the model. In addition, we should pay attention to the relationship between the light distribution of the model and the background light to avoid light distortion.

Under normal circumstances, considering the economic situation, ordinary photographers can use the desk lamp at home, take energy-saving bulbs as the main light, and use foam board or A4 white paper as the reflective surface to reflect the light to the model. The reason why reflection is emphasized is that the light we want is scattered and soft. It should be noted that the automatic white balance will be inaccurate at this time, and it is best to manually adjust the white balance with a whiteboard or a gray board. When shooting large model models of aircraft and land-based equipment, there are certain restrictions on the operation under lighting conditions. It is recommended to use natural light, and natural exterior can also be used.

1, determine the main light.

The main light is the dominant light source, which determines the main color of the picture. In cloth lighting, it is meaningful to add auxiliary light, background light and profile light only after determining the main light. In the process of determining the main light, we should systematically consider the brightness, intensity, coverage and distance to the main body according to the modeling characteristics, texture performance, light and shade distribution and the degree of separation between the main body and the main background. For most subjects, soft light, such as reflective umbrella, soft light and fog light, is generally chosen as the main light. Direct floodlights and spotlights are rarely used as main lights unless the picture needs them to bring strong contrast.

The main light is usually higher than the main body because the most comfortable and natural light is usually simulated natural light. If the main light is too low, the subject will form abnormal bottom light illumination, while if the main light is too high, it will form top light, which will increase the contrast between the side and top of the subject. Most photography hobbies will choose an angle of 45, because the light and shadow effect is most balanced at this time.

2. Add auxiliary lights

The illumination of the main light will make the subject shadow unless the photographic picture needs strong contrast. Generally, in order to improve the level and tone of the shadow surface, auxiliary light should be added when lighting.

There can be one or more auxiliary lights according to the needs of the picture effect. To control unwanted shadows, use reflectors as much as possible. Because the light ratio can be properly controlled, it produces unexpected good results. The light ratio of the model is adjusted by adjusting the position of the reflector. The light ratio of shallow objects (that is, the reflector is far away) is smaller, and the light ratio of heavy objects (that is, the reflector is far away) is larger.

Step 3 set the background light

Background light plays the role of setting off the main body or rendering the atmosphere. Therefore, when dealing with background light, we should pay attention to both contrast and harmony.

When shooting a model, it is often difficult to light the background alone because the subject is very close to the background. At this time, the main light doubles as the background light. In the specific control of the light ratio between the subject and the background, it can be controlled by selecting appropriate lamp distance, direction and illumination range, or it can be blocked by opaque shading objects at appropriate positions to obtain the required light and shade changes.

Step 4 add profile light

The main function of contour light is to produce a bright contour for the subject and separate the subject from the background. Side light usually uses spotlight, which is strong and hard and often produces strong projection on the screen. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the position of the lamp. Using a reflector (such as a mirror) for analysis usually produces unexpected good results. In addition, according to the needs of the subject, choose strong light or soft light as side light.

Tips: It needs to be clear that profile light is not necessary for every picture. Only add it when the picture needs it, otherwise it will feel superfluous.

5. Add decorative lights

Decorative lights are mainly used to decorate some parts or details of the main body, which is a local and small-scale use of light. So we use local lighting and so on. The front face of the car is a very important design, which needs to be emphasized, so it is emphasized by local light sources. We use a spotlight to hit the front face of the car, and we need to pay attention to the projection generated by this light to grasp the overall tone.

Step 6 review

Every additional light may have an impact on the previous effect. Therefore, after the lighting is finished, it is necessary to carefully check the overall lighting effect, such as whether the lighting is obviously insufficient or unreasonable, whether the projection shielding meets the requirements, whether the projection position is appropriate, whether the lighting of each light source interferes, whether each light source enters the viewfinder screen and causes halo, etc. Looking at these details can avoid giving up all previous efforts because of a moment's negligence.