Beginners guide to Macro Photography – How to create great macro photos

In this beginners guide to macro photography we’ll cover everything you need to know to start shooting great macro photos.

Macro photography – what is macro photography?

Macro photography is quite simply extreme close-up photography, and traditionally defined as taking a photograph of a subject reproducing it “life size” so that it is recorded at the same size (or larger) on the camera’s sensor. Once you’ve captured the image, you can then display it larger on-screen or in print.

---

Welcome to the AP Improve Your Photography Series – in partnership with MPB – This series is designed to take you from the beginnings of photography, introduce different shooting skills and styles, and teach you how to grow as a photographer, so you can enjoy producing amazing photography (and video), to take you to the next level, whether that’s making money or simply mastering your art form.

Each week you’ll find a new article so make sure to come back to continue your journey. The start may seem basic to some photographers, but it’s an important step in making sure you’re comfortable with your equipment and the basics of photography, as it’s part of the foundations that help build into great photographs, and once you know these, you’ll be able to play with them, and understand further articles in this series.

---

Macro photography lens – what is a macro lens?

A “true” macro lens is a lens that can offer 1:1 reproduction of the subject on the camera’s sensor. This is sometimes, but not always, referred to as 1x magnification. Some offer further magnification such as 1.25x magnification with the Olympus 30mm f/3.5 Macro, 1.4x with the Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM lens, or 2x with the Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro lens.

Did you know? Beyond the standard macro lens, there are specialist macro lenses available, which can offer 1-5x magnification such as the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, and Yasuhara Nanoha x5 (Micro Four Thirds). However these are not for the faint-hearted, as they can only be used for extreme macro photography and can’t be used for general photography.

How close can your lens focus?

You’ll find the close-focus distance on the side of most lenses. If it’s not close enough, then you’ll need to look at the options available, whether that’s an extention tube or other accessory, or for the best results, have a look at a dedicated macro lens.

What are “Short”, “Mid”, and “Long” macro lenses?

You may come across this term on the internet, and this is simply to help guide you in the different focus lengths of macro lenses. Here we run through the benefits, and potential disadvantages of each type.

• Short – 50-60mm (or equivalent), can be useful where you want to use the lens as an everyday lens as well. Often compact, lightweight, and affordable.
• Mid – 90-120mm (or equivalent), 90mm and 100mm or 105mm are common focal lengths, and very commonly available for multiple camera systems. The lens gives a good distance from the subject, as well as a relatively good balance between size and weight. They also make for useful portrait lenses.
• Long – 150/180mm (or equivalent) where you want as much distance from the subject as possible, these lenses are often larger, and more expensive.

Can I use my existing lens as a macro lens?

The short answer is yes you can, but… you might not be able to get close enough to your subject without additional accessories. If you’re looking to start macro photography, but on a limited budget, then there are a number of options available that can help improve your lens’ ability to focus on close subjects including extension tubes, close-up filters, and reversing rings.

If you’ve used your current lens(es) and can’t get close enough to your subject, then there are a number of relatively wallet friendly options for those on a budget, letting you use your existing lens for close-up and macro photography, and whilst these options may not get you as bitingly sharp images as a dedicated lens, they may be enough for you, depending on your needs.

Some zoom or kit lenses are better than others, and some do offer a reasonable close-up focus distance, but some simply don’t have the ability needed. You should be able to see the close-up focus distance on the side of your lens, but if not, you can look it up on the manufacturer’s website.

Option 1 – Extension tubes

Ensure you get ones with electrical contacts (and AF support) as this will enable auto-focus as well as lens settings to be controlled by the camera. Beware that the expense of these could be put towards a budget macro lens. However, you can get a set of budget extension tubes from as little as £22.

Option 2 – Close-up filter

Find out the filter size for your lens, buy a close-up filter (sometimes called a close-up dioptre), and add this to the front of your lens, and you’ll be able to take photos closer to the subject.

These are available for around £10, or you can spend up to £65 on a high-quality filter from NiSi, and can be a fun way to get closer to a subject, but don’t expect perfect image quality from the cheaper filters. Even buying a budget macro lens will give better results, and a dedicated 1:1 macro lens will get you much closer to true macro photography.

Option 3 – Reversing ring

A reversing ring is designed to allow you to completely reverse your lens, so that you’re shooting through it backwards. You lose all electrical connection (with most reversing rings), and therefore this works best with manual focus lenses, and those that have a manual aperture ring. Or there’s the option of a reversing ring with electrical contacts, but these are much more expensive (around £80), and with macro lenses being available from around £269 (Panasonic 30mm macro, M43) we’d be tempted to suggest you put your money towards a macro lens.

Read about the success of reverse ring use in the AP forums: Lens Reversal Rings – Who knew?!

Macro lens for beginners

If you’re on a budget, have a look at the options available in our round-up of budget macro lenses, as there are various options available, with Micro Four Thirds users often having a wide choice of budget options, or for other systems, Sigma and Tamron often offer excellent value, and high-quality macro lenses. There’s also the option of buying second hand to save even more, with MPB offering a vast range.

Macro photography tips, tricks, and technique

We’ll give some quick tips for macro photography, including some of the most important aspects, including the subject, lighting, focus, and how to stabilise the camera. Plus the photography settings you need to pay attention to when taking macro photos.

Quick Tips for Macro Photography

Once you’ve made sure your camera lens is capable of giving you the close-up performance you’re looking for, you can then start shooting photos! Here are 5 quick tips for taking great macro photos:

1. Pay attention to the subject – is the flower, insect, or item looking at its best?
2. Control the background (where possible) or move to find the best possible background
3. Pay attention to lighting (more on this below) – as we’ve said before light can make or break a shot
4. Focus where needed – being aware of depth of field (see below), using a small focus area can help you control precisely what you’re focusing on
5. Use a tripod! Using a tripod can simplify the photo taking process, you don’t need to worry about camera movement, you can use a slower shutter speed (with a timer), and you can take multiple shots if you want to try focus stacking (see below).

More macro tips here: Top 12 Macro Photography Tips.

Macro photography settings…

Aperture – With close-up photography the depth-of-field, that is, the area that is in focus, is considerably smaller than when taking general photos, and in this makes it important to use a smaller aperture, for example f/8 or f/11, rather than f/1.8.

However diffraction can set in, resulting in a softer image if you close your aperture too much, so there is always a balance to be made between sharpness in the image, and the amount of the subject that is in focus. This matter much more with a subject that has depth, compared to a flat subject, such as a stamp or bank note.

Shutter speed – with still subjects you can use a slower shutter speed, than for example, a moving subject, but with slower shutter speeds, make sure you use the self-timer or remote release to avoid any camera shake. This is where a tripod (or solid support) becomes essential.

ISO speed – If you’re using a tripod, or have good light, you can use a lower ISO speed and this will help you get a more detailed and crisper image, than if you were to use a higher ISO speed. If you’ve got a newer camera, then using higher ISO speeds isn’t as terrible as it used to be.

Light – Macro photography lighting

Without enough light to illuminate your chosen subject, it’s going to be difficult to get a good shot. It certainly makes it more difficult with low levels of light, and with macro photography this can also be particularly difficult as your camera and lens can also block light from getting to the subject if you’re really close to the subject.

This is where additional lighting comes into play, a neatly positioned reflector, LED light, or other light source can transform a dull photo lacking colour, into a photo that pops.

There are multiple different light options available, such as a reflector, LED lights, flashguns, and even dedicated macro ring lights that can attach to the front of your macro lens. We’d start off with something simple, like a reflector, and some LED lights if needed, and as you progress, if you find you need more lighting, then you can invest later.

Now you’ve learnt all the key things you need to know to successfully take macro photographs, you might need some additional inspiration on what to photograph! Here are some great ideas to try. You don’t have to try them all but have a look at what looks like fun to you.

Macro photography ideas and inspiration – Insects

Food and fruit gives creative results: 

Read Sue Bishop’s guide to Macro Flowers photography:

Read Guy Edwardes guide to Fantastic Fungi photography:

Products including cameras, lenses, and watches

Find more inspiration here:

• Expert tips for award-winning macro shots
• How to get great autumn macro shots
• 30 common macro mistakes and how to avoid them

Frequently asked questions (FAQ):

What is diffraction? Diffraction is to do with the laws of physics, when it comes to light travelling through a lens, and can result in a softer image when smaller apertures are used. This is particularly noticeable when using smaller apertures for macro photography, as smaller apertures give you a greater depth-of-field, giving you an image with more of the subject in focus. Some camera systems, such as Fujifilm’s X-series offering diffraction compensation to help maintain a sharper image even when using small apertures. It’s also worth noting that when this starts to become an issue is different with different camera systems with different sensor sizes, whether that’s Micro Four Thirds, APS-C, or full-frame.

What is focus stacking? Focus stacking is a great solution to the problem of diffraction. Using this technique, it’s possible to shoot a sequence of images at different focus distances and then use software (on a computer) to blend the sharp areas together into a single file with greater depth of field and improved image quality. Read our complete guide to focus stacking if you want to know more.

---

Tune in next week, for the next article in the series of the AP Improve Your Photography Series – in partnership with MPB.

• Part 1: Beginners guide to different camera types.
• Part 2: Beginners guide to different lens types.
• Part 3: Beginners guide to using a camera taking photos.
• Part 4: Beginners guide to Exposure, aperture, shutter, ISO, and metering.
• Part 5: Understanding white balance settings and colour
• Part 6: 10 essential cameras accessories for beginners
• Part 7: Beginners guide to the Art of photography and composition
• Part 8: Beginners guide to Photoshop Elements and editing photos
• Part 9: Beginners guide to Portrait Photography

Find the latest Improve Your Photography articles here.

---