Tips on macro photography

SpikeK6

SpikeK6

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Spike
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Hi

Just bought a lovely Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens from a member on here and well I an really looking forward to getting some lovely close shots of.... well anything that can be photographed up close, but I was just wondering if you great macro guys could give me some tips on camera settings and well just anything you might find useful to a novice maro tog

Thanks

spike
 
A little while ago I also got a 100mm Macro.

The first thing I found out is that I needed IS - I had forgotten how bad I was at holding a camera steady since most of my lenses are IS!

The second thing I discovered is that the DOF when going Macro is incredibly small!

The third thing I discovered is that even fractional movement of the lens or subject will result in an unsharp image which may not look obviously blurred but will look unsharp.

All of which means a sturdy tripod is ESSENTIAL!!

Using this lens I have turned my photography around and looking for close up shots often involves bringing them home!

Not insects or bugs but small flowers etc.

I go out armed not just with my camera for normal shots but also a small plastic container and a pair of pliers and a small Stanley knife.

When I see a suitable subject I cut a bit off or use the pliers if they are a bit tougher, which I then put in the container.

When I get home I pop the stems in some water to keep them fresh then set up my tripod.

I either use natural light or the onboard flash with a simple diffuser.

Then I focus on the subject using MF and set the cameras timer to 2 secs (450D) since I don't have a wireless release.

I use the timer since even touching the camera to take a pic can give a blurred photo.

This method works fine for me:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4543661197_94fc801794_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2426/4543662091_d8fe51d0fc_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4543661591_958ef6334b_o.jpg

The flowers in the first 2 shots were extremely small - about 1/2 cm across

.
 
Thanks for that, I did notice about the DOF.

Had a go yesterday and well I am blown away with the colours this lens produces straight out of the camera.

spike
 
If you are going to shoot handheld, keep the aperture stopped down and the shutter speed FAST, as fast as you can possibly get it. If you can't get it fast enough then whack it on the tripod. I always manual focus and move backwards and forwards a bit until I can get it sharp, but would DEFINITELY use a tripod if I had one! You can get these little slidey macro plates to go on them that allow you to adjust it backwards and forwards ever so slightly I think.. No idea though, I can't even dream of having any money in triple figures :(
 
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