Close-up Photography

When we think about photography we tend to think of Landscapes and Portraits. One area of photography that is sometimes forgotten is Close-up Photography. Taking photographs of the world around us was sometimes seen as the arena of the professional photographer. That is just not true. Most cameras have a macro setting, we just don’t use it as often as we should and that means that we are all missing great shots that are there for the taking (Pun intended)

You can start out using the macro setting on your camera and if you like this area of photography you can get more specialist equipment and gradually get closer and closer to the subject up to 1:1 (life size) and even closer if that is what you wish to do.

Close up photography follows the general rules of photography also, leading lines, rule of thirds, use of colour. It also has particular inherent problems that you have to overcome. Shallow depth of field (D.O.F.) and camera movement.

The images below were taken with a Canon 40D and an EFs 60mm Macro lens mounted on a tripod.

Get yourself a tripod sturdy enough to hold your camera steady, get a shutter release cable also if you can use one, or use the cameras self timer. This should take care of camera movement. You will likely be using a small aperture to get an adequate D.O.F so slow shutter speeds are normal so the tripod is a must.

One way that helps getting things in sharp focus is to set the camera up parallel to the subject this will help with D.O.F.

The one thing you need to remember when thinking about close-up photography is that anything can be the subject.

If you would like to see more of my images please visit the rest of my website.