Getting Started with Close Up Photography
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Close Up Photography opens new opportunities
It’s late spring here at the time of writing and photographer’s thoughts are returning as they do to close up photography. We will not get into the technical brouhaha of close up vs macro vs micro because for most photographers, terminology wars just don’t matter.
Close Up Photography - The Basics
The whole idea of close up is to be able to fill the frame with your subject, so whether a flower, an insect, or an interesting rock or texture, we want to avoid having to crop in a lot and to be able to produce final images using as much of the recorded frame as possible.
Depth of Field
Regardless of what lens you use, it’s important to remember some facts about lenses. The first is as camera to subject distance decreases, so does depth of field. Your camera will show you on the LCD or in the electronic viewfinder or the optical viewfinder what wide open depth of field looks like, but only via exposure simulation in the electronic viewfinder or on the LCD can you see what depth of field that you will actually get. The second is that as focal length increases, the depth of field at any combination of subject distance and aperture, the depth of field decreases.
The note to self from this, is as you fill the frame, you will need more depth of field to keep three dimensional subjects in focus back to front and this will mean using much smaller apertures for each frame. The app PhotoPills is a great on smartphone tool to help you see what the depth of field will actually be for your camera, your sensor, your lens at your shooting conditions. You can also guess, but that is going to be less accurate
Shutter Speeds
As we fill the frame more, microshake events become much more visible. Movement of the subject also becomes more visible. A flower in a field in slight breeze may not show much movement, but a flower close up in the same situation could be a blurred mess. Higher shutter speeds are going to be a necessity for sharp close up photography.
ISO May Matter Less
The more you fill the frame, the more data on your subject you collect. In a perfect world we will always shoot at the camera’s lowest native ISO, but the world is not perfect. On a modern sensor you will have to be a serious pixel peeper (meaning the average viewer will never care) to see digital noise at ISOs up to 1000. Do not be afraid to push the ISO a bit to gain shorter shutter speeds or an extra stop of depth of field.
Lenses
My most used close up lens, a 100m f/2.8
The industry data tells us that a “macro” lens is often the third lens that goes in a photographer’s bag, so the evidence supports the popularity. A “true” macro lens will provide at least ½ life-size on the sensor, but most will do 1:1 This means that if you are shooting a 36mm x 24mm sensor, you could fill the frame entirely with a subject that is 36mm wide. Whether you need to do that is up to you.
The focal length you choose is dependent on your desired camera to subject distance. A 50mm macro that does 1:1 provides no more magnification than a 100mm macro that does 1:1 or a 180mm macro that does 1:1 What the extra focal length provides you is what is called stand-off distance, specifically how far away you can be to achieve 1:1 on the sensor.
Why this could matter will depend on your subject and its environs. You may want to photograph a subject that doesn’t want you that close, or that you do not want to be that close to. Longer focal length can also mean that you are less inclined to do environmental damage in your quest to get the shot. Just don’t forget the impact that increasing focal length has on depth of field.
There is nothing wrong with using your zoom lens for close up work so long as you accept that while its advertising may call it macro, it really is not unless it is delivering at minimum ½ life-size on the sensor. Forget about the McMarketing and if the lens does what you want, it’s ideal.
Stability
I said earlier that microshake is more visible as we get closer, so close up photography will often benefit from two things. First is obviously a tripod or other stable platform, such as a PlatyPod. Second but equally important is some form of no touch release. Electronic shutter releases are available for pretty much all cameras today. You can pay through the nose for the manufacturer brand release or save a bundle on a third party tool. There are so many, I won’t even bother to try picking one. A basic electronic release should cost no more than $30 for a wired release and they are nearly foolproof. Optical wireless releases will only give you headaches so skip them entirely. If you want wireless release, go with radio.
If you can stay close to the camera when doing close up, your camera’s built in self timer is a perfect tool. Most self timers offer a 2 second option which means that any microshake imparted by your hand as you roll the shutter release will be gone by the time the shutter fires. Simply using the 2 second self timer can make a dramatic difference in your close up work.
Focusing
The Hoodman Loupe, a requirement in my bag when doing close up work
Focusing is a deliberate action. Set your focus point selection to a single point and use that point on the most important part of the subject. Focus and recompose can be an issue with close up photography because a shift in the camera angle will impact depth of field. Try to use your focus point selector to choose the one that falls right on the most important part of the subject. Using multiple focus points, or letting the camera pick, will lead to failure more times than not. Don’t be afraid to use a magnified live view on the LCD to check focus and if exposure simulation is available to check depth of field. For this purpose I really advocate a Hoodman loupe and get the magnifier upgrade for it if you can.
Other Accessories
This is where you would expect me to bring up off camera flash, so you should not be disappointed. Off camera flash is a massive boon for closeup work. You can use it in TTL or manual depending on preference of limitations of your off camera trigger and receiver. Wireless is best, and radio is the way to go. Nothing unique about off camera flash for close up, same rules apply as anywhere else. Get the source in close for the softest light and do not be afraid to use a simple light shaper to increase the size of the source relative to the subject. We’ve talked about this a lot. My go to for close up is the MagMod shaper that is called the MagSphere.
The MagSphere on an off camera flash puts the sun in your pocket
If you want more than life-size from your macro lens, consider a set of extension tubes. Look to my article called Close Up : The Lowly Extension Tube to learn more about these incredibly useful devices.
One tip that I learned from one of my favourite educators and photographers, the incredible Moose Peterson, is to use extension tubes with long telephotos to get reach but also closer focus distance. I tried this with a tube on my 500mm f/4 lens and was amazed at the additional opportunities it afforded me.
If you refuse to try flash for whatever reason, at least carry a small reflector in your bag to allow you to reflect more light onto your subject. The light may be harsh or hard to find when you photograph and a small reflector can help a lot. Some grey card kits include a white card and a black card which are useless for photographic metering or colour management but which can act as very useful reflectors for close up work or even as a small portable background.
Conclusions
You do not need a ton of gear for closeup work. You don’t even need a macro lens so long as you are ok with the magnification delivered by the lens that you already own. Prime lenses will give you more lens speed which will improve focusing. A 50mm with a set of extension tubes will cost a lot less than a 50mm macro and might be all you need.
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I'm Ross Chevalier, thanks for reading, watching and listening and until next time, peace.
