Macro photography can make some seemingly ordinary flowers, plants, still life and insects appear delicate, crystal clear and vivid. So what are the techniques of macro photography? Below are the digital camera macro shooting techniques I share with you, welcome to read.
1. Psychological preparation
We must have the mentality of enduring great hardships and enduring great labor. Macro photography can be said to be a photography activity that “sloughs off skin and flesh”, a photography activity that “exercises the mind”, or a photography activity that involves “great sorrow and great joy”. The reason why we say "shedding off skin and flesh" is because you have to fight the scorching heat among flowers and grass, and the severe cold in blizzards; the reason why we say "sharpening your mind" is because you have to listen to thunder in silence and see invisible things. Wonderful; the reason why we say "great sorrow and great joy" is because you have to bear more regrets and enjoy more surprises. Friends, please experience it slowly!
2. Equipment preparation
Macro photography is by no means the same as other photography. You must prepare relevant equipment so that you can shoot with ease.
1. Be familiar with the macro function: Today’s cameras, especially digital cameras, generally have a macro shooting function. You must understand its operation method and shooting range. It is important to know the shooting range. If the object is not within the specified range, it will not be able to focus accurately. If your camera does not have a macro function, then you need to prepare one or more close-up lenses. These close-up lenses can magnify and achieve macro effects.
2. Tripod and shutter release cable: When taking macro shots, the magnification of the lens is very large, and slight vibrations will affect the clarity of the image, so using a tripod is a must. Sometimes using a tripod cannot guarantee absolute stability, so a shutter cable is also used to minimize vibration.
3. Various colored cardboards: When taking macro photography, in order to make the subject more prominent, different cardboards can be used to replace the cluttered background. You can prepare a few more colors for later use.
4.. Thin wire and watering can: When photographing flowers, we can let the flowers pose beautifully, or we can take a bath in advance. Make the flowers you photograph more colorful, beautiful and moving.
5. Other spare items: flash, fill light board, knife and some medicines. Pay special attention to two points: first, there are many mosquitoes in the wild, so be careful to protect yourself; second, try to use natural light.
3. Cognitive preparation
Macro photography is to capture a certain detail or characteristic of something. This detail or characteristic can be color, shape, expression and behavior and so on. Only with knowledge can we accurately grasp the subject we want to photograph. To achieve full understanding, the only thing you need to do is to carefully observe the inner connection patterns of the subject. Please do not rush to press the shutter!
IV. Be patient and prepare
Shooting insects in the wild is the first choice for many macro photography enthusiasts. However, insects are easy to move and difficult to photograph or photograph well. At this time, you need to have enough patience. Don't expect to be able to capture and capture insects in one or several or dozens of snaps. Waiting for the rabbit is a common method. All you need is patience.
5. Use of light
"Painters use paint to paint, photographers use light to paint"! No matter who says it, it makes sense.
1. Smooth light. Also called front light, it refers to the light whose projection direction is the same as the shooting direction. Under such light, the subject is evenly illuminated, the scene has no shadows, the color is saturated, and rich color effects can be expressed. However, the scenery lacks contrast between light and dark, loses layering, and lacks a sense of three-dimensionality, so it is best not to use it.
2. Backlight. Also called backlight, also called contour light, the light is opposite to the shooting direction and can outline the brightness outline of the subject. The scenery under backlight has clear layers, prominent lines, and vivid pictures. The photos taken have a strong sense of three-dimensionality and space. It is most suitable for expressing dark scenery on a dark background. It is a more ideal light. You can use it to capture silhouettes, the effect is good, I like it!
3. ?Side light. It refers to the light whose projection direction is at an angle greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees with the shooting direction. Objects under side light have good contrast between light and dark, have a three-dimensional effect, good color reproduction, and rich shadow patterns. Among them, 45-degree side light is the best because it conforms to people's visual habits and is the most commonly used light.
4. Top light. This means that the light comes from above the subject. Under top light, the horizontal illumination of the scene is greater than the vertical illumination, and there is a lack of intermediate levels. When shooting scenes and people, they appear lifeless, which is a less than ideal light. But for special people such as the elderly, the darkened eye sockets, protruding cheekbones, and knife-cut wrinkles are very expressive.
5. Bottom light. It means that the light comes from below the subject. In natural light, it refers to the light of the sun that has just risen or is about to set in the morning and evening. The scenery photographed under the bottom light is very vivid and energetic, and this kind of light has a low color temperature, a warm red tone, and a special color effect, making it an ideal light.
6. Scattered light. Also called false cloudy light, the illumination is average, the light is soft, the light ratio is small, the color difference is small, and there is no obvious projection on the subject. This kind of light is very suitable for expressing a quiet and beautiful life, innocent girls and innocent children.
One of the special reminders: We should use as much natural light as possible, and fill-in light is a last resort! When using flash for fill-in light, special attention should be paid to controlling the output intensity of the flash. If the output light is too large, , will result in the subject being completely devoid of layers and lifeless!
Special reminder 2: Be sure to pay attention to the accuracy of exposure, and it is best to use spot metering (it would be best if you can prepare a standard gray board as a backup) . If the camera itself does not have a spot measurement function, you can change the exposure combination and take multiple shots until you are satisfied. POCO friend BBOBBO told me: Painters use additive methods when painting, constantly adding colors; photographers use subtractive methods when taking pictures, only expressing the parts they need!
6. Shooting direction
1. Frontal shooting : Frontal shooting is helpful to express the frontal features of the subject, and can fully display the horizontal lines on the screen. This kind of frontal shooting is easy to look solemn and quiet, and it is easy to express the symmetrical structure of the object. When taking portraits, you can also see the complete facial features and expressions of the characters, giving them a sense of intimacy. However, improper use of such composition will make the work look dull and lack a sense of three-dimensionality and space.
2. Backside shooting: Backside shooting is when the camera is directly behind the subject. This orientation is often used to blend the subject with the background. The things in the background are what the subject focuses on. Back photography does not pay attention to the subject's expression, but pays great attention to using the subject's posture to express the inner heart, mainly the expression of body language.
3. Shooting from the front and side: refers to shooting from the front left or right. This direction is suitable for expressing the prominent features of the subject and helps to highlight the front and side contours and lines of the subject.
4. Shooting from the oblique direction: refers to the left front and right front and the left rear and right rear. The characteristic of shooting in this direction is that the horizontal lines of the subject change into diagonal lines on the picture, causing obvious changes in the body perspective of the object. At the same time, it can expand the capacity of the picture and make the picture lively.
7. Shooting angle
1. Flat shooting angle: The camera and the subject are photographed on the same horizontal line, and the subject is not easily deformed. Shooting scenes of people's activities makes people feel equal and friendly. When shooting natural scenes, the processing of the horizon is very important. Generally speaking, you should avoid the situation where the horizon divides the picture evenly, because if you do so, the distant view and the close view will be compressed on the middle line, making the picture dull and dull.
2. Upward shooting angle: The camera is lower than the subject and shoots upward, which is helpful to highlight the tallness of the subject, and can fully expand the upward-growing scenery such as trees on the screen. Using upward shots close to the ground can be used to exaggerate the flying, jumping and other actions of moving objects. When photographing people with fat faces from above, try not to do this.
3. Overhead shooting angle: The camera is higher than the subject and shooting downwards, just like climbing up to look far away. The scenery from near to far can be fully spread out from bottom to top on the screen, and there is It is good for expressing the level, quantity, position, etc. of scenery on the ground plane, and can give people a vast and far-reaching feeling.
8. Highlight the subject
1. Use shallow depth of field: Under the premise of sufficient light illumination, open the aperture of the lens as wide as possible to blur the background of the subject, and Bokeh is the best. We can choose "aperture priority" mode or manual mode. I use Canon Micro and often choose the maximum aperture of F2.8 for shooting. The image quality of consumer-grade camera lenses and non-professional 135 macro heads is inherently poor. When you are completely close to the subject, you can appropriately shrink the aperture by one or two stops to ensure image quality and clear image quality. Note: When shooting landscape films, the aperture should be as small as possible!
2. Use telephoto length: Use the longest focal length of the lens as much as possible, such as EF70 to 200mmF2.8LU, use the 200mm focal length. The biggest advantage of doing this is that the long focal length has a compression effect on the distance of the scene, and can blur the background to highlight the subject.
3. Use the closest distance: The closer the camera lens is to the subject, the narrower the range in which the subject is clear (the shallower the depth of field), and the more prominent it becomes. There is a prerequisite: the camera lens must be able to focus manually or automatically when it is closest to the subject, otherwise it will not be able to focus clearly no matter how hard it is.
4. Use large contrast: bright subjects should be set off by dark backgrounds, and dark objects should be set off by bright backgrounds. Therefore, when photographing flowers, insects or other objects, it is necessary to "use dark (background) to contrast light (color subject)" and "light (background) to support dark (color subject)". This is a must-have, remember!
5. Use the far background: If you use the above four tricks at the same time and still cannot effectively blur the background, then you have to consider whether the distance between the subject and the background is Too close. Therefore, if the shooting scene allows it, you can move the background to make the subject further away from the background, so that the background blur can be maximized to highlight the subject.
9. Timing for photographing insects
1. After the rain and the sky clears: POCO friend Pistachio told me that the peak of insect activity is after the midsummer rain and the sky clears, and at this time, because of the wings Due to the rain, the activity frequency of small insects has significantly slowed down, and the lighting conditions are ideal, making it the best time to take photos.
2. The sun is rising. POCO friend Ruiyimen told me that when the sun is rising, the body temperature of insects begins to rise after a long night, and they usually come out for activities. This is an ideal time to photograph insects, not only the dew has slowed down. Their activities, and the slanting sunlight is said to be an outstanding light. But at this time, the light is relatively weak, and it is difficult for civilian digital cameras to perform optimally.
3. Preset trap: POCO friend Zhidong told me that insects have certain activity patterns. You can use the "wait and wait" method to focus on the foil (such as a flower) in advance. With metering, fire immediately when prey enters.
4. Love season: When insects mate, they are very entangled and often cannot be driven away. It is not difficult at all to capture this romantic moment. I once photographed a pair of butterflies in love. I can pick them up and place them on any background to shoot!
10. Tips for photographing insects
High definition is the key to success in macro insect photography The key is mainly the focus issue. Most friends think that the camera's autofocus is almost unreliable in macro photography. Therefore, we must learn to use manual focus skillfully. Only in this way will you have more chances to take good pictures of insects! When focusing, the focus should generally be on the insect's eyes. If there is an opportunity, we must make full use of it and take as many pictures as possible.