Macro Photography
Mike's gallery is one of those filled with high quality images not only of Macro, but also of landscapes, architecture and more. Let's take a look into his thoughts about Macro-photography and don't forget to check out his article explaining how he achieves his macro shots: Behind The Scenes of Macro Photography
1.- What is Macro for you?
For me macro photography is the window to a world of the things we often don't notice in the first place when looking at objects or being outdoors in nature. Macros show the beauty of patterns and amazing abstracts we simply can't see with our eyes. Through macro photography I've learned to understand better how nature itself works down to its smallest inhabitants and therefore appreciate its beauty even more.
2.- What made you decide to start Macro Photography?
I've always enjoyed reading photography magazines and books and after seeing some remarkable macros I've decided to try that out, too. These pictures were literally from another world and I wondered how they were made. I wanted to explore another photographic subject besides landscapes and architecture, so I started to experiment with a manual standard lens and with simple extension tubes as a first.
3.- What does your Photography gear consist of when taking Macro photographs?
I'm using a Nikon D7000 DSLR. My macro lens is the manual focus Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:3.5. Sometimes, when the object is very small I'm using an extension tube (Nikon PK-3, 27.5mm) which gives a magnification ratio of 1:1. The results are simply amazing in terms of sharpness and contrast. When taking pictures of insects or other fast moving animals I'm using an on-camera flash (Nikon Speedlight SB-25) with a homebuilt softbox. This softbox guarantees to throw the light right in front of the lens directly above the object. A flash is sometimes necessary to freeze the motion of moving insects. Thanks to a very short flash duration I can prevent motion blur and maintain a lower ISO speed to give the best possible details in the resulting picture.
4.- Who are your favorite Macro photographers at DA? And your favorite Macro pictures?
Far too many, I'm afraid! There are so many great and talented photographers here at DA and I truly enjoy browsing through their galleries and seeing so many inspirational images. To mention only a few: Enkphoto, alexgphoto, melvynyeo, AimishBoy, JoannaRzeznikowska, Alexey-Kljatov. And of course all the other macro photgraphers I'm watching!
Here are some of my favourites:
The following pictures are definitely my own favourites because they show me how far I've come from my humble beginnings in this subject until now. Photography is a never-ending learning process and I'm very eager to learn more in this field. These pictures show the evolution of my skills over time. I'm also very thankful for every single comment and advice from this community which helped me a lot in developing my skills. So, at the moment I'm very fond of being able to make pictures which are appealing in terms of composition and lighting:
I'd recommend to start simple, try out close-up lenses attached to your lens. If you own a DSLR or a Mirrorless System, again, close-up lenses are a great start to get the sense of macro photography. Extension tubes attached to a standard prime lens or a reverse adapter can have a great positive effect on the image quality of your pictures. For best optical result I'd recommend a dedicated macro lens, of course. Macro lenses can be very expensive, I got mine in very good used condition for a very reasonable price, so there's always a good reason to look for used gear.
I'd encourage beginners to make as many pictures as possible and to try out different lightings and compositions. Show your pictures to your friends and family. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, try to learn from them. Accept criticism from others and try to make it better. Study magazines, books and online tutorials of that subject and try these things out for yourself. That worked out for me!
