With a Point & Shoot camera you’re pretty much stuck with using the builtin flash. The best thing I can suggest is to use 1-2 layers of tissue over the flash. This will reduce and soften the light and produce better macro photos.

Digital SLR owners can use a cord or wireless (if your camera supports it) for off camera flash. You’ll then have the ability to position the flash where ever you like. Create top lighting, side lighting or back lighting. The choice is yours. The nicest part of this setup is the camera will control the flash output. Perfect exposures are almost guaranteed.

Look at these two photos. Both were shot outside at 6PM on a hazy day. One has the flash coming from top left; the other from the side. Notice the difference in the shadows, apparent texture and the darkness of the background. See what a small change in the light angle will do?

Do yourself a favor and get the appropriate equipment for off camera flash. Your macro photos will change dramatically.

Dedicated macro lenses for DSLR’s are capable of reproduction ratios of at least 1:2 and most go to 1:1. They are optically designed for best performance when focusing close and stopping down to small apertures in the range of F16 to F32. Their flat field performance is excellent and edge to edge sharpness is a prime consideration in their design.

You’ll find macro lenses in 3 basic focal lengths.
-50-60mm
-100-105mm
-180-200mm
Each produces photos that cover the same image area, but at different working distances.

Working distance is the distance from the front of the lens to your subject. It is an important consideration when choosing a macro lens. Based upon what you normally shoot you would select one focal length over another.

For stamps, jewelry, and other inanimate objects the 2-3 inch working distance of a 60mm macro is no problem. For insects, flowers and the like the greater working distance of a 100mm or 200mm macro lens is quite beneficial. You don’t have to get too close to that wasp you’re taking a portrait of!

More distance between you and your subject also allows you to light it better. Using natural light your shadow can be a problem. Using a flash with 6-12 inches (or more) of working distance makes your life a lot easier.

By extending the lens away from the body, the lens’s optical properties change. With an extension tube you can’t focus to infinity, but you can now focus closer than normal. Your minimum focus distance will be dependent on the length of the extension.

In order to achieve 1:1 magnification you need to extend the lens the same amount (in mm) as the focal length. A 50mm lens would require 50mm of extension tube. Although it’s hard to find a 50mm extension tube, shorter tubes can be stacked together to get you a total of 50mm.

Perhaps the best deal on extension tubes can be had with the Kenko Auto Extension tube set. The 3 pieces are 12mm, 24mm and 36mm (give or take a mm or two). Each of these also has the appropriate contacts so that the lens and camera still communicate. You can still use the auto exposure functions and TTL flash.

Another great use for extension tubes is on a telephoto lens to reduce the minimum close focus distance. If your 70-300 zoom only can focus down to 6 feet you could add a 12mm extension and get as close as 3 feet. Professional nature photographers routinely use extension tubes with their long (400mm - 600mm) lenses to get close shots of birds. Check out Arthur Morris’s work at www.BirdsAsArt.com as he usually gives details on what equipment is used for each shot. Go to the Bulletin Archives section.

You’ll find Closeup filters rated with a +1, +3, +4 or +10. This doesn’t directly refer to how much magnification you get, but does indicate the strength of the filter. Closeup filter sets are readily available at most camera stores and include a +1, +2 and +4. These can be stacked for more magnification, but you do lose a bit of quality.

Both Canon and Nikon make excellent quality Closeup filters. Nikon’s 3T, 4T, 5T and 6T fit 52mm or 62mm size lenses. Canon’s 250D and 500D come in a variety of sizes. These are more expensive since they are multi element filters with 2 or 3 pieces of glass. The added image quality makes the extra cost well worth it. I routinely use a Nikon 4T on my 50mm lens for macro photography.

The standard zoom that comes in most DSLR kits will likely have macro capability. In reality this is more like a close focus mode. True Macro means a magnification of 1/2 life size or better. The kit lenses rarely do better than 1/4 life size.

These lenses are well suited for flower photos or larger items. You may be able to focus straight away or there may be a Macro switch to allow the lens to focus closer. Either way, you’ll be able to shoot a variety of subjects.

If, like me, you need to shoot small objects like coins or detailed parts of flowers you’ll need to invest in a dedicated Macro lens. There are a few other ways to do Macro. I’ll tell you more tomorrow.

Macro photography encompasses photos of flowers, insects, coins, jewelry, and small details of objects. Digital SLR cameras need semi-expensive lenses to shoot good macro (more on this later this week). With a P&S digital camera it’s just a button away. There are some limitations though.

-> Using the onboard flash doesn’t work. When focusing so close the flash does not cover your subject. And it usually blasts too much light. Turn off the flash.

-> You should use a tripod since you’re not using a flash. This is sometimes inconvenient.

-> You’ll get a little distortion due to the camera using the wide angle end of the zoom. Some cameras allow you to zoom just a bit and still get real close. Most don’t.

Depending on what subject matter you’re shooting a DSLR may offer better results. They have better lenses, more flexibility in the flash systems, and 2 or 3 different ways to do macro photographs. That’s what I’ll be covering during the rest of the week.

Stay tuned . . .