The Start of the Journey

My journey into macro photography started like many people’s new found passions during the lockdown of COVID in 2020. I couple of years earlier I had purchased a Sigma 100mm macro lens for my Nikon D7000 and quickly discovered I had no idea what I was doing. It wasn’t until lockdown that I came across Micael Widell’s YouTube channel and his post on tips for beginners that I started to get some shots that I was at least half-pleased with. The feature image and the shot below would come much later.

While a photography walk is both good exercise and opens up more opportunities for different and amazing shots, I was stuck in the garden. But, the great thing about macro photography is that even in a small garden you can be sucked into another world. In fact so far I haven’t even ventured outside my back gate to try any of my macro shots.

But I am digressing, the four things that I took away from Micael’s video were:

• Use a flash – this made a huge difference
• Use a diffuser – improved the lighting
• Go manual – set your aperture and shutter speed manually
• Move the camera – not the focus ring

Flash

In macro photography a flash is essential. I use a Nikon SB700 set to manual and usually start with it on about 1/8 of normal power, checking the shot after to see if I need to adjust it. Even this on its own made a huge difference

Diffuser

The harsh light of a flash needs to be diffused – especially at such short range so a diffuser is a must. In my early attempts I simply used a piece of A4 paper with a hole cut out to place the lens through at one end and then taping the other end on top of the flash.

Manual Settings

There is no point in using autofocus and letting the camera decide what aperture and shutter speed to use. Set everything to manual. Aperture needs to be small (f-8 to f-11 or even smaller) to compensate for the lack of depth of field. Shutter speed needs to be as high as possible although with my cameras this is limited to 1/250th of a second with the flash installed. Finally use manual focussing which brings me to…

Move the Camera not the Focus Ring

It is much easier, when shooting macro freehand (i.e. without a tripod) to move the camera rather than a) the focus ring or b) the subject (depending sometimes on what the subject is). Looking through the viewfinder you can see who the subject is in focus and take the shot. For me the focus ring in macro acts more like a zoom adjustment so I do move it while I am framing the subject to get the right amount of focus on the object.

So armed with these four tips, my journey into macro photography began.

Written by Craig