Macro Photography

There are a few ways that Macro Photography can be defined, Micro-Photography, Macro-Photography and Close up photography.

Micro-Photography and Macro-photography usually refer to the same thing. Companies such a Nikon use the term macro and micro on the same lense, whereas Cannon calls them macro lenses. Below is a screen grab from Nikons own site which show them using both terms.

What does the terms macro/micro refer to?

The term Macro means big and the term Micro means small. If the item you are taking a picture of is small and you want it to come out as larger in the picture, then you are taking a macro shot of a micro subject.

Macro photography is generally done with a dedicated lense which you change out on your DSLR camera (Such as the nikon lense shown above). Below is an example of the detail that you can achieve from a macro lense.

The photo below is an example of a close up photograph which could have been taken with a regular lense or a macro lense from a farther distance.

Other than using a macro lense there are a few different ways that you can produce a macro photo, such as a lense reversing kit, Extension Tubes and Macro Bellows.

Lense Reversing Kit, This is a piece of equipment that sits between the lense and the camera which turns the lense around allowing you to zoom in on an subject more.

Extension Tubes, This is another way to move the lense farther away from the camera but instead of having the lense reversed it puts the lense further away allowing you to zoom closer to the subject.

Macro Bellows, Similarly to the extension tubes the lense is put farther away and can be moved according to the distance required.

How sensors work in Digital Photography

When you press the shutter release button the shutter is lifted and light is allowed into the camera and hits the sensor. This is the way it worked in traditional camera's aswell but instead of a sensor the light would be projected onto film. There are two types of sensors CCD (Charged coupled device) and CMOS (Complementary metal oxide semiconductor). Both sensors measure light and convert the analog signal into a digital signal which is then saved to the camera's SD card. Advantages of CCD over CMOS: CCD sensors create high-quality, low noise images. CCD sensors give greater sensitivity and fidelity. CCD have 100 times more power over CMOS sensors. CCD require a specialized assembly line to be made. Advantages of CMOS over CCD: CMOS sensors are more susceptible to noise. CMOS have a lower light sensitivity compared to CCD. CMOS consume a lower amount of power compared to CCD. CMOS sensors are easy to manufacture and are therefore cheaper to be made...

Exposure in Digital Photography - Aperture

Exposure in Photography is determined by the Shutter Speed, the aperture of the lens, the sensitivity of the ISO and the lighting of the scene. In this post I'm going to talk about Aperture. Simpy put Aperture is ‘the opening in the lens.’ When you press the shutter release button on the camera the the whole opens to the desired opening (also called f stops). The larger the hole the more light that gets in – the smaller the hole the less light. Keep in mind that a change in shutter speed from one stop to the next doubles or halves the amount of light that gets in also – this means if you increase one and decrease the other you let the same amount of light in – very handy to keep in mind). There are a number of results of changing the aperture of your shots that you’ll want to keep in mind as you consider your setting but the most noticeable one will be the depth of field that your shot will have. For example in the photo below the guitar is in focus and the backg...

RAW vs JPEG in Digital Photography

RAW vs JPEG is a question that is asked by every photographer. There are lots of reasons as to why RAW is superior to JPEG and vise versa. In basic terms JPEG is better due to its ease of use, and RAW is better for its extra options. For new photographers Jpeg is easier to use because as soon as you take the picture it is processed within the camera. This means that once the images are uploaded to the computer you can then upload the images to Facebook. Where as with a RAW file you have to use a photo editing software such as Photoshop, Gimp or Paint.net to output the image to a usable format. With Jpeg the settings your camera will set the color temperature and exposure, the camera will also process the image to add blacks, contrast, brightness, noise reduction and sharpening. The file will then be saved as a compressed Jpeg file. With Raw file instead of all the settings being defined at the time of capture, picture settings can be changed when ...

Digital Photography

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