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.

High Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range other wise known as HDR, is a process that is applied to the image by the camera to compensate for colour loss, it gives an image a higher Dynamic range. Below you can see the effect in practise, The picture on the left shows how a camera usually captures an image and the image on the right shows a picture with HRD enabled. The way HDR works is by combining three or more photos, one with normal exposure, one over exposed image and one under exposed image. Depending on the lighting of the area it can make an image look more blown out. HDR is very useful in low light areas. If the camera is unable to take a normally exposed image it will instead combine the images to create an effect of normal lighting. Before taking a photo with HDR enabled you have to remove any movement from the shot otherwise the image will come out blurry and you will get a ghosting effect. Some advanced forms of HDR are able to to combat the effect of ghosting. To take a go...

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...

Composition in Digital Photography

There are a few rules that have to be considered when it comes to the Composition of a shot. You have to think about the Simplicity of the shot, the Rule of thirds, lines, balance, framing and avoiding mergers. When it come to taking a shot you have to consider what it is in the shot you are focusing on. Taking a shot of a something basic such as a daisy allow the viewer to only focus on the one item. This shows a simplistic composition. Below is an image that shows the rule of thirds. The image is divided into three equal parts both horizontally and vertically. You can see in the image a butterfly along the vertical line. Lines make the viewer look into the picture more. Horizontal lines give a calming look to the image and the diagonal lines on the tracks give a dynamic look to the image. Balance gives an impression of equality to the image Framing gives a look through something to focus on the item. It's important to avoid mergers in photography ...

Digital Photography

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