# Macro Photography Techniques?



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I've seen some great shrimp and fish shots here, and now I'm wondering how you folks do it? I understand you have to have a good camera with macro/micro capabilities i.e Nikon D70 with 60mm or 105mm. But I'm wondering are these shots automatically displayed on the forum as is, or is there serious cropping and photoshopping of the photo to get that close up look of the fish and shrimp? 

Feel free to include a picture (before/after) of one of your great macro shrimp/fish/plant shots as you describe your experience and techniques.

-John N.


----------



## paradise (Jan 13, 2006)

John, usually it's about using overhead flashes to get a really high shutter speed to freeze the subject. That gives you the crispness and clarity that you look for in macros.

There is always cleanup and cropping, specially for those of us using RAW format, as it REQUIRES a bit of work to get the image right. But usually it's minimal as bigger crops result in less detail, so you try to get the subject into frame without the need to crop much.

Here are a couple of examples:










Here is before / after:

Actual shot, taken in portrait format, unedited, just resized down to show you (some particles in the water and a leaf visible):









Final image after a crop and minor cleanup, mostly background, plus some sharpening which is REQUIRED after a big change in size.









This one is more drastic. The image looked great as is, there is ZERO editing here. But I wanted a close up and it was SO sharp that it seemed perfect for this type of detailed shot (below). Here is the original:









Here is the final crop:


----------



## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

Very little cropping and photoshop work is involved when I shoot. I find that it's just quicker to reshoot another shot then spend time fixing one.

As long as I can fill the frame and hit focus, that usually does the trick with a 1:1 lens. Most shrimps and snails fit into this area.
Uncropped and right off the camera.









Most of the smaller critters are pretty small even when you use a 1:1 macro lens so I tend to stack extension rings in between the lens and the camera.

60mm lens with 68mm of extensions









Original with 68mm of extensions (BIC pen thrown in to show reference).









With 68mm of extensions and some cropping









Even then there are subjects which are so small that even with extension rings, a bit of cropping is involved.

Seed shrimp with 68mm of extensions; cropped about 95% of the frame out. This thing is ultra small, like a spec of dust (smaller than cherry shrimp's eyes).


----------



## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

Here's another shot which shows the difference.

105mm VR lens at 1:1 (no cropping)









105mm VR lens with 68mm of extension; lens not at 1:1 (no cropping


----------



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

*Flash and Focusing*

Wow very nice. It sounds like the key is to take a great shot from the get-go, and then crop to zoom for a closer detail on occassion. I probably have more questions but for the discussion now...

* 1.* So, can you folks explain how to utilize the overhead external flash? Is it simply a matter of mounting a flash like a SB-800 over the tank? When taking these macro shots, does one use the "onboard" flash (flash on camera) at all?

* 2. *With a Macro lens like a 60mm or 105mm, when taking 1:1 shots there seems to be a limited amount of zoom allowed. How does one focus properly? Moving the camera forward and backwards every so slightly to get the object in focus? Or for example Paradise's fish shot or Ibn's insect shot, are you waiting until the subject gets into the "focus zone" or manually or autofocus as fast as you can?

* 3. *Are these handheld shots, or is a tripod recommended?

Thanks,

-John N.


----------



## ianiwane (May 6, 2005)

1. For Nikons(D70, D80, D200), you have something called commander mode. The onboard flash sets off the wireless flash (SB-600. sb-800). 

2. For aquarium shots you need to use manual focus. Moving the camera forward and backwards every so slightly to get the object in focus is a good idea. So yes we do, do that.

3. I believe most of these shots are handheld, IBN or Paradise correct me if I am wrong. Whenever I take macro shots of the aquarium the shutter speed is set high enough that I can get sharp pictures w/o a tripod. That is one of the purposes of the flash.


----------



## Astral (Sep 24, 2004)

ianiwane said:


> 3. I believe most of these shots are handheld, IBN or Paradise correct me if I am wrong. Whenever I take macro shots of the aquarium the shutter speed is set high enough that I can get sharp pictures w/o a tripod. That is one of the purposes of the flash.


I'll let the experts reply, but I use my tripod to hold my flash over the tank. So yes most if not all of my macro shots are hand held.

btw, I set the flash on manual output and just play around with aperture setting to get the right exposure. With a digi camera this is easy because you see your result instantly.

My wish list includes a 200mm 1:1 Macro! That would be sweet.

Chow


----------



## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

Yup, you both hit it right on the mark. These shots were taken with manual focusing. The AF on macro lenses are way too slow and inconsistent when tracking small or fast moving objects.

As for the flash, it really depends on which system you use. Nikon's i-TTL system works amazingly well when set to automatically mode (TTL, BTTL, TTL BTTL FP). It gives you a great baseline to work with. From there, you can either dial down or up to 3 stops of difference to not blow out the highlights. Canon's flash system isn't as intuitive so you will indeed get better results by adjusting the flashes manually.

In regards to tripod, the answer is a simple no. Unless you're shooting full tank shots and can't get the shutter speed high enough to handhold, then it becomes useful. Otherwise, to track just about anything, handheld is the way to go. The flashes output enough power where you can get great shutter speeds so handholding isn't a problem (you can go as high as the camera will allow or go into high flash sync, FP).

The only exception to this rule is when you get past 1:1. Beyond that, the depth of field is extremely narrow and unless you have really good handholding (also have to breathe properly), you're gonna miss the focus point. Beyond 2:1, tripod and a macro rail is necesary since the DOF is even narrower. I've taken a handful of handheld shots at 2:1, but the keeper ratio is much lower. Here's the details that you can get from 2:1, however.


----------



## paradise (Jan 13, 2006)

Eric is dead on. Also what you may not know is that when you shoot with flash, u are using a very small aperature, around 1/20 - 1/22. When you are shooting 1:1, the in-camera shows a really narrow dof, but it actually comes out quite good in the actual shot. So if you are slightly off, it still works fine.

And, yeah, rocking back and forth is the only good way to do this, usually I focus until it's close then just sit there hovering.


----------



## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

Random comments:

1. Major misconception - you do NOT need very high shutter speed to capture fish in focus if flash is used. Light from the flash will illuminate the object sufficiently regardless if you are using 1/200 vs. 1/1000. The difference between two will have effect on surrounding area that is exposed by the flash.

2. Tripod - when capturing moving / macro objects, tripod is "not" necessary. Not to say that it is not beneficial. Personally, when you start using Pro-bodies which are heavier than mid-level DSLRs D70, D200, 20D, 30D etc and a lot more heavier then simple point&shoot, you are talking about hand cramps if used for extensive period of time. I don't care how much experience you have ! When you start using D2X or 1DMark with 100mm macro and flash attached, few minutes into your session you will start shaking. I use tripod from time to time and rest my setup on adjustable ballhead. Simple law of Physics --> there is a gravity around your camera / tripod. Why "waste" energy against vertical force when you can waste it by moving it horizontally with minimal up-down movement via ballhead.

3. Depth Of Field - very important subject when it comes to macro photography. If you are after a photograph with "sharp DOF", you need to get as close as you can b/c you are interested in specific point within the frame. If you are interested in entire frame instead of one point, you need to take few steps back, capture your object and "zoom-in" via software.

DOF concept: (*picture / text taken from internet)
_From where the guy's standing, the dog is about 5 yards away and the sign is about 8 yards. The woman is only a yard from the dog and four yards from the sign. If she focuses on the dog, the sign's probably going to be out of focus, even at a small f/stop, but if the guy focuses on the dog, the sign may well be in focus, especially at a small f/stop. Why? Because the dog is relatively close to the sign from where the guy is, but the dog is way away from the sign from where the woman is. Even though the dog and sign haven't moved. _










Example 1:
Notice how this coral has only ~1 point in focus with foreground / background being out of focus. My camera and the coral were extremely close to the glass. If I was interested in the same object but this time in FULL FOCUS, I would have to take a step back to increase my depth of field.










Same applies to the fish, plants and any aquatic creatures.

Here is fairly "sharp" DOF. Notice fish is very close the camera and is positioned perpendicularly. Same fish with the same distance to the camera BUT positioned parallel would be 100% sharp. 









Here is not as sharp DOF. This example is the opposite from above. Here, fish is positioned parallel and is very much in focus. Same fish with the same distance from the camera BUT positioned perpendicularly would have head in focus and rest of the body out of focus. 









Just few random comments to keep in mind when doing aquatic macro photography. Canon / Nikon 1:1 macro lenses, Canon 100mm / Nikon 105mm are my preferences, combined with Nikon Vibration Reduction feature are irreplaceable in my opinion.


----------



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Hmm definately some ideas to think about.

I'll have to reread some of these tips as I progress in learning how to take photos, then I can develop some more questions. Thanks everybody for the tips, and do keep them coming if anything else comes to mind. I and others can surely use them as we slowly advance into aquatic photography! 

-John N.


----------



## IUnknown (Feb 24, 2004)

I haven't bought my 30d, but do cameras offer an option to take mutliple photos with differect focus lengths automatically? Like the option to take rapid multiple exposures for contrast masking.

Another focus stacking example. - Canon Digital Photography Forums


----------



## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

i was wondering is it possible to get pictures like this with a point-shoot camera like the canon sd800is?


----------

