Macro Shooting tips.

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1. Shooting indoors allows you to control light and backgrounds; and to eliminate wind and unwanted bugs. Reflected light may          become an issue especially when shooting highly reflective surfaces on manufactured items. Softboxes and softboxes                    designed for hotshoe flashes can help.

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2. Shooting Outdoors.

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  A. Avoid the sides of high traffic roads; moving vehicles create wind and vibration even yards away.

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  B. Shoot plants on calm, cloudy days to get best saturated color and details. Rain drops can enhance plants as well.

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  C. If shooting on sunny days, shoot during golden hours or shoot objects in shadow (natural or created by you). Avoid harsh                 daylight. Bright sunlight makes focus and metering difficult, and destroys detail.

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  D. If shooting during unexpected wind conditions look for low lying objects. A flower 1 foot off the ground may vibrate less than             a flower two feet off the ground. Search for images on tree trunks, logs, stumps, and rocks; look for bigger objects like                     mushrooms. Even leaves on the ground. On blustery days shoot indoors.

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  E. Shooting insects is hard. Insects move constantly during warm daylight hours; it’s in their DNA to avoid predators. And they             rarely expose themselves on trees. Many insects are comatose at dawn especially after a clear, cool spring and summer’s               night. Dew chills them even more. Shoot insects at dawn and first hour of the day. The odds are more in your favor. Dew                 normally means calm weather conditions and that means prime spider web with dewdrop opportunities.

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  F.  Start with ISO in the 400-640 range. ISO setting over 1200 normally will require some noise control. Set metering for “spot” or         “center weighted”. Change ISO/Fstop/EXP as situation warrants.

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  G. Keep your subject as simple as possible. Look for clear foregrounds and backgrounds. Anything other than your subject is a           distraction. Be ruthless. Of course, backgrounds can be changed in post if necessary.

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  H. The angle of the light is critical just like shooting landscapes. Avoid bad angles. Putting subjects in shadow may help; the                 light will be more even. Sometimes a subject is strictly AM or PM: shoot accordingly.

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   I.  Do not look for insects. Look for places with good backgrounds, the proper angle of the light, and room to set up. IF an                   insect is there, then you may get a first class image. If not, then do your best with what you do find. Images of insects with               poor backgrounds, the wrong light angle, the wrong camera angle, and full of unwanted elements like twigs and                               discolored/partially eaten leaves are suitable only for practice. Look for first class shots and learn when to recognize when               that shot is not there. Photoshop mastery may allow you to overcome some of these handicaps but life is easier when you               take a first class shot instead of trying to manufacture one.

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   J. Use fillflash. Most of the time it helps; sometimes it does not. Angled flash instead of straight on flash may work better. The             creative use of flash requires discipline, patience, and a lot of practice.

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   K. Strive for 100% sharpness on individual, isolated objects. All things being equal a subject that is 100% sharp will be better                received than one that is partially out of focus. This is where focus stacking pays big dividends. Expect to use manual                      focus for most work.

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   L. Do not be afraid to get wet and dirty. Getting the perfect background and light angles often requires it. Shoot on frosty                     mornings and snow days as well. A good pair of light gloves is a necessity.

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  M. If you have time always look at the alignment of your lens to your subject from a point 90 degrees perpendicular to the                     shooting axis. This will tell you if the subject and the camera are properly aligned. If not properly aligned, you may have a               sharp center but an out-of-focus top and bottom. That is death to a great image. Every depth of field millimeter counts.

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  N. Keep a polarizer handy. It will slow your exposure time but it can eliminate unwanted glare if your background is water.                     Works best if the light is perpendicular to your shooting axis. May give classic “black water” effect. Eliminate any tell-tale                 debris manually in post.

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  O. Do not be afraid to underexpose a bit to defeat wind. An underexposed image can often be salvaged in post processing.                The reverse is much more problematic.

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   P. If your camera has mirror lock, use it. If it has both mirror lock and live view then use the one you are most comfortable.                   However, live view sometimes will not focus in certain situations. Check your manual for those situations. My D810 manual             lists six or seven. I love mirror lock: it really makes a difference.

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  Q. Remember that no tip or rule is right 100% of the time. Sometimes shooting translucent flowers INTO the light creates a great         special effects type image. And remember you are not limited to organic life subjects; material objects can provide a host                 of interesting subjects.