An Introduction To Macro

Using a macro lens can be fiddly but can also be very rewarding. I say fiddly because getting in close to your subject isn't always easy, and keeping the camera steady while you adjust the focus can be tricky. Manual focus really is the best way to use a macro lens so plenty of patience is essential, especially when you first start experimenting with macro.

Before looking at some macro pictures, let's take a look at the actual lens. The lens I use is a Tamron 90mm, f/2.8, 1:1. Having a focal length of 90mm means I can keep a reasonable distance from my subjects when outside. This will be useful later in the year when I try some shots of insects as I don't want to get too close and risk scaring them away, or having my shadow blocking all of the natural light out. 

Having a small aperture means that the depth of field is small so that background will look out of focus. This can create some nice effects as we will see later in this post. 

The 1:1 marking is an important one. This means that whatever you are photographing will not be affected by any sort of crop factor. So if you photograph something which is 12mm x 12mm in real life, it will take up the same amount of room on the camera sensor (i.e. 12mm x 12mm). This can lead to some very impressive macros photographs, especially when images are enlarged. By contrast, a macro lens of 1:3 will reduce the image to a third of its original size so the same 12mm x 12mm image will be cropped to 4mm x 4mm on the sensor. You can imagine that when this image is enlarged, it will not benefit from the same level of clarity as for the 1:1 lens. You have to enlarge the image by 3 times just to match the size of the 1:1 image, potentially losing clarity in the process.

Looking at the actual lens, there are a few key functions to be aware of.

The focus limiter is used to signal the type of shooting distance you are using for your photographs. Setting the limiter to 'Full' the lens will operate at the maximum close up range, to infinity for images which are not close up. Selecting 0.5m - infinity on the focus limiter sets the lens up for non-close up photographs. The 0.3m - 0.5m setting covers close up photographs within the range 0.3 to 0.5 metres.

Auto-focus/manual-focus works in the usual way. I try to use manual-focus for most macros photography. For real close ups it can help to hold your breath while focussing!

The vibration compensation (VC) switch is used to reduce vibration when holding the camera by hand. With VC selected, press the shutter button halfway to see the effect this has on the image. It will take around a second for the stabilised image to display in the viewfinder. It is very difficult to shoot in macro by hand and ideally you should use a tripod. This isn't always feasible though so the VC control can come in useful. If you are using a tripod, make sure the VC is switched off.

So, on to some photographs.

This is one of my first attempts at Macro photography.

You can see that much of the fur around the eye is in focus, but crucially, the eye itself is not in focus. I was disappointed as this is the main part of the picture. I used the manual focus mode for the photograph but still didn't manage to get the focus right. Part of this was a concern that the dog's eye wouldn't be open for very long so I rather snatched at the picture. On reflection, it is better to aim for one perfect photo after several different attempts at the shot (possibly over a longer time period), as opposed to one imperfect photo from one attempt.

My next attempts at macro took me outside and here I fared slightly better. I wanted to get close to the subjects without using a tripod so used the VC button to enhance stability. I saw colours through the lens which I hadn't noticed before, reflections of the sunlight off the melting frost creating rainbow effects across the leaves. The second image is deliberately out of focus as I liked the blurred effect of the frost crystals around the edge of the leaves.

The image below shows the importance of using manual focus when shooting as it allows greater control over how you frame the picture and where the focal point lies.

And finally, one of my favourite images from the day. Keeping the camera steady while focusing was difficult but I was pleased with the result as it really highlights the frost patterns lining the edge of the leaf.

I will certainly be practising my macro techniques further and am looking forward to an influx of insects later in the year to try photographing. Keep following the blog to see the results!

What Does SLR Stand For?

SLR ... an acronym we use a lot but do you know what it stands for? SLR stands for Single-Lens Reflex (camera). With a D in front, you have a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (camera). With an SLR camera, what you see through the view-finder is pretty well what you will get on your final image.

My first camera was not an SLR and I had to compensate where I aimed the camera to accommodate for the fact that the viewfinder and the lens were at almost opposite ends of the camera body. As the viewfinder and the lens did not match one and other, there was a risk of missing vital parts off the final image.

Metering Modes Explained

Metering modes are set by the photographer (ie. you) and control how the camera exposes the picture.

You may find three or four choices of metering mode on your camera. I will cover the four possibilities in this post. The meter selection mode can be found somewhere within the menu function on your camera or via a separate dial on the main camera body. Within the menu function it will look something like this:

The modes, reading from left to right, are evaluative (as selected in the picture), partial, spot and center-weighted.

Evaluative - this is usually the default metering mode on DSLR cameras. The evaluative metering mode will take an exposure reading across the entire frame of the photograph which you are composing. The exposure will average out the light and dark across the picture and will bias the exposure towards the autofocus point on which you have focused the shot. This mode will usually offer a good exposure across the photograph and will suit many situations. Evaluative mode (Canon) may be referred to by different terms on different models, for example, it is referred to as Matrix Metering on Nikon cameras.

Partial - the partial metering mode will take an average exposure across a smaller area than evaluative. Again, the mode works out the average exposure around the focal point of the picture but in this case, it extends to around 8% of the area around the focal point rather than using 100% (i.e. the full picture).

Spot - this metering mode again works out the exposure around the point of focus in the picture. However, as for partial metering, the average exposure is then calculated on a much smaller proportion of the actual picture. In the case of spot metering around 2.4% of the picture area is used for the exposure. 

You might wonder when you would use spot metering as it only works on such a small percentage of the picture. Because the mode uses just a very small area to set the exposure, it can be useful when you want a really accurate exposure to make something in the picture stand out, especially when there are big differences in light across your shot. For example, shooting someone against a bright window or a dark background. Using evaluative metering will average out the exposure and you will lose definition in the features. Using spot metering and focusing on the person's face will average out the exposure around the face and bring out features which would otherwise be lost. 

When you select the area of the photograph which you would like to use for the exposure reading, you will need to lock the exposure here. If you don't do this, the exposure point will re-set when you move the lens to compose the final picture. Locking the exposure in on a Canon is simply a press of the star button (you should see a star icon in the viewfinder after pressing this button). On a Nikon, it is an AE-L button.

Center-Weighted Average (US spelling) - this mode works in a very similar way to evaluative metering but, as the name suggests, the exposure reading is averaged around the centre point of the picture which of course may, or may not, be where you have focused the picture.

I am still getting used to the metering modes and tend to shoot most of my pictures in the evaluative mode. However, understanding the difference between modes is a useful part of digital photography and will come in useful during anyone's photography journey.

That's all for now and as always, enjoy your photography.

Posing Tips For Non-Models

There are various techniques you can use when shooting people to create a flattering effect. Some posing tips for non-models include:

Pose the hair as well as the model. If someone has long hair, do not just let it hang onto the shoulders. Push it back, bring it forward, tie it up, something other than just leaving it hanging.

Ask the model to bring their ears forward to tighten the skin under the chin. Suggest they imagine something is pulling their ears forward gently and they move their head with the ears. If you ask them to bring their chin forward they may instead tilt their chin upwards which does not create the same effect.

Try to get the person to pose from a slight sideways angle with their hand on their hip. If their arms are flat against the body this can have the effect of flattening the arms and making the top of the arms look chubby. Bringing the arms away from the body through having a hand on a hip also highlights the waist line separately. If the arms are flat to the body, this can create an effect of the waist being artificially expanded to include the width of the arms.

If you are taking a business photograph which needs to convey a sense of power, shoot the person head on. Otherwise generally turn the subject slightly away from the camera as this can create a very flattering profile.

Make sure you can see the irises in the person’s eyes. By turning them from the camera there is a risk you might only capture the whites of their eyes. This can look quite intimidating, if not a little unnatural!

Try to keep the nose line within the line of the face. If the nose breaks the line of the face, this can have the effect of making the nose appear larger than it is. If the line of the nose is within the cheek lines, it is a more flattering shot all round. An example of this sort of pose is shown below.

Another technique is to shoot from as close to ground level as possible if you are taking photographs of someone who is short in stature. I lay on the floor to take the following image which has added some height to the subject. 

Creating starburst without using a filter

You can buy starburst filters to suit most lenses and they can create very effective images. The picture below, for example, was taken last October using a starburst filter.

If you don't have a starburst filter, you can create a similar effect by changing the aperture setting on your camera. The photo below was taken using an aperture of f/8. This is a mid-range aperture which has a good depth of field for the shot. The background is in focus as well as the foreground. 

Raising the aperture to f/32 means the depth of field is increased and less light is allowed into the camera as the aperture size is reduced. The picture is still in focus, but the bright light from the sun has been diffracted through the smaller opening, leading to the effect in the following picture.

As you can see, this is a very similar effect to that of the starburst filter. Have a go yourself and see how you get on!

More on Aperture

In my previous post on aperture (or depth of field), I explained how the aperture works in a similar way to a human pupil. Whereas a pupil dilates or contracts to let more or less light in, the aperture setting on a camera will also let more or less light in.

To demonstrate pictorially how the settings impact on the aperture size (pupil size), I've used an old film camera and set it on bulb mode to keep the shutter open long enough for me to take a photograph.  

The aperture number is expressed in the format f/number. It is sometimes referred to as the f-stop. In both cases, f stands for focal. The smaller the focal number (f/4.5 for example as below), the wider the aperture and the more light is let in. A small aperture which lets a lot of light in will focus on the objects closest to the camera, things in the background will be softened and out of focus. 

(See my previous post on aperture for some examples of photographs with different apertures).

A larger number (f/32 for example as below), leads to a more constricted aperture which allows less light in. This setting will ensure the background is in focus as well as the foreground as it allows a large depth of field.

You can see a clear difference between the amount of light being let into the camera. Whereas the aperture is at its widest setting (for this particular camera) in the first picture, on its highest setting the aperture size is much less, as shown in the second picture. The setting in the first picture would focus on things in the foreground, the second setting would focus on the background as well.

For most everyday shots and portraits, an aperture of around f/8 or f/11 should work well. You can see in the picture below that the f/11 setting is around midway between the previous two settings. To control the aperture setting, select either AV or Manual mode on your camera. The AV setting allows you to control the aperture while the camera will manage the shutter speed. The Manual setting gives you control of both aperture and shutter speed.

It would be a shame not to include a picture of the film camera in its entirety as it has done a lot of work for this post. The camera which I used is an Agfa Isolette, a German-made camera which made its first appearance sometime during the 1930s.The Prix Pri 7 light meter (to the right of the picture) came with the camera. 

Finally, just for interest, a birds' eye view of the digital camera which I took the aperture settings with, and the film camera ... lens to lens.

As always, happy snapping and enjoy your own photography journey.

Still Life Photography

What is still life photography? Essentially, it is the photography of objects. Sometimes this is for commercial use such as advertising brands of food and other products, sometimes it is to create an aesthetically pleasing image which may be used as greetings cards (for example).

As with other photography, still life is all about composition. Considerations include lighting, focus, depth of field, and content of the photograph. Some of the most effective still life images are plain and clutter-free, often set against a neutral background without shadows.

Lighting is particularly important for still life images. Natural light falling through a window can be enough to create the image which you are seeking. In a studio, soft box lighting may be the most effective means of setting up your picture (as shown in the image below).  

The still life photography which I have tried to date has relied on the old adage that less is more. In other words, simplicity of the set up leads to better clarity of the end result.

When shooting still life images, use manual focus and pick out whichever bright spot is closest to the lens. Focus on this to draw the viewer’s attention into the picture. Taking the picture above, I have focused on one of the light reflections on the vase (circled on the image below).

I talked earlier about depth of field being one of the key factors in still life photography. Controlling the focus can contribute to how deep or not the image is. The images which follow are the same basic set up but the second image feels deeper because I have switched the focal point to the stones beyond the vase.

You can see that I have also brought the part of the image which is in focus into the centre of the frame. This allows the viewer’s attention to go first to where the focus is, and then move to explore other elements of the picture. As before, this is a simple image with a small amount of light and minimal shadows.

I mentioned simplicity and clarity in terms of less being more, but sometimes moving away from a single colour or texture background can complement the focus of the picture. In the following images, I used a golden throw behind the vases which works well with the green leaves and the blue of the flowers and the glassware. 

In the black and white image, the texture of the throw is more visible and the design again complements the flowers and leaves within the main image.

Although there are more objects within these pictures, I have focussed once more on the bright patch of light which is closest to the camera. These patches are circled in the images which follow.

Although I didn’t come to photography feeling that still life was particularly my calling, I find that I enjoy taking still life photographs. They are simple to set up but can produce very effective end results. Although this post is tagged as studio photography, the pictures do not have to be created in a traditional studio. A bit of light and a plain background at home can produce similar results.

My final image for today is a slightly different still life picture. A doll family tea party complete with family, food, furniture, and low lighting. The dolls are deliberately out of focus and your eye is initially drawn to the spot on the brass hook at the top of the cake holder. As well as the dolls’ house lights, I used a soft spot light which was positioned slightly behind me to draw out some of the detail of the food and the furniture. 

This is a set up I would like to explore more in future shoots, combining the slightly unnerving expressions on the dolls’ faces with low lighting to create eerie pictures of what, on the face of it, are simply children’s toys.

Thoughts on Film Photography

The process from loading a film to producing the final image can seem a long journey, especially when compared to using a digital camera. Even now I sometimes take a photograph on my film camera and look at the back of the camera body, expecting to see an image flash up which I can review and re-take if needed. I have not yet taken the plunge and ventured out with just a film camera. When intending to use film as the primary medium, I always have the digital camera with me as a backup. This feels a little bit like cheating but the safety net is available and I have been making use of it.

What is there to like about film photography?

Personally, I enjoy the process of manually adjusting the settings on the film camera, composing the shot, and then moving on to the next picture. The creation of the image establishes quite a personal relationship between the photographer, the camera, and the photograph. From winding the film on and hearing it click into place, to capturing your images safely and secretly within the camera body, to rewinding the film to prepare for developing … the process has a much more intimate feel than digital photography. I also find there is a certain depth to the images which is not possible with digital photography. Some of the landscape pictures I have taken during the autumn (such as the one below) have a much harder, starker feel to them than the softer images taken with my digital camera. 

During four months in the darkroom I have probably developed more prints from film than I have printed from digital files over the last four years. This is another aspect of film photography which I like. Think about how often you have trawled through old family photograph albums, gazing at images of ancestors who you might or might not have known in person. Or pictures of events which you might or might not have participated in. With the advent of digital photography, family photograph albums are perhaps dying out, in the same way that the memories which they contain are dying. Many people rely on digital methods of storing and sharing their photographs and the magic of trawling through family albums which have been passed through the generations is becoming a forgotten memory.

What is there to like about digital photography?

I do appreciate the speed and variety of digital photography. The camera will look after as many or as few of the settings I would like it to. It provides me with a lot of information which I can use to compose and create the type of image I am looking to achieve. I can take several images of a similar scene and review them immediately. I can then download the pictures onto a computer and store them there without the need for any further development, or I can process and refine them in an editing programme while retaining an unaltered copy of the original image. I can also share the images quickly with family and friends around the world. It is a shorter and in many ways easier process.

If I had my own darkroom I would take more film photographs as I thoroughly enjoy the development process. Until that time, I will use digital as my primary method of photography but my film camera will accompany me on most of my outings.

A Reason to Photograph

It’s important to have a purpose to what you create, whatever the medium is. Behind every photograph is a story. The photographer had a reason for capturing that particular image. Something caught their eye or their imagination and they wanted to share this with others. Not all styles will suit every audience of course. Some photographs depict landscapes which draw the audience in, they can create a feeling of tranquillity or foreboding. The photograph below is of a sunset in South Wales. It was a peaceful evening and I wanted to share some of my emotions with others. 

Towards one of my projects, I wanted to create a piece which appears simple, but which has an element which is slightly out of place or wrong, something to make the viewer think about the photograph rather than just taking it at face value. I decided to experiment with using shutter speed to show motion in the picture.

For this image I used a shutter speed of 1/8 second and an aperture of f11. The scene creates mood through the contrast between the heavy cloud base and the tree silhouettes. I set one of the swings in motion to generate the impression that there might have been a presence in the frame seconds earlier, but whatever the presence was had now gone.

I tried the same sort of technique for my final piece which I set in a child’s bedroom, as indicated by the curtains and the toys. To highlight the motion of the rocking horse, I placed a stationary soft toy next to it. The picture was taken at dusk in the winter so the lighting was low. To emphasise the slightly uneasy feeling in the picture, I increased the ISO to 6400 to achieve a grainy effect. The high ISO compensated for the low light and lack of flash but on another image this technique might not be appropriate as the textured effect would detract from the image. The aperture was set to f4, the shutter speed was 1/4 second, and I shot the picture in monochrome. I did not use a flash so as well as using a high ISO, I also increased the exposure compensation by +5 to light the picture as far as I could without any artificial light.

If recreating a similar image, I would aim to achieve the same sort of effect. The high ISO produces a grainy texture which I find particularly effective in some black and white photography. The granularity is exaggerated as the image is reproduced in larger sizes but the essence of the picture is not compromised. I would perhaps experiment with other moving versus stationary toys to try to generate the feeling of something slightly out of place in the image.

Light Painting

Light painting is a popular technique which is not only fun but produces some interesting photos. Ideally, in order to paint with light, you need light and dark, a tripod, a remote shutter release, and some ideas!

I’ll work through these one at a time …

Light: to paint in the dark, you will need a selection of torches. Wide beam torches can light larger areas, such as a wall. Medium beams are useful for lighting faces. Narrow beams can be used to draw outlines around objects, or to create text.

Dark: the best effects will be achieved in a dark environment. The camera shutter will be left open for a while during the painting so the darker the better.

Tripod: the camera should be as still as possible during the photography so a tripod is best.

Remote shutter release: as with the tripod, the remote release will help maintain stability. As it is dark, it is easiest to light part of the picture initially so that the camera can focus when you half push the shutter button. Keeping the shutter button half pressed, turn the light off and proceed to press the shutter button the whole way. This can be done using a cable release as well as directly using the shutter button.

Ideas: these really are up to you!

To begin with, I decided to try some writing with light.

I created the following image during the daytime in my garage. I used a tripod and a cable shutter release to keep the camera as still as possible and I selected shutter speed priority, setting the time to 30 seconds. Having released the shutter, I ran into the picture and began painting. I used two laser pointers to write with and switched them off when not using them. I was pleased with the end result – the darkness is effective even though the garage wasn’t completely dark, and the message is clear to read.

For the next image, I decided to try something more adventurous. I wanted to light my face in the picture but to make it seem as though there was more than one of me in the image. Before beginning, I made small chalk marks on the wall so I knew roughly where to stand during the shot. The basic set up was the same as for the text in the image above, the shutter was again open for 30 seconds. Having opened the shutter, I ran into the image and proceeded to stand at each of the three positions for around 7 seconds each. At every point I lit my face from below with a medium beam torch. I kept the torch moving slightly so as to catch as much of my face as possible when it was on and turned the torch off when I moved from one position to the next.

I then decided to try something else. Using the same basic set up as for the previous two images and again, marking on the wall where I wanted to position myself, I ran into the frame after opening the shutter. This time, I lit my face for around 8 seconds. Turning the torch off, I positioned my hand roughly where I thought my eye would have been for the first part of the image, and again shone the torch for around 8 seconds. I was very pleased with the end result which has created a creepy image without any editing after taking the photograph.

The next image was created during a night time shoot in a local churchyard (with permission from the vicar). As always, I used a tripod, a cable shutter release, and set the mode to shutter priority, using a 30 second exposure. I ran into the shot and used a medium beam torch to paint around some of the grave stones. Although I was in the picture painting, my dark clothing helped to ensure that I did not appear in the final image.

For this final image, I decided to use the manual mode so that I could leave the shutter open for longer and paint more of the stones. As before, I lit part of the scene first so that I could get the focus in order to open the shutter. I turned the torch off, opened the shutter completely and ran into the scene to paint with my medium beam torch.

Having finished painting a few stones, I returned to the camera and used the cable release to close the shutter (being careful not to jog the tripod in doing so). The shutter had been open for 116 seconds for this picture and although this was almost four times as long as for the other images, you still cannot see me moving between the stones. The end result is effective but if I recreated it, I would be more careful over painting around the entire stone. The one which I have in mind particularly is the front left cross, which could do with a little more light on the top left.

I find light painting a therapeutic way of using creativity to create interesting pictures. It's also nice to produce unusual pictures without editing them after taking. I'll certainly try some more, in particular the multiple faces and creating words and shapes with light.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and have fun with your own light painting!

Robert Capa Quote

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."

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Dorothea Lange Quote

"The good photograph is not the object, the consequences of the photograph are the objects. So that no one would say, how did you do it, where did you find it, but they would say that such things could be."    

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Eddie Adams Quote

"If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that's a good picture."

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More about Raw

I've written about Raw images before but as I progress along my learning path, I thought I'd write some more on the subject and explain in a little more detail what actually happens when you take a Raw or a JPEG image.

Raw versus JPEG

Taking photographs in Raw uses significantly more of the camera memory than using JPEG to shoot.

Consider the image below, for example. Taking this shot in Raw uses almost 21MB of data space. The same image in JPEG format, uses just under 1MB.

What makes a Raw file so much larger than a JPEG? 

Shooting in Raw means the camera records information on each individual pixel within the image. The Raw image has a much greater dynamic range (colour variations within an image) than a JPEG. The stored information includes details of hue, saturation, and brightness. This leads to high quality images but a high memory requirement for storage.

A JPEG image meanwhile groups pixels with similar information into what is known as an artefact. The artefact is essentially an overall average of pixels which individually hold similar information. This might be a section of sky, for example, where the colour is very uniform and pixel information is averaged to achieve a single colour. This uses much less memory than a Raw image but also loses much of the information which a Raw image would contain.

As Raw images contain much more information, when processing the picture you will be able to draw out more of the detail and achieve a look much closer to what you actually saw. 

The image above was taken using the JPEG format. You can get an idea of the colours of the sunrise in the photograph but had I shot in Raw instead, I would have been able to bring out many more of the colours which were actually visible. The JPEG picture has combined individual pixels into artefacts which retain the overall warm tones but loses some of the individual colour range.

The image below was taken in Raw format and I have processed it to bring out the colour range. It was an incredible sunrise to witness and a JPEG image might have looked eye-catching but not to the same extent. To give an idea of the extent of the colour in the sky, social media and news channels all carried stories of the sunrise. It really was that impressive and unusual!

As I explained in my previous post, Raw images will not open on every platform but most cameras will come with a processing package which can handle Raw files. Once edited, you can then save them into JPEG format. I would particularly recommend using Raw for landscape photography, and for sunrises and sunsets. The colours to be seen can be stunning and it is a shame to lose these within the photograph. Part of the joy of photography is in sharing the experience with others after the event. Before using Raw images, I would often find myself caveating photographs by commenting that “the colours were much more dramatic in person”. Since starting to use Raw more often, I can present a much closer version of what I actually saw. It makes getting up to catch the dawn much more worthwhile!