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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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