44. Macro at minimal focus distance
Many say that macro photography is much easier than wide angle photography. Against such an opinion, I would say that achieving top results in macro photography is just as difficult as in wide-angle photography, but the curve of marginal quality appears different in both disciplines. While wide angle takes a pretty solid amount of skill initially to achieve presentable results, macro makes things seem easier at first. Deploying good camera equipment in combination with an interesting object illuminated by flashes set to TTL setting can produce already 60-70% quality. Even if your photo ends up looking pretty good in the early stages of your skill development, it still takes a lot of effort to get into the 9+ quality category.
Since we have very limited arsenal of tools we can use to differentiate our image from similar photos, we need to maximize every tool as much as we can.
Here are 6 points, in which I see the biggest potential for improvement. Mastering them brings you to the first league of macro photography.
- Select your background first: In terms of image construction, you have to think about the process backwards, which practically means selecting the background first and then adding elements to it. The background is the platform on which you want to tell your story. In many cases, it is more important than the foreground object itself! The nature of the background determines whether you go for vertical or horizontal framing, but also how you position your subject in the shot and the angle at which you frame the subject. When you have your background and foreground (subject) located, by positioning yourself within the right working distance you determine the magnification of the image. In other words, how magnified you want your subject to appear versus how much you want to narrow down the scene.
- Define your story: In the macro, the story seems especially important. You may see me repeat this point over and over, but I truly believe that thinking about the story you want to tell should always come before you pull the trigger. However, there is a significant difference in the macro world. You can't tell a story from a diver's point of view. Instead, you want to enter a microcosm and tell a story that diver never sees with his own eyes. All the more so that today's subject was shot at 1:1 magnification with a 105mm macro lens on a camera with a crop sensor, which brings audience to a reasonably small micro world. Obviously, this approach makes the composition directly subordinate to the story of the image. When shooting in the field, continuously check the results on the camera display. Be creative in real time. Use your imagination to develop a story in your mind and shoot again until the image is completely consistent with your story.
- Balance your rig! It often takes a long time to get the picture perfectly fine-tuned. This process will test your patience as well as your initial preparation. One of the most important technical features is properly balancing your rig. Balance your rig so that it maintains neutral buoyancy in the water column, but also so that it does not pitch down the flat port. It needs to be balanced much like a gimbal camera. Otherwise, your wrist and forearm will tire before you get the desired result.
- Use the focus light! A must-have piece of kit contributing to success is a focus light.
- Camera and strobe settings: Camera and strobe settings are pretty simple in classic macro photography. You want to place your strobes on both sides of the flat port. If you choose vertical composition, place one strobe above and another below the port, so when you rotate the camera rig, the light comes from both sides. Avoid lighting your object from underneath. Unless you want experiment with shallow depth of field or other creative techniques, set your strobes to full power right away. As for the camera settings, start with the base ISO 200, shutter speed 1/125s-1/200s and select an aperture from the range F22-F29. Since we work within super close distance, your strobes may still emit too much light even at F29. Adjust the strobe power and F stop according to exposition, respectively to your desired depth of field.
- Choose the right focus method: The back button focus method makes the shooting much easier than using a shutter half press method. I would typically use a autofocus single point tracking method, which allows me snap my focus point and frame my composition while holding the focus button.
Coral crab (Trapezia lutea)
Camera: Nikon D7200
Seacam housing, Seacam Flat port
Nikon 105mm micro
Settings: F/25, 1/160s, ISO125
2 x Subtronic Pro160 @ full power
Location: Cannibal Rock, Komodo national park, Indonesia
May 2018
