Macro and Close-up
Photography
Macro and close-up are easily some of my
favorite types of photography. Sometimes
you can take the most mundane object and
give it a completely different perspective
just by moving in an varying perspective.
Ordinary objects can become alien land-
scapes. Insects take on a new personality
when you can see the strange details of
their face.
Technically macro photography can be diffi-
cult. Because the closer you get to an object,
the less depth of field you get, and it can be
difficult to maintain focus. When your lens is
less than an inch from the face of a bug, just
breathing in is sometimes enough to lose
focus on the area that you want to capture.
For this reason, you usually want to use the
smallest aperture your camera can handle
and still maintain focus. I say usually,
because a shallow depth of field can also be
very useful in bringing attention to a specific
detail.
When using flash for macro photography,
you want to get the flash as close to the axis
of your lens as possible. You do this in an
effort to achieve good, strong, flat lighting,
which results in maximum detail. For this
reason, Nikon has created a Speedlight
setup designed especially for macro and
close-up photography. This kit places the
SB-R200 Speedlights directly on the end of
the lens using a special adapter.
Taking into consideration that most people
delve into photography as a hobby and
don’t have a real need to purchase the kit, I
focus on some techniques for using the SB-
600 or SB-800 for macro and close-up tech-
niques, rather than with the kit.
While it is possible to use a Speedlight for
macro photography while mounted on the
camera, it doesn’t always work. When
shooting extremely close-up, the lens
obscures the light from the flash resulting in
a dark area in the images.

Group portrait

photography tips
✦Watch for cover-ups. Before you
release the shutter, be sure that no
one is covering up someone else.
✦Get everyone’s attention. When
you’re about to snap the photo, let
everyone know— don’t’ surprise
them or you’ll end up with closed
eyes and turned heads. Tell them
to look at the camera. If everybody
knows you’re about to shoot, you
have better chance at catching
them with eyes open and looking
directly at the camera.
✦Take more than one shot. Take
multiple shots to ensure that you
have everyone looking in the same
direction, not blinking, with hands
down, etc.
✦Bring an assistant. An assistant
can help you keep everyone in
their place and paying attention.
They can also come in handy carry-
ing equipment.

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