Macro Practice

shemwhistler

Hey folks,

Haven't had much time to play with my camera the last couple of weeks, pesky real life, but had a bit if time this evening, so thought I'd have a bash at some macro stuff.

Would love to hear any thoughts.


Macro Practice by Matt Jeanes, on Flickr


Macro Practice by Matt Jeanes, on Flickr


Macro Practice by Matt Jeanes, on Flickr


Macro Practice by Matt Jeanes, on Flickr


Macro Practice by Matt Jeanes, on Flickr


Macro Practice by Matt Jeanes, on Flickr

Thanks folks.

oshead

Get in closer and concentrate on focusing. Some of these are a but blurry. Probably due to camera movement. Close the aperture and use a flash to help with the lighting.

LNH666

when i was practising macro i found shooting a fishnet over hand or foot really helpful. the skin isn't as harsh as a hard surfaces for flash. just a hint

shemwhistler

Thanks for the feedback folks.

I started off shooting in Macro mode, I know, I'm a noob, but I wasn't really happy with the results. In the end I was shooting in P mode with manual focus and no flash.

I only have the lens that came with the camera, and there definitely seemed to be only so close I could get and still get any kind of sharp focus.

There's definitely some depth of field blurring in there that was intentional; the kindle, bottle and light pull for instance.

But some definitely weren't easy to stay still, standing with the camera above my head for the lamp shade was particularly tricky to stabilise myself

Is there a recommended shooting mode to use for Macro shots? Or just whatever is right for the conditions?

Thanks again folks.

Necronomicon

shemwhistler wrote: »

Is there a recommended shooting mode to use for Macro shots? Or just whatever is right for the conditions?

Thanks again folks.

You should start learning about Manual mode. For macro shots you particularly want more control over your aperture settings - the narrower you go, the more of the subject is in focus which is important when you're filling the entire frame with an object. When you do this, however, you'll be allowing less light in which means you will have to introduce flash.

shemwhistler

Thanks Necronomicon,

This camera is the first DSLR I've owened, and for less than a month, so I haven't been brave enough yet to 'go manual'. I'm gradually pushing myself outside of my comfort zone of full auto, but still have a lot to learn around the various terms; aperture, exposure, etc.

The book I've bought is really slow going, but I've been recommended another book to try, by another helpful fellow from these forums.

Though I'm now intrigued to see if I can get in closer in manual mode that I have been able to here.

Thanks again
Matt

Rainbowsend

You will only be able to get as close as your lens will allow you, if you are using a kit lens then check the minimum focusing distance, no matter how much you tweek the setting manually there will be a limit to how close you can get.
You probably wont get true macro without a macro lens, or at least a lens with close focusing.

Every little shake is multiplied when up close so use a tripod!

shemwhistler

Thanks Rainbow, I hadn;t thought about it, but the magnification of any movement makes perfect sense, I hadn't even considered a tripod, I will in future though.

And yes, I imagine that's as close as I'll get with the stock lens, but definitely some ideas here to make the shot better.

Thanks
Matt