Winter 2019 February 9, 2019

President’s Message I had the privilege, yesterday, of attending the celebration of the life of Mary Lund, the beloved, departed spouse of Curtiss. It was a warm, informal gathering of many of the people who knew Mary best and longest and the evidence of love, respect and familiarity filled the room. As people visited, a slide show of candid images of Mary, her family and friends filled the screen onstage. The celebration included another slide show, with images that documented Mary's life, from its beginning to close to its recent and untimely end.I was struck by the importance of these images, in the greater scheme of things. As photographers, we agonize over the best angle, the optimum light, the perfection of focus and specification that raise our captures to a level only we can

appreciate and a sense of pride in getting things 'just right'. We might downplay the gravity of the lowly snapshot, undervaluing the important information that's caught with the snick of a shutter.This information was conveyed to me, a person who only knew Mary from a few chance encounters at CAPS banquets, as image after image showed a shy, but smiling face amidst friends and family. Without ever tasting her Flapper Pie, without ever sharing a moment in the presence of Mary and her dogs or discussing her life-long creative endeavours in the sewing arts, I left the room with a wholesome understanding of the enduring love and affection from this large room filled with folks left remembering.I am reminded of the importance of setting aside the curiosity, one's zeal for that special look and light, and focusing instead on the values of the smiling lips, the loving eyes, the contagion of laughter and the endlessness of love. That's the gold in the snapshot that no amount of f-stop nor filter can ever capture.

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THE VIEWFINDER

Newsletter of the Central Alberta Photographic Society

Winter 2019 February 9, 2019

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Closeup on MacrosWe had Tony Wong with us a couple of weeks ago to make a presentation on macro photography. His presentation was very well attended and there was a great deal of interest in everything Tony had to say. However, the trouble with presentations is that they can have so much information that you’re not able to take it all in and retain it. So I thought it would be timely to dedicate this copy of The Viewfinder to macro photography and hopefully restate some of the information that Tony presented in a form that can be referred to later. We can’t cover everything but hopefully enough to give a base for further learning.

How To Take Great Macro PhotographsHaving the right basic equipment is a must, but just having good tools won’t necessarily produce good shots; the more you experiment and fine-tune your technique, the better your images will be.Here are some important tips for getting the most out of your macro setup.

1. Shoot. A LOT. The old saying “practice makes perfect” is particularly applicable to macro photography.Though the actual steps you take are the same ones you take in any other form of photography, the fact that you’re shooting tiny objects from a very close distance puts a new and different spin on everything.Outdoor macro photography is famously fun and rewarding; just about everything around you is a potential subject. Plants, flowers, insects, grass, weeds, rocks, you name it – there’s some aspect of just about everything in nature that could turn into a great macro shot.Lots of people fall in love with macro photography right in their own backyard.But the opportunities for great macro shooting don’t stop at your doorstep – most objects you find indoors are fascinating at super-close range.The veggies in your fridge, the knick-knacks on your shelves, even the contents of your pocket can provide a happy afternoon of macro experimentation.

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2. Deal with the depth of field dilemma. The closer you get to your subject, the shallower the depth of field (the region of sharp focus) becomes, and this effect can make it very difficult to get your entire subject in focus.If you’re using a point-and-shoot camera, there’s nothing you can do about this, but if you’re using a DSLR camera, you can increase the depth of field by decreasing your aperture (choosing a larger f-number).

An example of the depth of field dilemma – the caterpillar’s body is in focus, but its head isn’t.Unfortunately, decreasing your aperture restricts light, so you may also have to decrease your shutter speed to compensate.If your shutter speed is too slow, it’s hard to get a clear image with no blurring from camera shake, and you can quickly find yourself in a maddening photographic balancing act. You can address this to some extent by bumping up your camera’s ISO sensitivity, but this isn’t foolproof; increasing ISO inevitably increases visual “noise,” so use this adjustment with care.The only real solution is to take lots and lots of macro shots, get thoroughly familiar with your camera’s capabilities, and figure out what combination of aperture, depth of field, and ISO work best for you.

3. Use manual focus if you can. If you’re using a point-and-shoot camera manual focus isn’t going to be an option, but if you’re using a DSLR you can get the best macro shots by doing the focusing yourself, rather than relying on your camera’s autofocus capability.

4. Stabilize your camera as much as possible. Use a tripod and a remote shutter release, or at least set up your shots so that your camera is a stable as you can make it.The blurring effects of even the tiniest movements are exaggerated at high magnification and very close range, so keeping your camera as motionless as possible is key to getting the best shots.If you’re not using a remote shutter release, try to shoot on the outbreath for the least jiggle.

5. Move the subject, not the camera. When you’re shooting a staged subject, get your camera fixed and don’t move it.

Once you’ve got your shot framed, light balanced, and well in focus, keep your camera exactly as it is and make any adjustments to your vignette by moving the subject.Try arranging your subject on a surface that can be easily moved, elevated, etc. This can be a major timesaver.

6. Try the effect of different backgrounds. Obviously, this isn’t going to be an option if you’re shooting outdoors, but if you’re shooting vignettes you’ve set up on an indoor surface, try using different backgrounds – you might be surprised at the variety of effects you get.Something as simple as a pack of coloured construction paper can provide a lot of inspiration.

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7. Fine-tune your composition. Don’t depend on post-processing to create your optimum image – compose your best shot in the camera.If you’re focusing in on a pattern within your subject, move the subject around until the pattern fills the entire frame, with no gaps.If you’re shooting a small object as a whole, position it so that there’s even space around it on all sides.Experiment with your point of focus; sometimes the most minute change will give your subject a whole different look and create an entirely different effect.

8. Keep it tidy. When you’re shooting macro, everything shows up. Dust, pet hair, and fingerprints that you can’t even see with the naked eye suddenly become annoyingly ultra-visible in close-up, highly magnified photos.

9. Start parallel, but experiment with different angles. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to start shooting at an angle that puts the face of your lens parallel with the most important details of your subject; this will increase your subject’s focus area and make it easier to get more of your subject in sharp detail.But keep in mind that small changes have significant effects in macro photography, so shifting the angle from which you’re shooting even slightly can give you an entirely different picture.

10. Don’t be afraid of flash. Because macro photography involves very small apertures that restrict light, flash can be invaluable, especially when shooting outdoors with no supplemental lighting.Just about any flash will work, but using a diffusor will give the light a less harsh, more natural look.You can buy commercial flash diffusers, but you can actually use any translucent white material that you can put between your flash and the subject.

Macro photography is a fascinating genre that can turn into a lifetime obsession. Excellent subjects are everywhere, there’s no end to the creative possibilities, and anyone who owns a digital camera already has the equipment needed to get started.As any macro photographer will tell you, there’s big fun in shooting small.

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Ask HANK About Macro Equipment So you want to try your hand at macro photography and don't know the "right" way to go about it?The right way is really what ever way works for you but I can tell you about some of the options you can use to get there.

The most obvious way to shoot macro photographs is by using a macro lens. A true macro lens will enable the user to take photographs at a 1:1 life size magnification. Some even go larger than life size. A lot of lenses, especially zooms, have a flower symbol or say macro on them but in

those cases it just means close focus but you are still typically a quarter or so of life size.

A few things to consider when choosing a macro lens include focal length and price. Keep in mind that the longer the focal length, the greater the working distance from your subject is. When we talk about minimum focusing distance we are talking from the image sensor (or film plane if you are old school). All changeable lens cameras have an indicator of where your sensor is as shown by a circle with a horizontal line through it somewhere on the top cover. Most of the time it is shown in white

but not always and the location varies from camera to camera. (The Canon is just engraved so it's hard to see.)

Take for example; a Nikon 40 mm f/2.8 macro lens on a Nikon D500 camera. The minimum focusing distance to achieve 1:1 ratio is approximately 7 inches. The very front of the lens is a full 5 inches from the image sensor so you only have 2 inches between the front of the lens and your subject. If you are photographing snowflakes or flowers, 2 inches is a good working

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distance but if you are trying to shoot bugs, 2 inches will be much closer than the bugs comfort distance. Making shadows in your work space is also a concern with shorter focal length macro lenses. A 105 mm macro on the same D500 puts the front element of the lens about 6 1/8 of an inch from the image sensor so the front of the lens is almost 6 inches from the subject. That gives us almost 3x the working distance. That means less chance of putting our own shadow on the subject and more likely a bug will not just skitter away. Macro lenses also make good portrait lenses as they are typically sharp wide open and they are faster than a lot of zoom lenses. The down side of macro lenses is they are not inexpensive. Regardless of brand, macro lenses typically start at over $300 for shorter focal lengths and can go upwards of $1000 for the longer lengths. Another approach for macro photography is using your existing lenses with extension tubes. Extension tubes are hollow tubes that go between the camera body and lens to reduce the minimum focusing distance of the lens. You can buy them in a set of 2 or 3 tubes depending on the brand of camera they are for. Or if you are a Canon shooter, you can buy a Canon branded tube (just a single tube) for more than the price of a set of 3. Because there is no glass in the tubes you don't actually lose any image quality from your lens. You do however lose a bit of light as the lens moves farther away from the body. I'm not going to go into the math on that as the sets themselves come with a chart to show how much light is lost. (And I

really don't care about the math as I just check my exposure as I go.) You can stack multiple sets of tubes if need be for the desired effect.Using close up filters is one of the most inexpensive ways to try your hand at close up photography. Close up filters are often sold in a set of 3 filters as a +1, +2 and +4 strengths and come in sizes from 46 mm to 77 mm. While the filters are inexpensive, you are basically adding a magnifying glass (or more if you stack them) to the front of your lens so your image quality is affected somewhat. There are 2 element filters that offer better quality but the sizes are few and far between and they are a lot more expensive than the same size set. 

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Another very useful item for macro photography is a focusing rail. They mount to your tripod or copy stand and allow you to make micro adjustment in moving your camera when doing close up photography. They are available in either a 2 axis (forward and backward) or a 4 axis (left, right, forward, backward). Some even have a quick release plate like the Promaster one I stole the photo of from the internet. We didn't have one in our store for me to photograph.

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You might also need to add some lighting to your close up work. There are a bunch of different lights and flashes available. Canon, Nikon and Olympus all make dedicated macro flash units (at a fairly high cost) and Sigma makes a unit for a few of the mounts at a lower cost. There are other brands available of course, but typically they aren't ones we can get at McBain Camera (at least not so far). Constant lighting is also and option for macro photography and is available in a multitude of varieties.You might notice that I've included a couple of point and shoot cameras here. The Ricoh on the left has built in LED lights for close up photography and comes with a little stand to hold

the camera 1 cm away from your subject. It has a digital microscope mode built in for doing close ups. The Olympus has an optional attachment on it to spread the light from the flash to around the lens when you are doing close up work. The Olympus shoots in RAW and can do focus stacking in camera where the Ricoh doesn't.You might of also noticed that in the photo of the macro lenses, the Canon M series lens has a built in light. Canon also has a 35 mm macro lens for their crop series cameras with a LED light built right in.

I hope I've helped you out with some of the solutions for doing macro photography. If you have any questions on any of it, please don't hesitate to call me or come see me down at McBain Camera.