Macro Photography Photo Workshop

Chapter 2. EQUIPMENT

Macro On a Digital Compact Camera

Macro With a dSLR Camera

Flash and Lighting

Tripods

Macro photography is a specialized form of photography. In this chapter, I show you how you can take macro photos with your current equipment. However, if you want to get closer, you are going to need some extra equipment. The good news is that you don't have to spend too much money to get a good taste of macro photography. If you subsequently want to go farther in depth and discover more of the macro photography world, you can always invest in some of the higher quality (and more expensive) equipment.

MACRO ON A DIGITAL COMPACT CAMERA

Nowadays, you are most likely to first hear about macro photography when you pick up a digital compact camera. Most of these cameras have a macro function, which is usually identified with a fl ower icon.

On digital compact cameras, the macro function allows the camera to focus on subjects that are closer to the lens element than is possible without turning on the macro function. "Why bother?" I hear you ask, "Why not always allow the camera to focus closer?" There is some method to the madness. An auto focus camera automatically finds focus by searching through its focal range (the distances in which a lens can focus sharply on a subject) — much as you would if you were to focus manually. Interestingly, the macro function often provides images of good quality, as shown in 2-1.

To understand what the macro mode on a digital compact camera does, we have ...