PHOTOS THAT INSPIRE PHOTO WORKSHOP

Chapter 8. Macro and Close-Up Photography

You discover a whole new world when you take an "up close and personal" look at minute objects — colorful insects, the details of a leaf, or the stamen of a flower. This type of photography can be very gratifying, but macro photography takes time, patience, and the proper equipment. If you're photographing close-ups of still objects like plants and flowers, you have plenty of time to set up your shot. But if you want to shoot insects, you'll need to move quickly. You can shoot some images simply by using the close-up setting on your digital point-and-shoot or SLR. But there are other options for the serious close-up photographer: close-up lenses that screw onto the front of your lens like a filter, extension tubes, or macro lenses. You can examine macro and close-up subjects and techniques in this section; many floral and plant close-ups fall under both botanical and macro categories.

"Blue Lava"

© Carolyn Jones

Corte Madera, California

By extracting a small part of a larger object, you can create a beautiful abstract image. These pictures-within-pictures can emerge from interesting confluences of color, shape, texture or form. Whatever the design source that you're using, the secret to finding powerful abstracts is by isolating particular elements so that you arrive at a completely new subject. This highly original photo is the result of colored ...