How to Shoot Macro Photography: The Basics

Carmen Polanco Lugo
3 min readFeb 2, 2023

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Macro photography is a great way to show how small things are together on the inside. It’s also a great way to get close-ups of insects, plants, and other living things. But if you want to take good macro photos, you should follow simple rules. Following these rules will make your photos look more professional and unique.

Focusing on the details is one of the essential parts of macro photography. Usually, this means looking for tiny patterns, veins, and bark in the leaf or flower. Most macro photographers don’t use autofocus. Instead, they focus manually, making it faster and easier to fine-tune.

This is especially helpful if your subject moves, making it harder for the AF mode to lock on. Your composition, which needs to be well thought out and balanced, is another important part of focusing. You can get the most out of your shots this way.

Macro photography can be hard to light because the apertures are so small. Because of this, you are using a flash is an excellent way to improve your pictures.

If you want your macro photos to be more exciting and unique, you should move your subject. To do this, put a flower or plant on a flat surface and move it slightly to the right or left. This will let you change the angle of your shot and make the background bokeh more interesting.

Once you’ve moved your subject to a new spot, you’ll need to focus by hand. This can be hard, but getting the best results is essential.
Macro photography takes a lot of patience, and you’ll need to keep taking pictures until you get the perfect one. You might have to wait a few hours for the light to be just right.

You also need to know how close your lens can focus at a specific magnification. The term for this is “working distance.” At 1:1 magnification, it’s the smallest, but it can be more extensive with lenses with longer focal lengths.

When it comes to taking macro photos, the most important thing is to be patient. It’s a skill that can help you get the best shots of small things like insects, flowers, and other inanimate things.

It’s essential to be patient when taking macro photos to get good shots you can be proud of.

Macro photography takes more planning and special equipment than other types of photography. It would help if you also had a good eye for details and a steady hand to keep from making mistakes.

If you’re starting, you’ll get the best results if you buy a macro lens for your camera. It should also have a magnification ratio (how much the subject is enlarged) that is close to 1:1.

Macro photography is a fun and creative way to look at something small closely. It can give your online portfolio website more depth and detail or be enjoyed independently.

If you want to shoot macro, you need to know how to set up your shots in the camera. This means you should ensure your subject is in the right place before you press the shutter button.

You won’t have to crop your pictures to make them look bigger. It also helps you keep your original resolution, which is essential if you want your macro photos to be accurate.

You can also make your lens magnify the subject more by using a close-up filter or extension tubes. But you should know that these tools will cause your images to lose light. You can fix this by using the automatic exposure mode or changing the settings on your camera to make up for the lost light.

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Carmen Polanco Lugo
Carmen Polanco Lugo

Written by Carmen Polanco Lugo

Carmen Polanco Lugo has always had a camera in her hand since she can remember. Her grandfather gave her her first camera, a basic automatic point-and-shoot.

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