CalevPhoto

Tips for Macro Photography

Recently I gave a presentation on macro photography for several of my coworkers.  I have been trying to figure out how to easily get it into blog format, but it’s rather difficult converting a Powerpoint presentation into a blog.  The following are some tips I placed at the end of the presentation on macro photography.

Tip #1 – Keep in mind the orientation of the subject

The following are two pictures I took recently.  Note that the first isn’t very interesting.  You can easily make out that it’s a hoverfly but other than that the shot brings no emotion.  The second picture is quite a bit better – not only due to the reflection of the bug but also because the bug is facing forward.  In general always try to find a pose that is interesting – don’t just take the bug unless you are trying for an identification shot.

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Playing around with macro lights

This weekend, while putting together a presentation on macro photography that I will do for the photography group at my work, I played around a bit with macro flash arrangements.  Macro lighting is often not considered by many beginning macro photographers – who spend the time working on whether to purchase a macro lens or diopters or extension tubes but wind up with macro shots that are dark or blurry.  Here’s an example of such a shot.

This, and all of the shots in this post, were taken with my MP-E 65 in 1x.  While my 180L is closer to being a “normal” macro lens, I have found that I need to light objects taken with my 180L much differently than those from my MP-E 65.  Since at 1x the MP-E 65 is close to being a standard 65mm macro lens, in this mode it is closer to the more popular 100mm macro lenses.

As you can see, the shot is very fuzzy.  I took this shot in aperture priority mode on the camera.  Obviously the shutter speed was not fast enough to compensate for hand holding the camera + lens.  When I metered the subject myself and chose a higher shutter speed the shot was completely black.  Now let’s discuss how I changed things to improve this shot of one of my kids’ Kinder Toys sitting on a plant.

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Fun with the new 180L + MT-24EX and stink bugs

Green stink bugs are one of my favorite subjects due to their bright green color.  For more information about stink bugs, see the previous blog I wrote about them.  In particular I often enjoy photographing them against the strong red of the Japanese maple bushes in our front yard, which works out well because that is where I usually find them.

The leaf in this shot is from me.  In a previous shot some commented that the red of the Japanese maple was too strong against the green of the stink bug.  Also, in this case the stink bug wasn’t in a very good spot to photograph so I used the leaf to move it.  One thing I have noticed is that the MT-24EX on the 180L can tend to be a bit too strong.  In this case the front of the stink bug is a bit too strongly lit.  Continue on for a comparison with a similar shot on the MP-E 65 and more stink bug experiments.

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How to take snow melt shots

As I mentioned yesterday, we received a rare snow shower here outside of Seattle this weekend.  Driving back at night an seeing the snow on the trees, I was excited.  Perhaps if the temperatures dropped that night and I woke up early I could get more shots of the snow melting?  It’s funny how photography makes you think in a different manner than before.  Sure enough, my wish was granted and I woke up early in the morning to get some drop shots.  While taking the shots, I thought it may be helpful to give the tips that I have learned so far photographing these drops.

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About the Canon MP-E 65

I have been holding this post off for some time, as I was hoping to create a series of shots that demonstrated some of the principles I will cover. Instead, I have decided to use photographs that I already have. In the future, I will likely do another post showing the depth of field at different apertures and exactly what I mean by diffraction.

As many of you know, the Canon MP-E 65 is my primary lens for macro. In fact, when I am not travelling, this is the lens I primarily use. At parties I will use the Canon 16-35 2.8L II and with my kids I’ll use the Canon 70-200 4.0L IS, but otherwise the MP-E 65 is the lens that will be on my camera. I moved to this lens after starting with the Canon 500D diopter on my Sigma 80-400. I quickly realized that I needed more magnification and the MP-E 65 was the lens that met my needs the best. I did a lot of research before purchasing it, but I have found out a lot more since buying it.

To start off with, I would never recommend purchasing this lens if you are not serious about macro photography. The following are the main reasons.

1. This is an extremely difficult lens to use and requires a lot of skill and practice. Your initial shots will be very disappointing.
2. You will need additional equipment in order to make the best use of this lens. I will go into more depth on this later.
3. Unlike all other macro lenses, this lens can only take macro shots. You cannot shoot portraits or anything else with this lens – just macro.

If you are willing to accept the above, then read on. First, I should explain my experience with this lens. I have owned it for a bit more than a year and I have taken several thousand shots with it. I also sells photographs professionally through microstock sites. This has meant that I have some different requirements than other macro photographers. Most of the shots taken with this lens that look awesome on Flickr would not be accepted by any stock agency. I will go into more why this is so shortly.

So what is the MP-E 65? Unlike practically every other macro lens that is limited to 1:1, the MP-E 65 allows you to fluidly move between 1x and 5x magnification. At 5x, a subject merely seven millimeters long will fill the entire frame. The lens is also incredibly sharp, providing you know its limitations. In tests that I have seen the MP-E 65 outperforms Canon’s venerated 100mm 2.8. This is one of the sharpest macro lenses you can own. Combined with the fact that this is the only macro lens I know of that can ‘zoom’ makes it a very interesting piece of optics.

Now comes for the tricky part. Using the MP-E 65 is unlike using any other lens you know of. First of all, there is no autofocus. In truth, autofocus is pretty useless in macro anyways. The vast majority of professional photographers use manual focus. The technique for doing this is to move the camera away so the subject is slightly blurry, then slowly move the camera forward until the subject is in focus. Then the process of focusing involves slowly moving the camera forward and backward in minute amounts. However, what may come as a surprise is the MP-E 65 has no focus at all. That’s right – it doesn’t even have manual focus! The only control you have is the magnification.

Another interesting detail is the optical effect of aperture. Many macro shots are typically shot at high apertures – f/11, f/16, f/22, or even sometimes f/32. First of all, the MP-E 65 cannot go beyond f/16, but in truth you will rarely use it. As the magnification increases, the effective aperture also changes. To calculate the effective aperture, you must use the following formula.

Effective aperture = (set aperture) * (magnification + 1)

So if you are shooting at 1x at f/2.8, the effective aperture will be f/5.6. If you are shooting at 5x at f/2.8, the effective aperture will be f/16.8. If you set the aperture to f/16 at 5x, the effective aperture is f/96! The immediate result you’ll notice is the viewfinder becomes very dark. Even a bright subject will be very hard to make out when shooting at 5x. The other corollary is you need a lot of light in order to get the shot. There are two ways you can supply this light.

1. Use a tripod and hold the shutter for an adequate amount of time. This works fine, as long as your subject doesn’t move.
2. Use a flash

I have chosen the second approach, which is basically a must because my subjects do move. However, you cannot use any flash with the MP-E 65. As with almost all macro work, the subject is too close to the lens for on camera flash or a hot shoe flash to work. In particular, you need bright lot and a lot of it aimed close to your subject. The two flashes that enable this are the Canon MR-14EX and the Canon MT-24EX. I own the second flash, which in my opinion should be offered in a package with the MP-E 65 because the lens is practically useless without it. This is the extra expense I mentioned above, as you now have to pair an $850 lens with a $650 flash – and neither one is useful for anything other than macro. The MT-24EX also solves another problem – the dark viewfinder. A button on the flash lights two small lamps on the flash that illuminate the subject for just enough time to focus and shoot. Annoyingly, the light goes out after a short period of time and after you take the shot. After months of using the lens, I found in the manual that you can set a custom function on the flash that allows you to trigger the lamps with the exposure (*) button on the camera. After learning about this, I cannot imagine how I managed to shoot before.

Another very interesting issue dealing with the MP-E 65 is diffraction. If you want the optical definition of diffraction, look here. However, the basic thing that you must understand is, with higher apertures and higher magnifications, you will lose quality in the picture. Basically you can only get so much detail the closer your subject gets to the lens. This becomes a big issue when trying to sell the picture. Typically, if you want to sell the picture, it must be sharp at full resolution. However, if you take a shot at 5x and f/16, in almost every situation the diffraction will be so severe that the photograph will be unsaleable. Here’s an example. The following picture will likely look fine on Flickr. It was taken at 5x and f/16.

Does the picture look sharp? Let’s see a full sized crop of the ball point.

Clearly the shot isn’t as sharp as first thought. You may also notice something else that I will discuss shortly. If you are happy with just showing small versions of your shots on Flickr, you can safely take shots at 5x and f/16. If you hope to sell these shots, then forget it. However, on the other hand you have the tiny depth of field to deal with. At 5x, and f/2.8 you have a DOF of .05mm. You can roughly double that by using a higher aperture. Perhaps the toughest issue I had when starting out with this lens is balancing these competing forces. If my aperture is too high at a high magnification, the shot will not be sharp. If I use a low aperture, the shot will be sharp but the depth of field will be tiny. I have found the following median works well for me.

1. When shooting at 1x, I will generally use f/11 unless I have a reason to open up more.
2. When shooting at 3x-5x, I will generally use f/8 unless I want the photo to be more abstract.
3. When shooting at 2x, I will use either f/8 or f/11 depending on the situation. If I feel I may quickly move to 3x then I’ll shoot at f/8. If I think I’ll stay at 1x or 2x, then I’ll use f/11.

Since moving to this approach, I rarely have shots rejected for lack of sharpness. To help make up for the low depth of field, I need to seriously think with each shot my angle in relation to the subject. Shooting the subject at an angle generally means that a good part of it will be out of focus, meaning I generally try to shoot with the camera perpendicular to the subject.

Now for another point that you may have noticed in the above crop. There’s a lot of dust in that crop! The above shot was one of the earliest shots I took with the MP-E 65, and it was rather embarrassing when a pro asked me what on earth was wrong with my camera! The simple fact is you might as well call the MP-E 65 the dust buster – it loves dust. Add on top the fact that it will show the tiniest spec of dust in ultimate details means that it’s nearly impossible to avoid getting dust in your shots. Perhaps the newer cameras with automatic dust removal will work better, though one of my coworkers who uses the MP-E 65 with the Canon 1D Mark III mentioned that it has not improved. I suspect that dust removal simply doesn’t get these miniscule specs – it just takes care of the larger ones that show up with normal lenses. To combat the dust, I regularly clean my sensor using Eclipse solution whenever the dust gets up to unacceptable levels. I am very careful when removing the lens from the camera, making sure to turn both off so the sensor is not electrically charged and I minimize the time the lens is off the camera. Still, I have to remove dust spots from every shot that I hope to submit – though thanks to my precautions this usually takes only a few minutes.

Perhaps the toughest thing to get used to is how to hold the lens still when photographing. Especially when you get to 5x, any tiny movement of the camera will be magnified tremendously in the picture. I combat this in several ways. First, I always shoot at 1/200 – which is the flash sync speed on the 5D. This helps keep the image sharp, but doesn’t prevent me from accidentally knocking the part of the image I want in focus from being in focus. To combat this, it helps that I spent some time learning to shoot a rifle as a kid, because the technique is similar. You simply must hold the lens steady. The MP-E 65 is not a very social lens. When taking pictures with this lens I focus intensely on the subject and I do not talk at all. Before I take the shot I will hold my breath to try to steady the camera.

Finally, I had a number of learning experiences dealing with the combination of the MT-24EX and the MP-E 65. The MT-24EX is a wonderful flash, but the light tends to be a bit harsh. The first lesson I learned was positioning the flashes in a way to try to minimize the light bouncing back into the camera. However, often when taking small subjects on the ground I need to position the flash heads so they don’t hit anything. In this case, I have less flexibility in not bouncing light back into the lens. To minimize this, I made use of two accessories. The first is a little known hood that Canon sells for the MP-E 65. It is quite unlike any other hood you have seen, but the nice thing is it screws directly onto the MT-24EX and is designed for this particular combination. The second accessory was a set of Sto-fen diffusers for the flash heads. Since I did this I have fewer problems with reflected light.

Other changes I have made have been to change the rations of the flash heads. I currently use 80-20, though I need to get better at switching this depending on which side I want to be stronger. The second approach is the change the strength of the flash to a stop or 2/3 of a stop lower depending on the subject I am shooting.

In summary, the MP-E 65 is one incredible lens, but it takes a lot of work to get it right.

Macro photography lighting

Of all the equipment necessary for macro photography, it seems like lighting is the most controversial. I think lighting in general is considered an “unnecessary evil” by many photographers. After all, few photographers would argue about putting down the money for a good 70-200 or 24-70 2.8 lens (assuming they have that much). However, I constantly hear of attempts to make cheap lighting solutions – such as building a simple diffuser for $5 rather than buy a real one for $30 or buy a faulty remote switch for $10 off Ebay rather than buy Canon’s for $60. The fact is, in many situations lighting is more important than the lens. The true pros have known this for a long time – just take a look at what Profoto lights cost. With portrait photography, lighting can make or break a shot.

Here’s the ugly truth, for the majority of macro photographs natural light simply won’t cut it. Yes, there are exceptions of course. I once had a discussion with another photographer on whether the MT-24EX (or the MR-14EX) is necessary when using the MP-E 65. His answer was that he does abstract photography at F2.8. Well, if you want to take blurry pictures at F2.8 (and I must admit that his look quite nice) then you do not need lighting. If you object is stationary, you can use a tripod and macro rail and unnatural lighting may not be necessary – though you will probably find some reflectors and diffusers helpful. For insects and flowers bouncing in the wind though, you will need some lighting.

There are a variety of lighting solutions you can use and there are even more custom solutions out there. The key gotcha in macro is that your standard on-camera flash will not work. It has to do with the angle between the flash and your lens. Because you are getting very close to the subject, your lens will block some of the light. In a number of situations you will also need the light to be powerful – meaning almost right on your subject. On camera flash simply cannot do this. Note that by “on-camera” I mean both the popup flashes you find on some camera models and the hot-shoe flashes (such as the Canon 580EX) that you can buy. There is a difference though. While the popup flash is practically useless for macro, a hot shoe flash can be made useful if you can direct the light better to your subject or get the flash off the camera.

To get the flash off the camera, simply buy an extension cord. They are not very expensive and are well worth it. If you follow strobists, you can also use his techniques for off camera. Another solution is to create a reflective “tunnel” that goes from the flash mounted to the hot shoe to the front of the lens.

When I first started in macro photography, I would manually hold the flash off the camera. I used a tripod to hold the camera and I held the flash and the remote trigger. This took decent photos, but eventually I wanted more. “More”, meant a solution specifically for macro.

Canon happens to sell two different lighting solutions for macro. Nikon also has solutions, but I am not as familiar with them. At the low end is the MR-14EX, which is basically a ring flash. At the high end is the twin flash MT-24EX. There is, of course, debate on which is better. Those who favor the MR-14EX say the MT-24EX is too harsh (the flashes are bare vs. the MR-14EX diffused) and they prefer the effect of the MR-14EX. Those who favor the MT-24EX like its increased versatility and feel the light from the MR-14EX is too flat, too with MR-14EX favorers respond that this can be fixed through settings. Personally, I strongly prefer the MT-24EX. It is true that out of the box the lights are too harsh – but this is easily corrected with diffusers. I prefer this mainly because I can reposition the lights as needed and try more interesting effects – such as changing the direction and angles of the lights.

In terms of what type of lighting you will get, this mainly has to do with money. If you can afford it, and you are serious about macro, get the $650 MT-24EX. If you don’t know how much you’ll get into macro, get an extension cord for your hot shoe flash. For an end today, I will show two photos of somewhat similar subjects to show how lighting (and lenses) can make a difference.

The first was taken with a Canon 500D diopter on a Sigma 80-400mm lens with a 580EX flash off the camera. Notice the shadows and poor details.

This one was taken with the Canon MP-E 65 and the MT-24EX.

Macro photography lenses

In my last post, I started discussing what is necessary to get started in macro photography. I started with the basics – extension tubes and diopters. Eventually though, once you get sufficiently addicted to macro photography you will want to buy a macro lens. So which macro lens should you buy? While I cannot answer this question for other SLR platforms, it is easy to answer for Canon.

The Canon 100mm 2.8 lens.

Before I start discussing the individual lenses, I will mention what you should look for in a macro lens. The following are very important when dealing with macro lenses.

1. Magnification. Most macro lenses are 1:1, though the MP-E 65 and the Canon 50mm are not.
2. Focal length. The longer the focal length, the more distant you can be from your subject. For some types of insects, this is critical.
3. Weight. Some lenses, such as the Canon 180mm, are quite heavy. It is up to you what weight you feel comfortable with.
4. Sharpness. Obviously you want as sharp as possible. Sharpness is more critical for macro then it is for most other types of photography.
5. Color contrast. You don’t want to spend all of your time in Photoshop.

What you should not care about is autofocus. Very often I have seen in the reviews of particular macro lenses that they do not autofocus well. This is partly to do with the fact that macro lenses focus closer than normal lenses, so there is more distance the AF must follow. However the truth is serious macro photographers almost never use AF. In a future blog I will cover how to focus, but whenever you read a review trashing a macro for its poor AF performance you should consider the writer a novice in macro photography.

Canon, Tamron, and Sigma all offer several macro lenses each. I will now discuss each of these macro lenses that exist at this time. Please note that all macro lenses are currently primes (with the possible exception of the MP-E 65). A number of zoom lenses claim to have “macro” capabilities but none offer 1:1 magnification. All true macro lenses will have at least 1:1 magnification (actually all but the MP-E 65 are 1:1).

Canon 100mm 2.8 – This is simply the best choice to start out with for macro photography. This focal length is ideal for most types of macro photography and this is one very sharp lens. Unlike many other macro lenses, this lens also makes a decent portrait lens. This lens is also very reasonably priced for the quality you get.

Canon 180mm F/3.5L – If you have the money, this is the lens to go for. It offers the best length for the Canon macro lenses and has the best color contrast. It is also the most expensive macro lens available.

Canon 50mm F/2.5 Compact – This isn’t a true macro, as you need to buy the life size converter to get its magnification to macro levels. It’s also a bit too close for most macro work. I would recommend staying away from it unless you have a specific situation where it is necessary.

Canon MP-E 65 – This is a very unique macro lens capable of very high magnification. I will cover this lens in detail in future posts but for now keep in mind that this is a very difficult lens to use and will take a lot of practice to get good shots. Also, this lens usually requires high end lighting to get good shots.

Canon EF-S 60mm F/2.8 – This lens only works on cropped sensors, so it will not work on the 5D or 1D series. 60mm is also a bit on the short end for macros. The 100mm Canon is a much better buy.

Sigma 150mm F/2.8 – Generally I am not very crazy about Sigma. In my experience Sigma lenses tend to lag behind their Canon counterparts in image sharpness and other matters. Sigma lenses also tend to have poor resale values. However, for the price this lens is certainly worth a look. I know of one individual who swears by this lens.

Sigma 180mm F/3.5 – The reviews I have seen compare this lens favorably with the Canon 180mm, though individuals who have used both almost unilaterally prefer the Canon. This lens costs quite a bit less than its Canon equivalent so it is worth consideration.

Sigma 105mm F/2.8 – This lens compares favorably with the Canon, but at near the price why take the hit with resale value? Just buy the Canon.

Sigma 50mm F/2.8 – For most situations, 50mm is simply too close. The 100mm macro is a much better working distance.

Tamron also makes lenses in a number of these focal lengths. In my experience, while Tamron generally makes good lenses, the resale values are even lower than the Sigma equivalents. Still, most of their lenses, like the Sigmas, are priced a bit lower than the Canon equivalents and are worth a look.

I will end today by posting one of my macro shots that I took of a fly (now that I have figured out how to post images). In future blog posts I will detail further how I took this shot and ones similar to it.

How to get started in macro photography

Macro photography is unique from other types of photography in that equipment does make a serious difference. With landscape and people photography a wide variety of lenses can be useful. While certain lenses are obviously better than others, the truth is a top notch photographer can create interesting pictures with even substandard lenses. This is not the case for macro photography. The simple fact is macro photography requires specific equipment in order to be successful.

Macro photography equipment falls into two categories.

1. Optics – most people realize this. Standard lenses simply cannot take macro pictures. You need either a macro lens or an adapter for an existing lens. I will discuss this in more detail shortly.
2. Lighting – most people do not realize that proper lighting is vitally important for many types of macro shots. I will discuss when lighting is necessary and what types of lighting are available shortly.

Before I get into the different types of equipment you can buy, I need to mention what is meant by 1:1 when discussing macro photography. Basically, when you take a picture at 1:1, this means that your photograph fills the space equal to the size of your sensor. So, if you have a Canon 5D camera with a 35mm sensor, a 35mm object will fill the entire frame when taking a picture at 1:1. At 1:2, a 70mm object will fill the entire frame and at 2:1 a 17.5mm object will fill the entire frame. When people speak about macro photography, they generally mean photography close to or exceeding 1:1.

The first thing you will need to do is purchase the optics that enable you to take macro shots. There are two choices you have – either buy a macro lens or buy an adapter for an existing lens. If you are not sure how much you will get into macro photography, the latter is probably where you will want to start. There are two types of adapters that you can purchase.

1. Extension tubes – basically extension tubes are hollow tubes that increase the distance between the front lens element and the back of the camera. To determine the magnification using extension tubes, divide the length of the lens by the length of the extension tubes and add the original magnification of the lens (available in the specifications of the lens). So, if you have a 50mm lens that by default has .25x magnification (1:4) and you add 25mm of extension, the final magnification will be .75x. (25/50) + .25 = .75. From this information it is evident that extension tubes work best on short lenses. In order to achieve 1:1 magnification with a 400mm lens you would need almost 400mm of extension! Extension tubes are rather inexpensive and I recommend those made by Kenko. The set comes with 12mm, 20mm, and 36mm extension tubes and costs only $169.
2. Diopters – basically these look like a thick filter that is placed at the end of the lens. The formula for determining the resulting magnification is complicated and depends on the inner optics of the lens, but in general diopters work best on long lenses. Using a diopter you can achieve close to 1x magnification on a 300mm or a 400mm lens. Some photographers do not like diopters as much as extension tubes though because there is a loss of optical quality, as you are adding optical elements. An ideal diopter to purchase is the Canon 500D. Although it is made by Canon, it will work with all SLRs – including Nikon. The price of the 500D depends on the size you need but a 77mm 500D costs about $140.

   This picture of a spider was taken with the Canon 500D on a Sigma 80-400mm lens on the Canon 5D.

   Tomorrow I will continue this discussion with information about macro lenses.