Beautiful Macro Photography of Petter Lilleengen
Petter Lilleengen is well known for his stunning macro photography, using specialized Olympus equipment, Petter can capture a world of infinite fascination. Below is a quick guide to Macro Photography.
What Is Macro Photography
Most people refer to close up photography as macro photography, but true macro photography requires magnifications at or above 1:1. It started out as a scientific exercise with people attaching cameras to microscopes but has now become a separate branch of photography with many photographers specializing in just this field.
Tips for Macro Photography
- When you work with tiny subjects, your depth of field is vastly reduced, its a good idea to start with static subjects and then move to faster moving creatures as your skill progresses. It is even a good idea to begin macro photography indoors then you don’t even need to worry about the wind adding motion blur to your subjects.
- To increase your depth of field (more of the image sharper) you will need lots of light. Many macro photographers use a camera mounted flash head, they then connect this to a soft box or reflector which helps soften the light.
- Check the background, it’s very easy to get so engrossed in your subject that you forget about the background, normally all your backgrounds will be out of focus because of the small depth of field but very bright areas behind your subject can be distracting. Try to keep the light in the foreground and let the background fade to shadow.
Macro Equipment
- A decent mirrorless camera, preferably with a high pixel density sensor (More pixels equal more detail). Full-frame (FX) cameras are still preferable to crop-sensor (DX) cameras, as they pick up a greater number of pixels.
- A specialist macro lens will be needed for your camera, just using your iphone for macro photography wont really cut it. Macro lenses shoot at a 1:1 ratio and focus only within the macro range of about 12 inches or fewer – essential for the super-sharp focus needed to make the minuscule larger than life. Macro lenses enable closer-focusing distances as you get nearer your subject.
- Extension tubes are a good low cost option. Extension tubes usually come in packs, allowing seven different extensions and shooting distances. However, they can reduce light – so you may need to adjust your settings or lighting set up.
- Flash head, some macro photographers invest an awful lot of money into their lighting set-up, that’s how important lighting is but a high powered single on camera flash with reflector is a good place to start.
- A tripod is an absolute must for macro photography. as the depth of field is so shallow, you will need to use smaller apertures and because of this your shutter speed will need to be slower to gain the correct exposure, there is very little chance of you hand holding a long shutter speed.
Petters Links
https://www.instagram.com/petterl/
https://www.instagram.com/omsystem.cameras/
