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Shooting close-ups with your digital camera
You can appreciate the beauty of nature on a whole new level with close-up photographs. By using the macro shooting mode on your digital camera, you can capture the tiny details that make everyone and everything unique. All you really need is a digital camera. A tripod will come in handy, but it’s not essential for taking close-up shots.
Choosing the right setting:
Go to your digital camera’s shooting menu or mode dial and choose the close-up (macro) setting. Most cameras use a flower icon to indicate the close-up shooting mode. Your camera’s instruction manual will explain how close you can get to the subject when taking pictures on this setting. If you’re too close, the picture will come out blurry, and some digital cameras won’t take the picture if it’s out of focus.
Vantage points and distances:
A sharp close-up depends on a steady hand, which is why using a tripod can help. The downside to using a tripod is that it can impede your ability to shoot from certain angles. To maximize the closest focusing points, use the wide lens setting. Use the tele lens setting to give yourself some wiggle room between your lens and your subject. If you have an SLR digital camera, the moderate telephoto setting will likely yield the best results.
Tips and hints for avoiding common close-up photo mistakes:
Movement: When you’re taking close-up shots, the tiniest movement of the camera or the subject can blur the picture. One solution is to use a shutter speed above 1/250 seconds. Should you need a slower shutter speed, use a tripod to keep your digital camera steady. For low levels of lighting, try using a higher ISO; you can go up to 400 with a regular digital camera.
Over-illumination from the flash: The light from the flash can cause the photo to be unevenly illuminated and will overpower the colours of the subject. Your best bet is to avoid using the flash whenever possible. If you do have to use the flash, try adjusting it downwards if your digital camera allows you to do so.
Viewfinder inaccuracy: If your digital camera doesn’t have a through-the-lens viewfinder, then you’ll be looking at a different scene than your camera’s sensor will capture. The result will be an entirely different photo than the one you thought you were shooting. This will only be a problem for non-SLR camera users. To fix it, just use the LCD monitor when you’re composing your shots.
Depth-of-field limitations: In simple terms, depth-of-field means how much of your subject will look sharp at what distance. Depth-of-field is determined largely by what lens aperture you use. A lens aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.5 will result in blurred foregrounds and backgrounds. Using a smaller aperture such as f/5.6 or f/8 will increase the depth-of-field, which means that more of the image will be in sharper focus. To compensate for the reduced amount of light entering the camera, increase the ISO setting and/or lower the shutter speed.
Close-up photos open up a whole new world of subjects. What once seemed like ordinary, everyday objects will soon become works of art!
This article was brought to you by Canon Australia – Helping you Shoot Close Ups with your Digital Camera
