Macro Photography Tips
Macro photography is fun. Tricky, but fun. You can get pretty cool results if you are patient and careful. Here are some tips for getting better results.
Focusing
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One major difficulty with macro photography is getting things in focus. There are a couple things that make this tricky. First at very small distances, there will be a very narrow depth of field. Second, any motion of the object will make getting the very DOF where you want it tricky. I'm not just talking about a flower moving in the breeze, and close distances, you whole body will sway a little, back and forth and forward and back. This will make the focus travel all over. So how do we deal with this?
One simple solution is to use a tripod. I, however, don't have a particularly good tripod (it came as part of a deal when I bought my camera) and so I usually don't have it with me. Most of my tips will be about shooting hand held. However, if you have a still enough subject, then using a tripod is probably the best way to get the exact image you want.
When trying to focus on an object that is moving, (and for macro photography this can mean a flower in a very slight breeze), the focus can be a real pain. The best way to get around this is to simply manual focus the lens to approximately the right size (at this range focusing can also been seen as adjusting what size the object appears when it in focus). Once correct, move the whole camera back and forth to get the focus where you want.
Take lots of frames as even minor movements can have a large effect on the ability to get the focus where you want it. Taking more frames increases the chances of capturing the image you are after. Using small apetures won't provide much depth of field. Its probably better to go for a higher shutter speed instead.
I have a 60 mm macro lens, so I usually try and set the shutter speed about 1/100 of a second. I get good results at that speed. It can be difficult to get enough light when doing macro photography, so using a flash can be helpful. The built in flash on my D70 works fairly well, however when very close, the lens casts a shadow over the subject. At the minimum focal distance, about half the frame is in shadow. I also have the Nikon SB-600 flash. With this flash the entire frame is illuminated. Also, as this flash can be used remotely, you can use it to illuminate from other directions besides behind the lens.
More coming...