Sally Evans Photography Blog

Close up of butterfly on flower

Looking closely at the detail of a subject can produce some interesting photographs. Changing your viewpoint from a wide overall view to one where you are close-up with your subject will help you ‘see’ your subject in a whole new way.

Here are my three top tips on giving close-up photography a try:

Get started with the right equipment – use a dedicated macro lens or the ‘macro’ function (normally the little ‘flower’ setting on a compact camera). A tripod will be a necessity in many cases. Extension tubes are a very affordable alternative to a more expensive macro lens for those using cameras with changeable lenses – they come in a variety of fittings each specific to a particular manufacturer. Manual extension tubes are much cheaper than ones with automatic focus.

Small spider on log - shallow depth of field

Work with the depth of field – when using a close-up, or macro, lens or camera function, you will notice that you will have a very shallow depth of field, that is that you will see one very small area in focus in your image with everything else blurred which is in front and behind this small area. You can adjust your F-stops by selecting a larger number eg F16 to make more of the area in focus but generally speaking it will still only be a very small area. You can make this area of focus even smaller by changing the F-stop to a very small number eg F4 or below if your camera & lens will allow you to. You can create some intriguing images by using a very shallow depth of field, so see how creative you can be by working with the small area in focus to highlight just the area you want in your image to be in focus.

Front view of hover fly on leaf - focus on eyes

Learn what to do with movement in your image – Although you may not see it when you are looking at a subject as a whole, when you start close up photography you will see movement in the subject matter which you have not noticed before. A tiny breeze will move a flower, a person walking by may shake a subject on a table, hands holding a camera, or even your finger pressing the shutter button can result in your image not being focused in the place which you wanted it to be (remember that very ‘shallow depth of field’ from the last tip). You can use various methods to help control this movement – a tripod and cable or remote shutter release are very useful, as is thinking about things such as putting a small ‘windbreak’ around a flower outdoors – although insects for example will always be tricky! With small creatures, often the best times to photograph them are first thing in the morning before the sun has warmed them enough to fly, or just before dusk when they are settling in safe places for the night. If you are still getting too much movement in your close up images, also remember to consider your shutter speed – is it fast enough to freeze the movement? If your shutter speed is showing less than 1/125 (1/250 for flowers outdoors, insects and similar), you may want to select a smaller F-stop number which will let more light in and will result in an increased shutter speed. If you cannot do this as you are already on the smallest number which your camera and lens combination will allow, you have two options. One is to increase your ISO which will result in an increase in your shutter speed, or to use better lighting such as moving your subject nearer to a window if you are indoors or by using camera flash – you will really need to be able to use your flash off camera to make sure you have the light in the correct part of your image. On-camera flash will probably result in light in the wrong places so do try it but it will not be your best option for lighting your subject.

Door lock on old wooden door - close up of details and texture of door

Find a subject which you like but would normally only photograph as a whole subject and get closer to it – see the details and see how creative you can be with your close-up photography. It can be a tricky photography technique to master but one which is very rewarding and will give you an different perspective for your images.