Well, a couple of people here have asked if I would explain how I go about my macro photography and the equipment I use, so I will try and explain and apologise now for the lack of not having a very technical head (probably being blonde)… but one method I do have is the simplest.. just getting down and experimenting, and putting it into lots of practice.
Unfortunately, firstly I have to state that you will need an SLR to be able to use Ext Tubes.
But that doesn’t stop anyone with a Digital compact to get great macro shots with the settings on your cameras.
The camera I use for nearly all my macro/closeup photography is my Canon 20D, as it has built in flash, and unlike the 1D MKllN where i have to attach the flash, which gets in the way when I have to get into some tight positions and angles for a shot, it just makes life easier, and I haven’t got deep pockets, and afford to go out and buy various flash accessories which are on the market.
One of the lenses i use is my 50mm 1:1.8 II which has a macro distance of 0.45m/1.5ft which already helps, (bought second hand for £70), I then attach to the camera (between the camera and lense) an extension tube, the ones I have are the Kenko Extension tubes which come in Canon/Nikon etc (£65 for the three tubes off Ebay, but can be purchased through any good retailer) these tubes are in 12mm, 20mm & 36mm, you can use all three tubes together or separately or in pairs, its just down to the focus requirement you want, DOF, and distance control, and they bring your subject closer, therefore acting as a macro lense.
I use, quite frequently, the 12mm with the 50mm lense which although gives a shallow DOF I like the subject to stand out more than the background, so, more the tubes the greater DOF, with these tubes attached you use the focus ring on the lense to get your focus and you yourself move towards and backwards from your subject. Now…. This is where the practise starts..
To begin with I found this tough!... A slight bit of breeze and… blur!….and sometimes lots of it, I hand hold 99.9% of the time, I am not a tripod person especially when you have to climb through undergrowth or in ditches to get your subject, im not knocking tripods/monopods in the least, this is a personal choice and many macro photographers use either, along with shutter release cables etc, I have just had to practise very hard and get my own technique and stick to it, I sometimes use a beanbag for low down subjects, and the other item I invested in was a plamp (a bendy chain with clamp and clip either end to stop plants etc moving in breeze) Warehouse Express £30..Ouch! Money well spent I have to admit.
I now return to use of flash…I rarely use it…I much prefer to use natural light, and just alter my settings to suit, but on occasions I have had to use it, like my porch spider images that I have uploaded here, flash was used all the time, beings in doors and in a dark corner, but I usually had to compensate between -1 & -2 for the flash, the camera settings I use are either manual or Aperature priority (mostly the latter), I like to use between f5.6 to f11 depending on subject and background, and DOF I want, I prefer to use ISO 100 (for clarity) but try not to use anything above 200.
With Macro photography and using Extension tubes, you can use most lenses, especially zoom lenses, (I use the 70-200 or 100-400 ) the 300mm or 70-300 is also good, using them wide open gives you the opportunity not to have to get
toooo close to that creepy crawlie, but hand holding is much more difficult, but, the effects are good, and I use this combo with a lot of plant photography.
Finally my main advice is just get out there and practise, its quite a frustrating photography genre to start, and many give up, but in the end its very rewarding, and it lets you into a world we otherwise wouldn’t know about.
My kit is a cheaper version of having a good macro lense, so if your lucky enough to have the 60mm, 100mm or 180mm go out there and have a go without using tubes, you’ll still get great macro shots without as much worry on keeping a steady hand, .but if your open to a challenge, and want that extra opportunity using the tubes, you’ll be able to see the real close detail of your subjects.
Hope you have ago and enjoy entering the "little world" as I call it, and find new things and techniques with the equipment you have.
