One of the great things about shooting on cameras with APS-C or Micro 4/3 sensors is that the crop factor these formats apply can help us achieve even greater magnification from our lenses, macro optics or otherwise. In close-up photography, this can be a benefit, especially if your lens doesn’t allow life-size magnification on its own. However, the closer crop means, if we shoot at a life-size 1:1 setting, we exclude much of the background.
While this might not sound like a problem in many cases, there are times when you want both incredible detail in your subject – the level only seen at life-size – and location elements behind it, to set the scene. This is one advantage of shooting macro on a medium format camera; you can get close to small subjects but the larger sensor captures more of the surroundings. This creates a unique blend of wider composition and attractive bokeh.
In digital photography, we can take things even further. By stitching multiple macro images together, we can create a shot with huge amounts of detail in the subject, plenty of background elements, for context and beautiful bokeh to smooth out any distractions. This blended image is impossible to create in a single frame, truly giving it the wow factor. It’s important, however, to carefully follow the workflow shown here to achieve reliably successful results.
Shooting steps
1 Match subject height
Although a common tip for extending depth-of-field in macro photography is to shoot at 90° to the subject, and our goal is to reduce DOF, lowering the camera to ground level enables an interesting bug’s-eye view. It also allows for attractive natural backlighting.
2 Choose maximum f/stop
この記事は Digital Photographer の Issue 266 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Digital Photographer の Issue 266 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Apply a stylised detail enhancement
Give your photos a movie aesthetic with the bleach bypass effect in Photoshop
Sony FE 16-25mm f/2.8 G
Matthew Richards investigates this lightweight wide-angle zoom lens with a unique focal range
Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR
This lens offers everything from wide-angle to super-telephoto reach, says Matthew Richards
Novo Helix T50 Carbon Fibre Tripod
Adam Waring discovers an unfeasibly small yet feature-packed travel tripod
OM System OM-1 Mark II
James Artaius finds the OM-1 Mark II has features that you wish your camera did
How do I get into events photography?
Jules Renahan, owner of Jules Renahan Photography and co-founder of PhotoHound, tells us what to expect when photographing events
Career advice
This issue, Claire Gillo looks at the logistics behind running a photography business and talks to an events photographer
My dream photo kit
With help from used camera gear specialists MPB, we've created an expert photographer's fantasy camera kitbag
Create wet plate portraits
Recreate the collodion process for enhanced detail
Fine-tune colour and saturation
Use Lightroom's extensive controls to enhance individual colours in your shots