PRO STEPS TO INCREDIBLE MACRO

Ross Hoddinott gives a crash course in taking shots bursting with colour and detail every time you get close-up with your camera

- Ross Hoddinott

Ross Hoddinott 

An acclaimed photographer and author, Ross is a fulltime landscape and wildlife specialist, writer and photographic tutor. He regularly works for clients such as the National Trust and Kew Gardens. Find out more at: rosshoddinott.co.uk

We often imagine humans, many hundreds of years ago, gazing up at the night sky and wondering what was out there, unable to see the true details of space because of a lack of optics with the necessary magnifying power. What is harder to fathom is that there were things much closer to home that were also invisible to them. Without high-magnification lenses, tiny subjects and the natural textures of many organic surfaces were beyond the reach of human vision.

We might take them for granted now, but macro lenses, paired with the resolving power of modern digital cameras, offer an unprecedented view of the world around us. With high-precision glass, complete with clarity-enhancing coatings, today's CMOS chips can clearly resolve two specks of detail as separate objects the scientific definition of high-resolution. A lens with a 1:1 reproduction ratio will project the subject at life-size onto the sensor, isolating just a small area of it within the image frame.

Back by popular demand for his second Masterclass of this series, professional nature photographer Ross Hoddinott explains his key steps to achieving next-level macro and close-up shots. Discover how to read your subject's behaviour, compose the best frame possible and how to use natural light to the max. You can read Ross's first Masterclass on shooting golden hour landscape photography in issue 266 of the magazine.

Understand subject behaviour 

Think like an insect to capture respectful shots filled with the wow factor