Macro Photography - Show the Detail not Visible to the Eye

Approaching macro photography for the first time can be full of ugliness especially if your first attempts fail badly. Many beginners discover the Depth of Field (DoF) is very small, images are out of focus because the focus is critical in macro photography with the small DoF, Camera shake and subject movement (due to using longer shutter speeds to allow for small apertures and/or not using a sturdy tripod), increased noise (if you use a higher ISO to compensate for the small apertures needed), or badly composed photos. And this can get frustrating.

(the following was already covered in my first article Welcome to the
World of Macro but here is a reminder)

Macro Photography requires special equipment which can get expensive, but so what we photographers like to spend money on equipment. Without some form of macro equipment you will not be able to produce a photo with a high enough quality to please yourself.

For macro Photography (in most other forms of photography as well) the camera body is not as important as a quality lens and the best to start off with macro is to go out and buy a dedicated macro prime lens. I strongly suggest buying a lens with the ability to magnify 1:1. Watch out for lens manufacturers calling normal lenses macro lenses due to an ability to focus slightly closer than normal. These are not proper macro lenses and normally offer only 1:5 or 1:4 magnification.

There are several other techniques for macro photography, please review the article : Welcome to the World of macro for more information !

When it comes to macro technique, you need to be aware of a few common bad habits. Light is of essence in macro photography (as it is in most forms of photography). Using very small apertures to get a good DoF means using longer shutter speeds even in good light. This causes camera shake and subject movement issues. That is why you should never attempt macro photography without a tripod if you want to achieve the best image possible. Using a tripod is one of the problems solved! To get better light you might want to consider an external flash or if you really wanna go for it get a macro
twin light.

To make the tripod issue even more important: another issue is the depth of field. You need a very small aperture (high number = small aperture) to get enough depth of field in your macro work. The narrow depth of field often encountered in macro work is sometimes used to give a macro photograph a certain special feel or bokeh, but this has to be used wisely and very selectively because in most cases, it will be better to have sufficient depth of field.

To get sufficient depth of field you need to stop down the lens (aperture of 16 or higher,high number = small aperture). So your subject most likely has already too little  light on it. You are letting a very small portion of that through to your digital sensor. This underlines the necessity of the tripod !!!

Composition seems to be a bit more difficult with macro photography especially if you are taking nature macro photos. Here you run into the problem that your subject might be a bee or a dragon fly or another moving insect. So you might end up being in a tricky situation since you need to approach the insect very carefully. Decent composition can be difficult at times but there are no golden rules you can follow, you simply need to play around with composition until you find something that works.

It is also important to realize that for insect photography early mornings tend to be the best time for photography as the insects will still be warming up from the cold night and are more approachable at this time. When they warm up they will fly off at any hint of danger or movement.

My best advice I can give you, take your equipment, go out there and practice, practice, practice ...plenty of it ! This is the way to improve and get better, you know that no master of photography was born overnight.

Related Articles :

- AR-News : Welcome to the World of Macro
- AR - News : Macro November 1
- AR News: Macro Photography November II
- Aperture in Macro Photography !
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Visit #macroART

Regards
`hellfirediva

In General

Well, a few words about Infrared.
I will not get too technical cause it’s not my strong side, just a few words about it. Infrared photographs show a kind of thermo effect. Trees with white leaves and luminous white clouds against colored skies are the most common use for it. Many photographers on DA have tried it in the last few years and it seems to be more and more popular.
The Infrared opens a window on a parallel world intriguingly different to the one we usually see. The effect is surreal ans it shows a different kind of "documenting reality".

Here you can see the scene in normal view


And here is when using the IR filter -


We can't see Infrared light without the filter, we can only see it when It's isolated. Infrared photography is often confused with thermal imaging. It's not, It's just shows an effect similar to that. The difference is basically one of wavelength of electromagnetic radiation.
The filter shows the object because the sun (or some other light source) shines infrared light on it and it is reflected or absorbed by the object. You could say that this reflecting or absorbing of infrared helps to determine the object's color in a four-dimensional color space made up of blue, green, red and infrared.



Camera and filter

If you are using film camera, I won't get into this.
Important you know! Digital cameras don’t work evenly with IR filter.
Digital sensors have a special infrared-blocking filter in front of the light-sensitive CCD array, as the IR light degrades the visible-light image quality. The question is how much of infrared will the filter let through.
There are a few great compact digital models like the Sony 717, The Olympus C-2020z, Minolta Dimage 7, and the canon G1 (the G2 is great too). Among the DSLR the Nikon D70 and D50 are the best option right now. Canon popular models don't support high quality IR (and most other models and brands). That means that it can shoot IR but in lower quality (clarity, sharpness, colors) then the Nikon D70 (D70s) and D50.
Check out more about the Infrared sensitivity here [link]

Of course it’s much harder working IR with DSLR, since you have no preview of the result, and it’s impossible to see anything through the viewfinder, with the filter attached. I’ll get to this later (In technique).
The filter I use and recommend is Hoya R72.
There are several others that get good results, but this one gets the classic color effect in the best way possible.

  

You can test your non DSLR camera for IR photography
Use the “TV remote test” to determine if your digital camera is sensitive to infrared light.  Television remote controls use infrared light to turn the TV on and off and to change channels.  Aim your TV remote control at the lens of your digital camera from a few inches away, push a button on your remote, and view the image on the LCD panel (not the optical viewfinder) of the camera.  If you see a white flash of light coming from the TV remote on your camera’s LCD screen, you’ve just determined that your camera is infrared-sensitive. That only means that the camera is capable of shooting IR, but not the quality of the results.

    

What if my camera is not IR sensitive?
Well, there are options to shoot IR with models that don't support it. However, they mean you damage the ability of the camera to capture 'normal' photography. Basically you remover the glass that protects the CCD in the camera.
You can remove it and replace it with a built in IR filter (convert the camera completely for shooting IR), or simply replace the glass for a regular glass and reducing the IR block of the camera (could damage you normal photography, and you still need to use a filter for IR).
If you really love IR it is recommended you convert your camera. Working with a converted camera is much easier. You can shoot short exposures and get better details. However, you need to do it on a spare camera since the camera is useless for regular photography.

For more on that - [link] and [link]



Technique

OK, so we are talking about shooting IR with a DSLR (a regular one)

Tripod -
Besides your digital camera and filter, a tripod is an absolute necessity since exposures through the infrared filter should be long.  For long exposures, some cameras will automatically fire the flash to light the scene, because the camera’s “brain” thinks its dark.  But you don’t want to use flash. Be sure to turn off the flash so the camera will make the exposure by infrared light.
  
Iso settings -
Work in low Iso (50-200) so you won’t pick up too much noise.

Camera function -
Work in fully Manual (if possible) to get a good light reading from the camera, so You’ll know if you are using a long enough exposure.

Set White Balance -
This is the part that most beginners go wrong...
You will have to measure the white balance yourself. That’s the secret of getting a good color balance in IR photography (with digital photography). Measure the WB in ‘PRE’ condition with your filter ON from something green as green grass (not in the shade.. in a sunny area). That would get you the right balance. Test the result, and if needed, try measuring it again.
You should know: Nikon generates more colors in IR then Canon. The canon will get almost B&W when adjusting the WB. Nikon will get B&W and also brown.  

Composition -
To begin, photograph a daylight scene in auto WB.  Mount your camera on the tripod and compose the shot normally (Take the widest angle possible for a landscape shot) without the infrared filter over the lens, and make a normal, color picture.  The color picture will be a “reference” picture.  You might want to combine it with the infrared picture for creative effect later.

Final steps -
After you composed it, and focused it, in the color version, take it out of Auto focus. Mount the filter carefully, so you won’t destroy the camera position and composition. Switch your WB to the pre position (that you measured earlier). Now, shoot a second picture in exactly the same way except go through the infrared filter.  With the infrared filter on the lens, you’ll see the infrared effect on the camera’s LCD viewing screen (or only in the result in DSLR cameras).  The image will appear dark and a monochromatic red-pink in color.  This is normal for an infrared picture.  After you shoot the picture, you should review the image on the camera’s LCD screen and check for proper exposure.  If the image is dark, you might want to switch the camera to manual and increase the exposure.  





Post processing

Once you’ve captured your infrared images, you’ll want to do a little clean up in an image-processing program like Photoshop.



When you open the infrared image file, you’ll probably see a monochromatic red-pink image that might be a little bit dark. You may want to adjust the curves or levels to brighten the image.  





Also, you may want to adjust the contrast to your liking.  By Now you have an image very similar to one shot on infrared film, but without the hassles.



I usually love to change the channels, to replace the red with a blue.
In Photoshop go to Image>Adjustments>Channel mixer you will first see the setting to the red channel.



The red is on 100 and the green and blue are on 0. Turn the red to 0 and the blue to 100.



Now go to the blue channel (the top drop down menu in the message box). Turn the red to 100 and the blue to 0.

Now, look at the difference -

Before -   After -

The channels have switched and if you want a better balance change the settings a bit.

If the ‘Whites’ are a bit ‘Reddish’, you can go to Image>adjustments>Hue/saturation and lower the saturation of the red (and yellow) channel.

That’s the IR story in short.
Photography by the “invisible” light of infrared can open a new world of artistic expression. I love it, and I hope you do too
Feel free to add from your own experience, add tips, and ask questions.
Again, I’m not sure I’ll be able to answer all, But I’ll try.

  

Good Links: [link] [link] And a wonderful galley to enjoy [link]

I submitted a tutorial on IR in my journal, and I got many questions regarding technique ans models fitting for IR photography. Please take a look to know more - [link]

A cosplay photography introductory lesson of sorts, for the growing number of cosplay enthusiasts in the deviantART community.

An illustrated outline of things to consider for photoshoots, also identifying the differentiating factors of cosplay photography as compared to more classical portraiture.

[http://behindinfinity.deviantart.com/journal/16401555/]

Last week I did a poll on what subject you would be most interested to hear my opinion about. The majority wanted to know on "Finding your own style" ([link]). Here are some pointers on that.

General thoughts
Photography has been here for a very long time. Every category in photography already been tried, most places have been photographed, portraits have been done, special techniques, weather... So what do we still find exiting and unique?
The answer is not in "what's being said", rather in "the way we say it". It's not the subject of the photo, rather the way we take it, show it, make our own definition of it. If you group 20 photographers in one scene, all having the same cameras, you will still get many different photos. On the other hand, you can tell which photo is who's just by looking at a photo - recognize the style. I have to say that finding your style is not a process you are aware to. It happens while doing photography and you suddenly find you have your own "trademark". Still, we can grow awareness by simply helping ourselves in the process.

A short story
Alex Libak, a photographer I look up to told once he was sent from his newspaper to a bonus photography course abroad. He was already a successful photographer so he thought he would do it just for the trip. In the first lesson the lecturer put 3 eggs on the table. He asked each of the students to take a picture of the 3 eggs. Nothing more, and nothing less. By this point Alex was really skeptical on what he has to learn from this. In the second lesson each photographer had to show his photographs of the 3 eggs. Alex was amazed to see each one of the students did it completely different.  One played with shadows, one did a strange crop, one did a play of depth of field... each one had a different point of view. That was a lesson in modesty. There is room for different point of view, different style, no matter how good of a photographer you are.

Looking for your style
The first thing is to search for something that can be defined as your style. For that you need to do mainly two things -
1. Shoot a lot of spontaneous shots
2. Look at a lot of photography by others, and get inspired.

Think differently, Be different
ok, you take a lot of pictures, still you don't know if you have a style and what is it.
That's normal. Now it's time to challenge yourself. You see a tree and you have already taken pictures of trees before. Now, you try to do it differently. Maybe angle? exposure? filter? point of view? depth of field? It doesn't matter - it just have to be different than anything you tried before. You have to challenge yourself again and again. If you let yourself be a cliché, you won't find your own point of view.
While experimenting like that, with the help of the inspiration you get from other photos you see and like, you will be drawn to a certain point of view, that is unique to you. You are now different.

Experiment with different categories of photography
You know what you like to see (portraits, nature, street, landscape, still life, fashion). Are you sure this is what you want to shoot as well?
You have to try a little of each category. That's what a skillful photographer has to do. Maybe while trying a macro shot you will stumble upon a different point of view relating to something that really speaks to you? You can never know. Finding your style means searching and searching and searching.
After a while of doing that, you will feel comfortable with certain categories. That will probably be a part of later will be - your style.

Your opinion is a part of your style
I'm a true believer that art is all about expression. Expression is an opinion. You don't have to give answers, just raise the questions. After you look at things differently, you need to think of what the photo you take represents, what thought will run through the viewers head watching the photo. It's a part of your style - what your photo expresses.

You won't even know you have a style
Style is defined by time. You can't find something fresh right away. You need to find the box in order to think out of it, "out of the box". After a while, you will get outside feedback from others that can see your signature in your work. You will be wise to ask and investigate what do they mean. It's not alway defined, but it's worth trying to figure it out.

Technique and presentation
That's the package, but it's just as important. Finding those things you focus on. The way you compose your work, The way you crop it, special filters you use, flipping the pictures, reflections, B&W, a color theme, patterns, scales, silhouettes, long exposures... all those can be defined as styles if they repeat themselves in your work

To sum it up
Style is in other words - you.
You can't be unique until you are able to escape what  you grasp as "normal". You will be simply doing "more of the same" until you challenge yourself to find your personal statement. Even then you need to keep on experimenting to do "fine tunning" on it. Style is something that changes, and still stays you. Think of the photographers you like... can you define a certain style in their work? I bet you can.

The wonderful thing about personal style is that People will recognize your work like recognizing your face in a crowd. Your photography becomes you. You are now a unique artist.

For my full journal on it, and past tutorials -> [link]

Here are some treats for your eyes!

I have searched DA from top to bottom for fresh new art, very old art from waaaaay back and everything in between for great rainbow coloured art!

No pastel colours here! Just pure bright colour and vibrance!

Some of these pieces have over 500 favourites! Some don't even have one! Lets enjoy this art with the people who created it!

Here we go!


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