6 Tips for Near-Macro Photography with a Telephoto Lens

Macro photography is the art of capturing the fine detail of very small subjects that may not be able to be seen by the naked eye.  Technically, to fall under the term ‘macro’, the subject should be captured with a reproduction ratio of 1:1, i.e. the subject will be captured on the sensor at 100 % life size.
Macro lenses are specially designed to minimise the focussing distance, allowing the photographer to get closer to the subject and so increase the reproduction ratio.  There are a number of other techniques that can be used to help achieve the desired magnification without a dedicated lens (extension tubes, close-up filters, reversing rings), however, one of less often considered techniques is to use something that you probably already have in your kit bag: a telephoto lens.

Milking Bonnet Fungi (Mycena galopus)

Telephoto lenses offer extreme magnification but generally have much larger minimum focussing distances pushing the photographer further from the subject and so reducing the reproduction ratio.  Some telephoto lenses, when combined with camera systems utilising smaller sensors, are able to offer 1:1 magnification (‘true macro’) however, typically, telephoto lenses are limited to close-up photography, at near-macro reproduction ratios.
Using a telephoto lens for this kind of work offers a couple of advantages over a dedicated macro lens that are a direct result of the large minimum focus distance.  Because the working distance to the subject is in the region of 1 metre (compared to 15 – 30 cm of standard macro lenses) the risk of disturbing your subject as you compose your shot is much reduced.  Also, given the extra distance between the camera and the subject, you are much less likely to cast a shadow over your subject and have a lot of freedom with the lighting you can employ to light the subject – both natural and flash.

Common Blue butterflies, mating (Polyommatus icarus)

Using a telephoto lens for such precise work is not without challenge, so here are a few tips to help maximise your chances of getting that near-macro shot, with your telephoto lens:

1. Due to the extreme focal length, the risk of reduced sharpness due to camera shake is higher.  Therefore, it is imperative to use a tripod and remote shutter release to try and limit lens/camera movement.
2. Even on a tripod, images can still suffer from camera sake.  Try and use a tripod collar for your telephoto lens, so that the lens is clamped directly to the tripod, reducing the chances of ‘lens wobble’.  If not, use the ‘1/focal length’ shutter speed rule to help capture sharp images (I always use 1/effective focal length (i.e. multiply your focal length by sensor crop factor to give the focal length in 35 mm terms) when selecting a shutter speed to reduce movement).
3. Be aware of the depth of field.  Using extreme focal lengths at such close distances can reduce the depth of field to fractions of a millimetre.  Therefore, to ensure the subject is sharp throughout, use a small enough aperture to ensure the depth of field extends across your whole subject (there are websites and apps to help you do this).
4. Ensure your subject is parallel to the sensor.  If you want to capture your subject in focus from front to back, ensure that it is parallel to your sensor.  The depth of field will be so narrow at the extreme focal lengths that you may not have more than a few millimetres to play with.  Therefore, position yourself accordingly to maximise your chances of capturing a sharp image.
5. Switch the lens to manual focus.  If your telephoto lens as an AF/MF switch, switch it to manual focus and compose/focus the shot manually.  You may find that when focussing manually, the minimum focussing distance decreases meaning that you can get closer to your subject, increasing the magnification.
6. Use a teleconverter to increase the focal length, but retain same minimum focussing distance.  This will allow you to significantly increase the magnification of the subject, without having to move any further away.  Increasing the focal length in this way will have consequences on your choice of shutter speed and aperture, but as long as it is taken into consideration, a teleconverter can successfully be used to increase the reproduction ratio.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Using a telephoto lens for near-macro photography will typically not allow you to magnify your subject as far as if using a dedicated macro lens, but you will be able to test the water to see if macro photography is something you enjoy, without having to splash out on any additional kit.  If you do decide that macro photography is for you, by putting this technique to practise you will learn a lot of good field craft that will be of benefit when you get around to picking up that new macro lens.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

How To Create A Multiple Exposure Effect In Post

Using this technique you can create a stippled effect common to impressionist painters by blending multiple layers of a single image.
To do this technique, you will need to use a photo editor that supports layers. I use Photoshop Elements but you can also use Gimp, which is free, and many other photo editors.
Don’t let the layers thing scare you away, ok? In fact, if you are leery of layers trying this technique should, ironically, make it all become clear.
Pick an image to start. I particularly like this effect on flowers and foliage but it works for other subjects too. Here is the image I will use to start.

Follow these steps:

1. Duplicate the background layer (Layer>Duplicate Layer)






2. Reduce the opacity of the new layer to 30%






3. Use the move tool (usually an arrow) and move the layer slightly in any direction






4. Duplicate the background layer again (it’s on the bottom of the layer list)

5. Drag the new layer to the top of the layers list






6. Reduce the opacity of the new layer to 30%

7. Use the move tool to move the layer slightly in a different direction

8. Repeat steps 4-7 any number of times

9. When you are happy with the result, use the crop tool to crop the edges of the image where you can see the borders of the moved layers.




Here’s a little video that shows me performing these steps.

And the final image:

There are many different ways you can accomplish a particular effect in photoshop (or your photo editor of choice). I try to use the simplest methods I can find to keep it simple.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

  

I’m a ‘Typical Photographer’ and This Is How Much I Post Process

OK, I’m going to come right out and say it … there are a lot of lies in photography! It’s out there now and I suggest we all take some time to let it sink in before we do anything rash.
Of course we all know this but it’s not a subject that a lot of people openly talk about.  Before I say any more let me be completely straight.  I’m not saying that there are a whole load of photographers out there actively seeking to deceive you, more that most of us (me included) tell ‘little white lies’ about our images. Of all the subjects open for favorable interpretation is the amount photographers post process their pictures.

No Biggie?

I’m not saying for one minute that anyone is looking to be intentionally deceptive, most of the time all we are really talking about is the omission of a few minor finishing touches.  So what’s the big deal? Well there isn’t really any big problem as such, however I remember as a beginner how frustrating it was trying to work out how much of a great image was due to gear, processing or falling that the skill of the photographer.   Becoming a great photographer takes time, patience and practice and its understandable why more experienced photographers might want to protect their trade secrets.

Post Processing in Modern Photography

A common view is that post processing is a phenomenon that has only come about with the age of digital photography.  To a certain extent this is true however we need to be careful not to lump all forms of image manipulation into the same category.  In the age of film it was still possible to alter not only the basics such as aperture, shutter speed but also things like ISO, white balance and the overall aesthetic of the final image.   It’s true to say that these adjustments were less convenient than they are today (you had to physically swap out your film etc) but we shouldn’t confuse the convenience of modern technology with any form of deception.  It has always been necessary to ‘adjust’ the final image to achieve something more like reality and despite the capability of todays cameras and equipment this remains the case.  The reality is that even the best photographers make at least minor adjustments to their images.

So How Much?

So as a beginner what you really want to know is how much processing do most people and how do you know if you are doing too much?  When I started to get serious about photography this was a question that took up far too much of my time. To give you a sense of a typical photographers workflow here is a quick summary of my typical post processing routine and a few examples of how my images typically look before and after.

My Basic Workflow

My basic advice is this; only do as much post processing as necessary to achieve the look you want.  If your goal is to achieve an image that is realistic to real life then assuming you have a decent initial image you should be able to do this fairly quickly.  If however you want to achieve a more artistic result then you may need to take a bit longer.
The majority of my images are either travel or portraiture and therefore my basic post processing workflow is relatively simple.  Pretty much every image I take goes through the following five-step process, although for specific effects I will often do more.  Just so you know, I shoot all of my images in RAW with Lightroom being my editing software of choice.

• Crop & Straighten – To clean up and correct any issues with composition.
• White Balance – To correct any colour casts and ensure the image colour is as accurate as possible.
• Exposure – To improve the overall tonality and dynamic range of the image.
• Contrast & Clarity – To bring back any missing punch and bring out emphasis and detail.
• Sharpening – Where necessary the last step is to apply selective sharpening to bring out any key details.

To give you an idea as to what this really looks like in the real world, here are a few examples of images I have taken and how they looked like before and after processing.

Example 1 – Travel Landscapes

Typical post processing for landscapes will include straightening and cropping to improve composition, followed by basic exposure and contrast adjustments. Finally I add some saturation and vibrance for impact.

Example 2 – Street Portrait

For travel portraits, its all about the white balance to ensure that the subject skin tones are spot on. After that I add contrast and boost detail with sharpening.

Example 3 – Studio Work

For studio portraits, white balance is again key followed by basic exposure and composition adjustments. In this case I may also spend more time working on more artistic effects and specialised image touch ups.

The Two Minute Rule

Obviously when you are starting out its important to spend time developing your processing skills, however as you start to get a handle on this its also very important to get efficient.  Not only will doing so stop you from wasting hours in front of your computer screen, but its also the best way limit the potential for over processing.  The ‘Two Minute Rule’ is the probably the best ‘pro tip’ I have ever heard and is something which has fundamentally changed my approach to photography.  The basic idea is to limit the time you spend processing any image to no more than two minutes.  Imagine that, just two minutes to do everything you need to get an image to look exactly as you want it to?  Basically you should be asking yourself if an images needs more than two minutes of work in post, is it worth the effort?  I’m not going to try and convince you that I follow this rule religiously but it is a really powerful way to focus your post processing efforts and I would certainly encourage you to consider building this into your own routine.  Limiting the time you spend in post will stop you from trying to rescue dud images and also give you a rough guide as to when you may have gone too far.

The ‘So What?’ for Beginners

If you are a beginner or someone getting started in post processing, what am I really telling you?  Simply it is this, most of this images you see will be post processed.  Whether this is to overcome the limitations of our equipment, correct mistakes or achieve a specific ‘look’ most photographers will process their photos. The important thing is not to worry about what others are doing, rather on if you are doing the right things to create the images you are looking for.  Focus on learning the techniques which will help deliver the photograph you want and use this as a way to hone your individual style and workflow to become an even better photographer.  If you get this right, then it won’t be long before you can start fibbing about your photographs too!

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.