Macro Photography

Nature is not only about big species, animals but also it includes small objects, and nothing is more satisfying than to take a print of a macro animal or insect. However, it requires great photographic skills to reach near space of it, which is normally so small to a naked eye.

Here are some useful tricks before you begin.

What is Macro photography?

Macro photography is taking photographs of tiny species. To take a sharp image of a tiny species requires the lens to be placed much closer. Just think no special lenses or macro tube is required for macro photography.

Types of Macro Photography

According to shooting style, there are different types of macro photography.

1. Floral Macros: Capturing macro shots of flowers. It can be 2:1 or 3:1, which means the image, will be 2 or 3 times greater than the actual size of the object.
2. Object Macros: Taking shots of tiny object. It may or may not be a living being. Example: Water bubbles, tree leaves, Insects, etc.
3. Human Macros: Different parts of a human being can also be taken in macro photography, like macro of eyes, lips, etc.

Equipment used in Macro Photography

Check out the list of accessories required for Macro Photography

Camera:Macro cameras are designed especially for macro photography. These cameras are able to capture tiny items at a size greater or equal to 1:1 ratio. The minimum requirement of the aperture is from F/3.3 to F/6.6. Normal focusing range is 60 cm. Mirrorless, Crop sensor camera will be preferred.

Grab some amazing camera essentials.

Lens: Make use of the following lenses to improve your Macro Photography.

• Macro lens: With the help of a macro lens you can focus around 12 inches or more. Manual focus is preferred as autofocus can’t focus much closer.
• Zoom lens: Zoom lens is always dependent on the focal length. It helps you to focus on the subject. Some zoom lens is also included with macro lens.
• Lensbaby Velvet 56: It is a special lens by Lensbaby, which has a small depth of field, which is ideal for macro photography.
• Extension tube: 12 mm, 22 mm and 36 mm usually these three ranges of extension tubes are used in Macro Photography, which will make your lens get closer to the subject.
• Close up filters: Many filters are available in lenses, which helps to get the subject more closely. One of them is a+5 from B+W.
• Mobile: Mobile can be useful equipment for macro photography as many companies are manufacturing smartphone with good macro lenses.

Settings:

Set your camera before shooting.

Aperture:

• To maximize the focus distance set the aperture to F/16 or smaller.
• To minimize the distance set the aperture to F/2.8, F/4.
• Always focus on the subjected part of the object to get a sharp image.

Shutter speed:

• With flash: You can set it to your fastest sync speed (minimum 1/250 sec) to block ambient light. It will not affect flash as flash speed will be less than 1/250 sec
• Without flash: 1/400 sec is recommended reducing a blurred image.

ISO:

• With flash: Set the flash around ¼ powersand keep the ISO range of 100 to 800. You will get the best output.
• Without flash: If you don’t have a flash then only ISO can brighten your image. Set ISO in autofocus to get the sharp image.

Suggestions from the expert!

Lighting:

Flash is not much used at close-ups. The quality of light is important. Ensure bright sunlight or good flash head is available, Also, use diffusers e.g. umbrella with a tripod to diffuse direct sunlight as it helps to prevent reflection.

Ideas and Inspire:

Let’s take a look into the gallery of Bisakha Datta to see some stunning macro photography.

Best Photographers in Macro Photography

• Bill Chu: Specialist in macro shots of butterflies. He enjoyed taking shots of them so much, that he planted a butterfly garden in his home. Website link: http://www.instagram.com/imjustabill
• Gerald Donovan: He is popular for watch photography. He had a deep interest in watch and photography both from childhood but now he combined both of them together. Website link: http://www.instagram.com/watchdxb

Making Money with Macro Photography

Stock photography

• Shutterstock

Shutterstock is a leading photographic trading market place over than 15 years, a very popular online site to buy photos. They have a collection of 200 million images, videos, and music tracks with royalty-free purchasing that makes a huge number of customers.

• Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock (formerly Fotolia) is a market place to stock photos by most popular photo editing software companies like lightroom and Photoshop. It is considered to be the very first site to sell photographs online. The share of royalty is also higher than any other online store.

• Dreamstime

Dreamstime offers reliable and genuine HQ digital photos with affordable price. It’s a royalty-free stock photography site from 2000. It is one of the best photography leaders in the world.

• Creative Market

Creative Market is a handcrafted digital market place to sell simple and accessible designs for everyone. They offer photos, graphics, themes, 3d models, fonts, add on, website themes, templates.

• BigStockPhoto

BigStockPhoto is an international royalty free micro stock photographic website. It is the most reliable seller of online photo market. They typically sell images via a credit-based system. They have a vast collection of photos, vectors, and illustrations.

Make money through Facebook

• Create a discussion group

Make a photographic group or page on Facebook and carry on discussing your preferred genre of photography. Keep uploading your best images. Create an engaged community base.

• Create competition

Create a photography competition and gather more followers. Sell photographs to enthusiast buyers.

Make money through Instagram/Pinterest

• Grow your followers

Making money in Instagram/Pinterest through photography is based on the growth of engaged followers. Make a proper profile and set a good image that looks professional. Use a simple effective logo. Put on a catchy description. Stick to a particular genre of photography that makes an identity of you. Post most stunning and relish pictures consistently, don’t overdo posting that may annoy your followers. Use hashtag and geo tags.

• Sell Pictures

There are many renowned market places and hosting sites that offer photographers to gain good money through licensing and making a partnership with big brands.

• Offer limited-time free services to grow your follower
• Offer premium services
• Quiz
• Interaction with followers

Teach Photography

Teaching photography is a great thing to make money. You can have basic digital online classes via your website. Make a detailed video course and charge a better amount to buyers. Conduct with your followers via social media and also you can have an affiliate marketing plan for your students. Privet lessons are also good. Bisakha Datta is indeed a good teacher to help you solve all your photography queries.

Sell Art Photography

The initial stage is to get hold of a reliable printing source and gradually create an offline marketplace platform or create an online blog of your own. Display your art prints, set the price, promote your initiative and start earning gradually.  Get some unique ideas here.

Affiliate marketing

In Instagram or any other marketplace, influencer photographers are more focused on making sales. Adding a tracked link in your bio section on Instagram or in the caption of each post can make an affiliate marketing strategy.

Create your own stock website

Creating a stock photography site is a golden opportunity for photographers with a new way to make money online. It is very useful for marketers, entrepreneurs, designers, etc. Stumbling with the procedure of making a stock website? Visit an expert at https://bisakhadatta.com/ to get authentic advice.

Create your own gallery to showcase

• Flickr.com

Flickr.com is an online free photo hosting and sharing site that offers you to make unlimited sharing of your photos and exploring other images without paying a single coin. It has a very active and engaged community. The website offers your a gallery to showcase with rich and advanced features.

• 500-px.com

500 p-x is a Toronto; Canada based photo hosting and sharing service site. It is owned by China. It’s an international online platform for photographers to get global exposures. It also offers to gain money via licensing and brand partnerships.

Sell T-Shirt with your unique photography

Selling T-Shirts with unique photography is a pretty cool idea of money-making. Selling a designed T-Shirt online is a big gateway into the larger e-commerce market or in the world of fashion.

Grab the tee designed only for you!

Write a book and sell

Write a book on photography and sell it. If anyone gets difficulties related with publishing they can self publish a book in e-book format that also yields money. Get a mentor and coach in here.

Create a blog to share your photography experience

• How to create your blog? – Probably blogging is the best part of digital marketing. To make money with photography one must write blogs in their sites.

• How to create a site using WordPress? – Creating a site requires knowledge of web development and designing using WordPress. There is a better way to visit an expert at https://bisakhadatta.com/. She will provide a great deal in creating your website as per your request.

Create YouTube channel

For creating an effective YouTube channel that will gain vast popularity in the least time concerning photography and designs, contact the website of Bisakha Datta at https://bisakhadatta.com/.

Workshop on photography

Photography workshop is a place where anyone who has a keen willingness to learn photography can gather much knowledge and experience in a few hours. In a workshop, arranged by many famous photographers, you get something which is priceless. For making career photography one must go through some photography workshops. There are many workshops available in the market.

One can visit Bisakha Datta’s website at https://bisakhadatta.com/ and participate in the workshops for beginner and aspiring photographers conducted at regular intervals.

Overall, we can say Macro photography is an excellent profession to continue. We can find the subjects easily and also the conditions are flexible. So, give a try, maybe this is the thing you need to start your photographic journey.