The presentation I made on macrophotography technique and my wildlife macro photos, at FORTH's visual arts group, on March 10th, 2010.

1. Macrophotography
Stavros Markopoulos
Amateur photographer
Anax Imperator ♂

2. Macrophotography
● What is it?
● Equipment
● Technique
● Subject
● Approach
Anemone coronaria

3. What is macrophotography?
● Close-up photography
● Minimum focusing distance
● Magnification – Lifesize (1:1)
Prunus armeniaca

4. Equipment
● Compact camera
● SLR + Macro lens
● Reverse lens
● Close-up filter (diopter)
● Extension tubes / bellows
● Teleconverter
● Lighting

5. Compact camera
● Macro mode
● Closest focusing distance
● Ability to add filters?

6. Compact camera
Crocothemis erythraea ♂ Orthetrum brunneum ♂

7. Compact camera
Lycosa praegrandis ♀

8. Compact camera
Charaxes jasius

9. Macro lens
● Usually fixed lenses
● Normal to telephoto
● Sharp
● Able to focus close
● Large focusing ring
● Magnification ratio
(usually 1:1)
● Working distance

10. Osteospermum

11. Reverse lens
● Cheap solution (poor man's macro)
● Normal or wide-angle
● Adapter (or not!)
● No camera - lens communication
● Manual lens
● Suitable double adapter
(expensive)

12. Lens coupling / stacking
● Telephoto + reverse wide-angle Disadvantages:
● Filter thread adapter (lens coupler) ● Difficult to work with
● Magnification ratio: tele / wide ● Quality loss (extra glass)

13. order: Collembola, family: Bourletiellidae

14. Close-up filters
● Diopter: +1, +2, +4, +10 Disadvantages:
● Added in front of the lens ● Only close focus
● Reduces focusing distance ● Quality loss (extra glass)
● Less sharpness
Advantages: ● Chromatic aberration
● No loss of light
● Can be used in compact
cameras
● No lens removal (sensor dust)

15. Crocothemis erythraea ♂

16. Extension tubes / bellows
● Between camera and lens Disadvantages:
● Reduces focusing distance ● Only close focus
● Camera – lens communication? ● Light loss
● Extension tubes: Lens
removal (sensor dust)
Advantages:
● Bellows: bulky
● No quality loss (no extra glass)

18. Teleconverter
● Between camera and lens Disadvantages:
● Multiplies focal length and ● Light loss
aperture ● Quality loss (extra glass)
● 1.4x 2x 3x ● Lens removal (sensor dust)
Advantages:
● Retains camera – lens
communication
● Ability to focus to infinity

19. Sympetrum striolatum ♀

20. Sympetrum striolatum ♀

21. Canon MP-E
● Specialized macro lens
(equivalent to a reverse lens on bellows)
● 1:1 to 5:1 magnification ratio
Disadvantages:
● Manual lens
● Only macro (above lifesize)
● Difficult to work with

22. order: Coleoptera, family: Oedemeridae

23. Difficulties
● Extremely shallow
depth-of-field (DoF)
● Exact focusing
● Stabilization
● Subject approach
● Lighting
● Dust on sensor!

24. Tripod?
● Excellent for still subjects
● Macro rail
● Mirror lock
● Remote trigger

25. Flash lighting
● Control the lighting
● Able to light at close apertures
● Acts as your shutter speed
(freeze moving subjects)

26. Flash lighting
Ring flash (expensive, only macro)

27. Fischeria bicolor

28. Flash lighting
Normal flash(es) + bracket

30. Softening flash light
● Do-it-yourself:
● Plastic (e.g. styrofoam)
● Paper (e.g. kitchen towel)
● Ready made:
● Diffuser
● Mini softbox
● Reflector

31. Iris oratoria ♀

32. Hand-held focusing
● Autofocus is often useless...
● Image stabilization is useless, too
● Manual focus essential for lifesize and above
● Forward-backward movement

33. Approach
● Practice
● Patience
● Persistence
● Trial and error
● Study your subject
Anax imperator ♂

34. Anax imperator ♂

35. Anax imperator ♂

36. Anax imperator ♂

37. Subject:
The tiny world around us...

38. Tarentola mauritanica

40. Wildflowers

41. Bellis sp.

42. Bellis sp.

43. Anemone coronaria

44. Anemone coronaria

45. Iris unguicularis ssp. cretensis

46. Lotus tetragonolobus Orchis papilionacea

47. Orchis quadripunctata

48. Tragopogon sp.

49. Anacamptis pyramidalis Asphodelus sp.

50. Ophrys iricolor

51. Tulipa doerfleri

52. Orchis italica

53. Ophrys ariadnae Moraea sisyrinchium

54. Anemone hortensis

55. Ophrys heldreichii

56. Convolvulus elegantissimus Cyclamen graecum

57. Crocus laevigatus Anemone coronaria

58. Clematis cirrhosa

59. Garden flowers

67. Arachnida

68. Argiope lobata ♀

69. Plexippus paykulli ♂

70. Thomisus onustus ♀

71. Salticidae

72. family: Salticidae

73. Micrommata ligurina

74. family: Lycosidae

75. Thomisus onustus

76. Lycosidae Cyclosa conica

77. family: Agelenidae

78. Odonata

79. Ischnura elegans ♂

80. Crocothemis erythraea ♂

81. Anax imperator ♀ Orthetrum brunneum ♂ ♀

82. Orthetrum brunneum ♂

83. Sympetrum fonscolombii ♂ Crocothemis erythraea ♂

84. Crocothemis erythraea ♂

85. Sympetrum fonscolombii ♀

86. Sympetrum fonscolombii ♂

87. Trithemis annulata ♂

88. Ischnura elegans ♀

89. Diptera

90. Calliphora sp.

91. Musca domestica

92. Bactrocera oleae

93. Bithia sp.

94. Stomorhina lunata ♂

95. Scathophaga stercoraria

96. family: Calliphoridae

97. Machimus sp.

98. Clogmia albipunctata

99. Coleoptera

100. Coccinella septempunctata

101. Chrysolina americana

102. Capnodis tenebrionis

103. Rhagonycha nigritarsis

104. Tropinota hirta

105. Oxythyrea cinctella

106. Myriochila melancholica

107. Hymenoptera

108. Apis mellifera

109. Polistes sp.

110. Messor sp.

111. Thyreus sp.

112. Rhynchium oculatum

113. Halictus sp.

114. Xylocopa violacea ♂

115. Mutilla quinquemaculata ♀

116. Vespula germanica ♀

117. Hemiptera

118. Dionconotus sp.

119. Graphosoma lineatum

120. Ancyrosoma leucogrammes

121. Cicada cretensis

122. family: Gerridae

123. Mantodea

124. Ameles sp.

125. Ameles sp. Iris oratoria ♀

126. Iris oratoria ♀

127. Iris oratoria ♀

128. Iris oratoria ♀

129. Mantis religiosa ♀

130. Mantis religiosa ♀

131. Orthoptera

132. family: Acrididae

133. family: Acrididae

134. family: Tettigoniidae

135. Neuroptera

136. family: Chrysopidae

138. Lepidoptera

139. Papilio machaon

140. Charaxes jasius

141. Coenonympha thyrsis

142. Iphiclides podalirius

143. Gonepteryx cleopatra ♂

144. Polyommatus icarus ♂

145. Iphiclides podalirius

146. Vanessa atalanta

147. Papilio machaon Vanessa atalanta

148. Pieris rapae

149. Pieris sp.

150. Pieris brassicae
Thank you!
Stavros Markopoulos
stavros.markopoulos@gmail.com
flickr.com/people/markop