Arts and Photography

Digital cameras have taken away most of the challenge in taking challenging shots. It's now possible to take that macro shot without having to have specialized equipment. Now even a novice photographer is able to take that extreme close-up image with a perfect success rate. Great for capturing small things like the pupil of a fly.

For you to have the ability to capture an image not easily visible to the naked eye and bring it to extreme close up in beautiful color may be something that becomes addictive. There is nothing more satisfying than to capture a huge print of an insect, or any small object that normally is tiny to the naked eye and capture it with the technique of macro photography.

Back in the day with old school cameras you had to have all types of add-ons to take high quality photos of highly magnified images of extremely small subjects. Now a days however, a digital camera or compact DSLR, will allow even a child to take amazingly large photos of small tiny subjects.

Macro Photography
The term macro in photography speak, used to refer to the capturing of a subject that resulted in an image on the 35mm film frame (24x36mm) that ranged from 1:10 to 1:1 the size of the original subject. The term micro referred to a film image that was larger than 1:1 life size; micro photography could easily give you a 35mm film image of a flea that was much larger than the original flea. A CCD or CMOS sensor can be as tiny as 3x4mm, so any definition term that applied in the old school days now no more. But the rules that apply in accomplishing successful and satisfying macro photography still stand. But the same basic rules apply.

The camera's purpose is to record a sharp image by adjusting the lens to sensor distance: For photos taken at a great distance, the lens is positioned at the minimal lens to sensor distance. Therefore for short distance photos the lens to sensor position is increased. With macro photography the lens to sensor lens is positioned even closer, much closer than normal. It's been found that most compact digital cameras and most DSLR's have selectable macro mode. In some cameras you can select macro mode via an external control, while in others you must access the viewfinder menu. It's just that locating the function varies between manufacturers.

Tips for Macro Beginners
Being intrigued by how a photo of a honey bee can be captured beautifully at over 10x's it's natural size may have led you to find out just how you may be able to do the same with your own subject.

When you set your digital camera to macro mode it automatically adjusts the lens elements into an array best suited for close focusing. Which is no simple task. In fact it's so complicated that once macro mode is enabled, you lose control of both your lens aperture and shutter speed. No matter what digital camera manufacturer's camera you choose to use your best macro photos will be created only when you use the smallest lens aperture in order to produce optimum image sharpness and depth of field in your shot. Also using a small lens aperture is going to mean that you're going to need more light. So extend the exposure time to create a correctly exposed photo.

Omar Erwin has developed a passion for digital photos and its many different avenues. This passion has driven him to write a book not just for beginners of digital cameras and digital photos, but for all who love participating in digital photography. You may get your free copy as a gift by going to http://www.omarerwin.com/gift.html

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