Digital Photography Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 22 Get Super Close

Digital cameras have macro capability built
right in. But what if you want to get real close?
Here's how to get a bug's-eye view
of the world.

Since the early roots of photography, people have been fascinated
with capturing the world up close. Super close. Bumps-on-a-frog
close. Most digital cameras come with a Macro mode that allows you to get very
close to your subject. Sometimes, this mode is simply called Close Up
and is denoted by a flower icon on your camera. Depending on your
camera, close can be defined as anything from 6
inches to 18 inches. But what if you want to see the very pores? This
hack will help you get started.

There are a few ways to get these types of startling shots. The first
way is to buy a macro lens that is designed specifically for
this type of shooting. Unfortunately, these lenses are often quite
pricey. A second option is to buy extension tubes
for your DSLR. An extension tube is a
light-tight tunnel that extends the distance from your lens to the
camera body, thereby increasing magnificationthe greater the
distance, the more magnification.

But what if your digital camera isn't an SLR or
doesn't take interchangeable lenses? The third, and
most affordable, option is to buy a close-up
lens that mounts on top of your current lens, the same way that
filters attach. Some cameras have adapters for these auxiliary
lenses. But if yours doesn't, third-party
manufacturers such as Raynox (http://www.raynox.co.jp/index) have
devised clever workarounds to enable this capability on just about
any digital camera. The advantages are that you
don't have to buy a whole new lens and that you can
use the close-up lens with any camera, including an SLR. This is the
tool we're going to use for this hack.

2.8.1 Get the Glass

First, go down to your friendly photo dealer and see what type of
close-up
attachments
are available for your camera. I've had a lot of
luck with the aforementioned Raynox lens, which is well made,
affordable, and readily available. Raynox makes a wide variety of
goodies for all kinds of cameras, including close-up accessories for
digital cameras. The lens comes with an attachment to help you mount
it over your built-in glass. Turn on your camera
andvoilà!you have a super-macro digital
camera.

How close can you get? Close-up lenses are described by a
diopter number that indicates how close your lens can
get to the subject, in units of fractions of a meter. For example, a
lens marked +12 will let you get within 1/12 of a meter (or within
just 8 centimeters). For those of you inclined to use the imperial
system, that's just over 2 inches awayalso
known as pretty darn close!
What's fun about all of this math madness is that
these measurements are based on the lens of your camera being set to
infinity. If, like many cameras, yours has the ability to focus
manually, you can get even closer by using the close-up lens and its
built-in close-focusing setting.

2.8.2 Mount the Camera for Best Results

So now you have a close-up lens attached to the camera and are ready
to shoot, right? Well, almost. Shooting one inch away from a subject
is tricky, because the lens has very little tolerance for being even
a little too far or too close to the object. If you move out of that
one-inch in-focus area, your object will quickly
get soft. This means that to take really good shots you need to mount
your camera on a tripod.

In super-close-up photography, moving the camera to correct focusing is easier than fiddling with your digicam's focusing mechanism. Many used-camera stores carry focusing rails for just this purpose. You mount the rail on your tripod and then secure the camera to the rail. Then, just turn the focusing knob to move the camera closer or farther from the subject in small increments. It really helps!

You'll also need a good location to shoot the
object. Place the object on a table with a white background, either
cloth or paper. Ideally, you want your camera to be facing straight
at the object. So, get a chair and sit down in front of your camera.

One advantage of shooting with a
tripod is that you can have long
exposures without having to worry about camera shake. To be safe,
either use a shutter cable or, if your camera can't
accept one, use the built-in self-timer. Even the shake from you
holding down the shutter button can blur the image.

Try getting as close as 4x (Figure 2-10) with your
regular camera lens. It won't workthat is,
unless you add a little glass. But don't stop there.
Try 8x (Figure 2-11)! But wait,
there's more! Is 12x (Figure 2-12)
close enough for you?

Figure 2-10. A close-up of a flower at 4x

Figure 2-11. A close-up of a flower at 8x

Figure 2-12. A close-up of a flower at 12x

2.8.3 White Balance for Good Color Tone

Before taking your shot, it's a good idea to measure
the white-point of the image and set your camera
accordingly. This will save you lots of color-balancing work later in
Photoshop. For most digital cameras, this is done by selecting the
measure white-point feature on your camera and
holding the shutter halfway down. The camera will then measure the
light of your image and base the white-point on the particular
lighting you are using. If you can't measure the
white-point manually, some cameras will let you choose from a menu of
presets, such as tungsten, florescent, or daylight. Set your camera
appropriately to get the best color balance possible.

2.8.4 Flash Versus Available Light

So what about flash? Why bother with it if you can just use
tungsten or available light? Well, one of the advantages of using
flash is that you can control how the item is lit and where the
shadows will fall. You can try using your camera's
built-in flash, but this will often not give you the kind of control
you need because the flash will be literally inches from your
subject. Small soft-box
flash units are ideal here, providing a
soft, even, neutral light to your close-up images. You can pick up a
soft box flash unit from your local pro-camera store. A soft box is
simply a portable enclosure for your flash that has a translucent
nylon face that softens the intensity of the flash as the light
passes through it. This makes the light softer, a more suitable
quality for close-ups and portraits. I recommend using two soft
boxes, one on each side, to produce even illumination.

2.8.5 Final Thoughts

Super-close-up shooting can make even everyday items more interesting
and will allow you to discover a whole new way of seeing the world
and creating images. Experiment with different kinds of objects, both
natural and human-made, and get ready for some visual surprises. You
already have the camera and, with a minimal investment, you are well
on your way to capturing the world from a bug's-eye
perspective.

Hadley Stern